Presentation on indigenous economic development, made at a policy workshop organised with DG Mare of the European Commission on 5 June 2018. Presentation by Chris McDonald, Regional and Rual Policy Division, OECD. More information: http://www.oecd.org/cfe/regional-policy/indigenous-communities.htm

1. POLICY WORKSHOP: INDIGENOUS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE
EUROPEAN ARCTIC
Chris McDonald
Brussels
5th June, 2018

2. 1. Background to the project
2. Areas of focus and methods
3. Reflections on Sweden and the Inuit in Canada
4. Expectations about today
2
Presentation outline

3. 3
• The OECD provides an international forum for governments to work together: 35
member countries, and works closely with partner, accession and non-member countries
• We also work with representatives of industry and labour through advisory committees,
and are actively engaged with civil society organisations.
• Peer review: each country’s policy in a particular area is examined by fellow members on
an equal basis). Our work is supported by data and engagement with stakeholders.
• The Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC), established in 1999, oversees
work related to policies in regions, rural areas and cities (see
http://www.oecd.org/cfe/regional-policy/regionaldevelopment.htm)
• We are interested in place-based policies: using regional specific assets, adapting
policies to the regional and local level, aligning objectives and implementation across
levels of government.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD)

4. • Indigenous peoples are important economic actors, particularly in rural remote
areas (land, human capital, absolute advantage of culture and traditional knowledge)
• Indigenous peoples are generally not well-integrated with markets, which can
reinforce dependency relationships, inequalities, and result in missed opportunities
• There tends to be a lack of governance capacity within Indigenous communities in
rural areas to effectively shape and implement development strategies
• Policy and governance arrangements and programme instruments to promote
development in rural and remote areas are not effectively adapted to Indigenous
forms of social organisation, cultural context and livelihoods
4
Motivation for this work (at a global level)

5. 5
Dialogue with national governments and
Indigenous leaders
Invited the Sami Parliament of Sweden
and Arctic Council (Indigenous
Peoples Secretariat) to talk to the
OECD Rural Working Party in
November 2016 about their vision for
development, key challenges and
opportunities
Project launch at Wendake, Quebec in
September 2017 with participation of
officials and Indigenous leaders from
Australia, Canada, Colombia, Peru, the
United States, and Sweden
Dialogue with delegates
Further dialogue
and input from
delegates
including
questionnaire
Implementation planning
with national governments
and indigenous leaders

6. 6
Project purpose and key questions
• Purpose: To develop policy recommendations that improve economic development
outcomes for indigenous people by better linking them with regional and rural
development efforts.
• Key questions:
1. Trends and statistics: What is the role and contribution of indigenous peoples to
regional/national economies, and which factors constrain/enable their economic
participation at a regional level?
2. Land and economic development: What are the key features of governance
arrangements that enable indigenous communities to realise the development
potential of land and natural resources, including negotiating benefits with investors to
create sustainable business and employment opportunities?
3. Business growth: What policies help promote indigenous entrepreneurship and
innovation opportunities in rural areas, particularly in the tradeable sector?
4. Governance and capacity: What incentives and mechanisms should be
implemented to support an integrated place-based approach to development that is
inclusive of, and empowers, indigenous communities?

7. Research, analysis and engagement:
• Literature review (drafts currently with countries for feedback)
• Surveys sent to countries to 15 countries in January 2018 (n =12 responded)
• Study missions and events in Australia, Canada, Sweden, and with the European
Commission (including Indigenous peer reviewers) in 2018
Produce analysis and go through OECD committee process from late 2018:
• Country case studies of Australia, Canada and Sweden
• Thematic report synthesising policy lessons from across OECD and some non-
member countries
Launch and communicate findings:
• Global event (and provide platform for stage 2)
• Country events (Australia, Canada and Sweden)
7
Outputs and activities (post launch)

8. 8
Indigenous economies in a place-based context
Community
Assets
Description
Considerations for Indigenous peoples in relation
to economic development
Physical capital Built infrastructure – transport and
communications, housing
Access to basic services, Indigenous ownership of
assets
Human capital Work skills, leadership, educational
attainment, health
Customary activities and traditional knowledge
Social capital Norms, networks and trust Kinship and family relations
Environmental
capital
Air, water, land, flora and fauna Land stewardship, control over access and use of
land, spiritual and cultural values of land
Financial capital Money, access to credit, equity Indigenous-owned businesses, collective forms of
asset ownership, and customary activities and
traditional livelihoods (imputed income)
Political capital Access to democratic decision
making
Self-determination, duty to consult, legitimacy and
cultural match of representative institutions
Cultural capital Arts and culture, museums, ethnic
festivals
Indigenous language, traditional knowledge, cultural
artefacts
Community Assets and Indigenous economic development
• Functional geographies at multiple scales (economic, socio-cultural)
• Identification of territorial assets – strengths and weaknesses
• Assessing progress compared to similar communities and regions (rather than
just the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous)

9. • Amount of land and how it is used (e.g. one-third of Australia is covered
by native title)
• Applying a typology of Indigenous land governance based on the degree
of autonomy:
– Self-governance (self-governing capacity, attributed by treaty, delegated powers)
– Joint management (responsibility shared with government authority)
– Co-existence (one amongst others)
• Benefit sharing agreements (negotiated agreements with corporations)
• Assessing challenges and lessons, and how they shape regional
development outcomes
9
Indigenous land governance

10. • Understanding opportunities and challenges associated with a diverse range of
economic activities and different types:
– Individual entrepreneurs
– Collective/ community owned
– Joint ventures
• Role of social and institutional context (continuation of cultural and language, care
for country, kinship relations) and how it is reflected in the design and implementation
of policies
• Identifying good practices and lessons related to:
– Place-based vision for development that can foster specialisation, strengthen urban-rural
linkages, participation in value-chains, and product differentiation
– Increasing access to capital and markets (access to finance, procurement)
10
Indigenous businesses

11. • Multi-level governance framework for Indigenous economic development:
– Who is responsible and how levels of government and agencies relate to each other
– Identifying multi-level governance gaps (geographic mismatches, information asymmetries,
sectoral fragmentation, short-term funding)
– Good practices and tools to address them
• Capacity to manage regional economic development:
– Cultural match (social unit of organisation, how authority is exercised in the group, how
engagement builds respect and trust)
– Capable Indigenous representative and intermediary organisations (leadership, separation of
politics and business, financial and technical capacity)
– Role of institutional brokers and informal coordinating arrangements
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Indigenous governance

12. Theme Observations Policy implications
Trends and
statistics
• Sami economy is diverse, and characterised
by micro enterprises in rural areas
• Not visible or well understood, and poor
quality statistics
• Strengthen role of Sami Parliament in
statistics
• Link existing data and establish identifier for
Sami businesses
• Support research about the Sami economy
and ethical guidelines
Business and
rural
development
• Restrictions in Reindeer Herding Act limit
economic possibilities
• Challenge to access finance and funding,
available program tools are limited
• Intermediary organisations are important to
building scale, and accessing ideas and
resources
• Support sameby to diversify and value-add
• Provide more flexible access to business
development programs for Sami
• Improve access to finance and better support
Sami-led clusters
• Improve framework for Sami tourism and
cultural industries
Land and
governance
issues
• Operating largely within a co-existence model
with local conflicts and increasing
administrative burdens
• Sami society is diverse with lack of
institutional capacity vis-a-vie governments
and corporations
• Rights framework shapes how Sami
participate in decision-making and
government support programs (sameby v.
non-sameby)
• Improve strategic framework for spatial
planning at regional level and make it
inclusive of Sami
• Expand co-management approach to land
management
• Develop/implement guidelines and
procedures for consultation
• Improve support to sameby and Sami
institutions to engage in decision-making and
regulatory processes
12
Initial reflections on Sami in Sweden

13. • Generate more own source revenues in a remote context (key to self-
determination but infrastructure can be a binding constraint)
• Balancing subsistence and integration into formal market economy
• Small scale opportunities (tourism, food, arts and culture, and renewable
energy)
• Minerals development and benefit sharing (procurement and local SMEs,
employment and skills development) – regulatory framework, co-investment
in infrastructure, and mechanism to negotiate benefit sharing
13
Inuit in Canada (lessons for Greenland)

14. • Identify opportunities/lessons, challenges and risks, and priorities for policy
change (EU, national, sub-national)
• Open and respectful dialogue led by Indigenous representatives to build
mutual understanding
• Produce a standalone product that documents the discussion, which we can
incorporate into our study
• Build a global network of people interested in improving policies and
practices for Indigenous economic development
14
Expectations about today

15. THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION
HTTP://WWW.OECD.ORG/CFE/REGIONAL-
POLICY/INDIGENOUS-COMMUNITIES.HTM
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