Working Together: Reflections on a Transdisciplinary Effort of Co-producing Knowledge on Supplementary Feeding in Reindeer Husbandry Across Fennoscandia

Combining different knowledge systems by collaborative processes is widely recognized within environmental governance. In the context of co-management of natural resources, the benefits of integrating different knowledge systems are seen as leading to both an increased empowerment of local communities, as well as a way to identify and clarify the potential impact of policies or management on local livelihoods. In reindeer husbandry all over Fennoscandia, supplementary feeding has become increasingly necessary to buffer shortages in grazing resources, or to react to other rapid and profound social, economic, and environmental changes now taking place within the region. As experiences with supplementary feeding differ widely within and between countries of the region, we endeavoured to create an arena for reindeer herders and researchers from Finland, Norway and Sweden that would allow them to share experiences, knowledge and perspectives on supplementary feeding, and to discuss the potential challenges and opportunities associated with it. In this chapter, we present and discuss our efforts to develop a workshop that would encourage the exchange of different experiences and inspire the combination of different ways of knowing and doing. We introduce our approach to community engagement by considering its current opportunities and challenges. Based on the specific background of the diverse participants in the workshop and the existing relationships between them, we reflect on the particular challenges that we have encountered before, during and after the workshop. Finally, we summarize some of our lessons learned during the planning of such an effort at community engagement and the co-production of knowledge.