We would like to invite you to a presentation by Jodie Asselin (University of Alberta, Canada) that will take place on Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 10pm in Thule room. Jodie Asselin is an anthropologist who is working on perception and use of forest by different interest groups in the Yukon Territory, Canada.

Talk Title: Addressing the social nature of forests in the Yukon Territory.

Abstract
My central area of inquiry is how multiple use issues are dealt with and understood on a social level among Euro-Canadians, and how forests are socially constructed in different ways in Canada’s north. This talk will concentrate on the importance of addressing place-specific forest perceptions and histories when considering forest management and use. I will first discuss a case study of a grass roots forest-values organization and how its members and work have been perceived by Yukon residents. I suggest that unaddressed issues of user-group stereotypes and forest management history undermined what was otherwise a successful example of community consultation. Second I will consider the impact of removing forest-extraction activities from public view. A situation that has erased the forest industry from the public’s understanding of Yukon forests and aided in the uptake of the wilderness narrative.

Everybody is welcome to come to the Arctic Centre and discuss with us about the relevant topics that Jodie will propose the audience!