Who We Are
What We Do
The All Paths Lead North network comprises experts in different knowledge traditions who hold a shared interest in Arctic, Northern, and remote spaces. We cover many domains of knowledge including Indigenous and other traditional knowledge, contemporary sciences, insights drawn from art and performance, and the understanding offered by those working in professional practice and policy in those areas.
We have a respect for each others' insights and the traditions of learning and understanding which underpin them. We have a shared appreciation that the answers to many of the problems facing vulnerable communities and fragile environments in the northern areas will require all our expertise, and that answers may lie at the points where domains of knowledge intersect and interact.
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Although our members are based across the global north, the network is anchored in two universities; the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Trent University in Canada. We are also grateful to the Scottish Government and the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for their support and funding of our activities to date.
We provide forums for the exchange of expertise and the slow, difficult work of exploring complex questions through the eyes of others.
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The network was launched at a series of events in Scotland in March of 2024, which saw us gather in Scotland's capital as guests of the University of Edinburgh, before travelling north to Thurso and Forsinard in the north of the country.
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Since then, colleagues in Canada and Scotland have been exploring opportunities for bilateral cooperation, including work in film, performance, and education. We also submitted report based on our March discussions to the International Science Summit Week 2024 and another to the Scottish Government.
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Towards the end of 2024, we launched a digital network, to build on the work so far and to take the next steps to greater collaboration. We are also planning to convene a second gathering ion Canada in 2025 to continue our discussions and seek new ways in which solutions to northern challenges can be found where different bodies of knowledge meet.
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