Emerging trade routes between Europe and Asia – Impacts of China’s Belt and Road Initiative on Northern Europe
DATE: Tuesday 20 November 2018, at 9:00 – 14:00 VENUE: Thon Hotel EU, Rue de la Loi 75, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
The Forum showcases recent research, policies and business initiatives in Northern Europe focusing on Euro-Asian railway connections and the Arctic maritime connections. The event features two knowledge arenas consisting of expert and practitioner interventions followed by decision maker comments and a moderated discussion.
The Northern Dimension (ND) is a joint policy of four equal partners: the European Union (EU), Russian Federation, Norway and Iceland aiming at supporting stability, well-being and sustainable development in the region by means of practical cooperation. The Northern Dimension Future Forums focus on issues, trends and challenges that will shape the future developments in the Northern Dimension priority themes (environment, transport & logistics, culture, and health & social wellbeing) throughout the ND area and need to be somehow addressed in all the ND countries and beyond. They serve as knowledge exchange and brainstorming platforms connecting researchers, academic experts, NGOs, business and policy-makers.
The ND Future Forums are organized by the Northern Dimension Institute in collaboration with the four Northern Dimension Partnerships: Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP), Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS), Northern Dimension Partnership on Transport and Logistics (NDPTL), and Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture (NDPC). The organization of the ND Future Forums is financially supported by the European Commission/DG NEAR and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. For more information visit: northerndimension.info
DATE: Monday 19 November 2018, at 13:00 – 17:00 VENUE: Thon Hotel EU, Rue de la Loi 75, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
Northern Dimension Future Forum on Environment: Black carbon and Climate Change in the European Arctic brings together European decision-makers and top experts to discuss the challenges and solutions available to tackle climate change by reducing black carbon emissions.
Temperatures in the Arctic are rising clearly faster than the global average temperatures. Black carbon, that may cause some 20-25% of the warming in the Arctic and has also detrimental health impacts, has received special attention by intergovernmental bodies, national governments, NGOs and academia. For example, the Arctic Council, Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership, Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 all aim at reducing black carbon emissions.
The Forum will showcase solutions-oriented initiatives and actions underway to reduce black carbon emissions and inspire deeper collaboration between research and governments for evidence-based policy-making and actions. The event features two knowledge arenas consisting of expert interventions followed by decision maker comments and a moderated discussion. The Forum will underline the opportunities and potential to reduce black carbon emissions fast by adopting already existing effective technological solutions and policies, thus mitigating climate change globally, and particularly in the European Arctic regions.
Participants will include representatives of national governments, EU institutions, European Parliament, intergovernmental organizations, international financial institutions as well as business, academia and civil society.
Arctic Frontiers Science 2019 takes place Tuesday 22 January until Thursday 24 January 2019 in Tromso Norway.
Arctic Frontiers Science 2019 will address the following themes:
Plastics in the Ocean
The future of governance and handling vulnerability in arctic ecosystems
State of the Arctic
A Smart Arctic Future
You can read more about each topic at the Arctic Frontier website (link).
Arctic Frontiers Science Committees invitates you to submit one or more abstracts to any of the four themes.
Kindly to do so in accordance with the instructions provided on the Call for Papers page. All abstracts are reviewed by scientific experts for rating of abstract quality and presentation content.
Abstract submission closes on Tuesday 25 September 2018, 23:59, CET.
In honour of the UArctic Congress 2018 in Finland, University of Helsinki and Helsinki Think Company are gathering together students from all over the world interested in the Arctic and it's current situation to plan a meaningful event, campaign or a project that will efficiently communicate Arctic opportunities and challenges to other people.
What Do You Need? A team of 2–5 people, an Arctic related idea and an open mind!
What Will Happen? The teams will be taken on an expedition across the beautiful Nuuksio National Park for a three-day Bootcamp. Using co-creation tools, we train and empower the teams to plan an Arctic initiative, which they will take into action on Arctic Day 2018 in October. Visit thinkcompany's website to see the full program details.
To Whom? Undergraduate, graduate and PhD Students interested in the Arctic
When? 3-Day Bootcamp 5–7 September 2018 and Arctic Day 31 October 2018.
Application deadlines: International application deadline: 29th of July Finnish application deadline: 12th of August
The 9th Arctic Business Forum Yearbook is an overview of the European High North investments and business development published in association with the Arctic Business Forum.
The Yearbook 2018 by Lapland Chamber of Commerce addresses Arctic cooperation, policies and business, as well as an estimation of European High North investment potential for the same time frame. Regionally the Yearbook covers the Northern parts of Finland, Sweden and Norway as well as Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions in Russia.
Arctic Business Analysis is a joint publication in English by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Arctic Economic Council.
The report – Arctic Business Analysis – identifies the need to develop and promote the spirit of entrepreneurialism in the Arctic and calls for work to be done to publicise the business opportunities in the region and to showcase it as an attractive and sustainable market for investment and economic development. In 2016, the Nordic Cooperation Ministers decided to put more emphasis on economic development in the Arctic within the Arctic Cooperation Program of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
The Nordic Council of Ministers partnered up with the Arctic Economic Council in carrying out an Arctic Business Analysis. The aim was to qualify knowledge on the business environment in the Nordic Arctic and how to take the business environment to a next level.
The analysis covers 1) Entrepreneurship and Innovations; 2) Public- Private Partnerships & Business Cooperation; 3) Bio-economy, and 4) Creative and Cultural Industries. The general findings of the analysis are:
a need for an increased collection and dissemination of Arctic specific data;
a need for strengthened cross-border business collaboration between regions and actors in the Arctic; and
a need for a positive branding of the Arctic as an attractive and sustainable market for investments and economic development.
You can download the report on the Nordic Council of Ministers' website.
The first shipment of spent nuclear fuel left the base in Andreeva Bay in June 2017, marking a crucial milestone in overcoming the legacy of the former Soviet Northern Fleet and its nuclear-powered submarines.
Under an international initiative financed by the Nuclear Window of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) over 22,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies, which are currently stored at Andreeva Bay, will be retrieved, packaged and removed from the site. The process is being carried out by SevRAO, part of Russia’s state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom.
The Nuclear Window is part of the NDEP’s Support Fund, which was set up in July 2002 by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to pool contributions from donors for the improvement of the environment in north-west Russia.
The spent nuclear fuel comes from over 100 reactors from more than 50 nuclear submarines and has been stored at Andreeva Bay for the past 35 years. The radioactive material is currently held in dry storage units, some of which are damaged and leaking. The base was closed in 1992 and poses a serious environmental risk.
The strategy for removing the spent fuel from the dry storage units was developed by Russia and international experts under funding from the United Kingdom in 2002, and included building an enclosure over the dry storage units, retrieval of the spent fuel using a machine to provide protection for staff at all times, and repacking the spent fuel into new canisters. The canisters are subsequently transferred to specialised 40-tonne casks for further transportation.
The casks will be stored in the so-called accumulation pad and then transported to the pier by a purpose-built 50-tonne trolley. A specially designed pier crane will load them onto the Rossita, a ship built in – and financed by – Italy and designed to standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel.
From Andreeva Bay the casks will be shipped by the Rossita to Murmansk. Here the cargo will be moved to purpose-built railway wagons and transported to its final destination, the nuclear reprocessing plant Mayak in Chelyabinsk near the Ural Mountains. Mayak has the necessary infrastructure and skilled resources for the final handling of the spent nuclear fuel.
This video tells the story of EBRD's and NDEP's work to help Russia overcome the legacy of the Soviet nuclear fleet.
The Fifth Call for main project applications is open from 1st October 2017 to 28th February 2018.
The Northern Periphery and Arctic 2014-2020 Programme is part of the European Territorial Cooperation Objective supported by the European Regional Development Fund. The programme contributes to and aligns with the Europe 2020 Strategy, national and regional policies and development strategies, macro regional and sea basin strategies, and other programmes covering parts of the geographical area. The programme’s vision is to assist in the generation of vibrant, competitive and sustainable communities, by harnessing innovation, expanding the capacity for entrepreneurship and seizing the unique growth initiatives and opportunities of the Northern and Arctic regions in a resource efficient way. To date, the NPA 2014-2020 Monitoring Committee has in total committed approximately 67% of the programme funding to 35 projects.
More information, Terms of Reference, announcement document and contacts can be found on the Northern Periphery and Arctic 2014-2020 website.
Date: 26-27 September 2017 Venue: Loma-Vietonen (Ylitornio), Finland
The 7th symposium will address this year political aspects of life in the Arctic as well as the Arctic life as an object of politics, even in the academia. Life in the Arctic has become politicized in many ways due to the effects and challenges posed by climate change, industrialization, urbanization and globalization to local communities and inhabitants. Across the region, conflicts over land use and natural resources accompanied by insecurity and uncertainty about the future are part of everyday life in the Arctic. Such conflicts are political, and occur without respect to the borders of states or boundaries of politically constructed regions. In contrast to much publicized and debated threats of an open, international, direct and even military conflict over Arctic resources, these often small-scale, local conflicts relate to unequal social arrangements, benefit sharing and risk distribution in connection to megaprojects and infrastructural development around the region, and they could also be called “structural violence”. Living in the Arctic, for both humans and non-humans, is nowadays a political question of coping with, adapting to and transforming changing conditions and circumstances, but also a starting point and object of political interventions of different scales, institutional arrangements and by a broad range of political actors. Papers and presentations covering different aspects of Arctic life as a political phenomenon are welcome.
Program (draft 8.8.2017)
26.9.2017 10.00-11.00 Travel to Loma-Vietonen by bus 11.00-12.00 Lunch 12.00-13.00 Mikko Lehtonen, University of Tampere: Arctic and/as Alternative Modernity 13.00-13.40 Joonas Vola, University of Lapland: UN/IN/ANT/ARCTIC – Poles of the political dual-machine 13.40-14.20 Monica Tennberg, University of Lapland: Arctic heterotopias 14.20-14.50 Coffee 14.50-15.30 Marjo Lindroth & Heidi Sinevaara-Niskanen, University of Lapland: The Arctic and the colonial inclusion of indigeneity 15.30-16.10 Kari Alenius, University of Oulu: A mixture of facts and politicized narratives: The Sami people in European social media (Wikipedia) 16.10-16.50 Giuseppe Amatulli, University of Lapland: The role of the EU in promoting sustainable development, cross border cooperation and indigenous peoples’ rights in the Arctic 16.50-17.00 General discussion 19.00 Dinner and sauna
27.9.2017 9.00-10.00 Iulie Aslaksen, Statistics Norway: ECONOR – “The Economy of the North 2015” 10.00-10.40 Lovisa Solbär, University of Umeå: Extractive Violence in Kiistala? Mine and windfarm establishment in the sphere of everyday life and local landed interests 10.40-11.00 Coffee 11.00-11.40 Maiju Strömmer & Sari Pietikäinen, University of Jyväskylä: Value of work in the transforming political economy of Arctic: Biographical Narratives of work histories and aspirations 11.40-12.20 Marileine Baribeau, Laval University: Social Housing and Public Action Transformation: The Changing Relations between State and Inuit Tenants in Nunavik (Canada) 12.20-13.00 Lunch 13.00-13.40 Tanja Joona, University of Lapland: Oh, what an exotic Arctic! Women leave, men stay or kill themselves 13.40-14.20 Aileen Espiritu, The Arctic University of Norway: Futuring the Past: Arctic sustainability in Vardø and Teriberka 14.20-14.35 Coffee 14.35-15.15 Elena Klyuchnikova & Vladimir Masloboev, Kola Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Influence of corporations sustainable development policy on Arctic local communities 15.15-15.55 Olesya Kotiyar, MARKHI, Moscow Institute of Architecture (State Academy): Alternative sources of energy in the Russian Arctic as a driver for the development of the region 15.55-16.35 Susanna Pirnes, University of Lapland: Perception of Russia’s Arctic in the Finnish media 16.35-16.45 Hanna Lempinen, University of Lapland: Concluding thoughts 16.45 Return to Rovaniemi by bus
NPE symposium 2017 Political Arctic/Arctic Political
Deadline for registration
If you would like to participate to the symposium, please register your participation before September 15, 2017 by email to Susanna Pirnes (susanna.pirnes(at)ulapland.fi).
Travel and accommodation
The event will be held in Loma-Vietonen (Ylitornio), 65 kilometres northwest from Rovaniemi. The fee for participation (for participants without a presentation) is 120 euros including travel from Rovaniemi to Loma-Vietonen and back to Rovaniemi, meals and accommodation in a double room and 140 euros for accommodation in a single room. Please note that the symposium participants are expected to cover their own travel costs to and from Rovaniemi, from where a bus transportation is arranged to the symposium site. Let us know if you have any wishes about the diet.
2nd Top of the World Arctic Broadband Summit 2017 14th and 15th June 2017 Oulu, Finland
The 2nd Arctic Economic Council (AEC) Top of the World Arctic Broadband Summit will convene representatives of business, technology, science and decision-makers to discuss the role of connectivity in developing a safe, competent and interconnected Arctic. This year’s Summit follows the inaugural Top of the World Arctic Broadband Summit last year in Barrow, Alaska attended by over 100 participants. The two-day Summit will include panel sessions and discussions with experts from across the Arctic region, networking opportunities and site visits to innovative and exciting Oulu companies working in the field of connectivity solutions.
For more information about the 2nd Top of the World Arctic Broadband Summit please see the information letteror contact the Arctic Economic Council Secretariat at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The European Commission, together with European External Action Service and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, will co-host the high-level event "A sustainable Arctic – innovative approaches", to take place in Oulu (Finland) on 15-16 June 2017 (starting on 15 June afternoon and finishing on 16 June afternoon). Following the publication of the Joint Communication on an integrated European Union policy for the Arctic. Commissioner Karmenu Vella and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini will have an open debate with governments, industry, research, indigenous and local community representatives on the climate and environmental challenges facing the Arctic and on how international and local cooperation can boost sustainable and innovative development.
The event will also include a high-level session of the Arctic Stakeholder Forum and the annual Indigenous Peoples Arctic Dialogue. A more detailed programme will be published in the coming weeks.
The 7th symposium will address this year political aspects of life in the Arctic as well as the Arctic life as an object of politics, even in the academia. Life in the Arctic has become politicized in many ways due to the effects and challenges posed by climate change, industrialization, urbanization and globalization to local communities and inhabitants. Across the region, conflicts over land use and natural resources accompanied by insecurity and uncertainty about the future are part of everyday life in the Arctic. Such conflicts are political, and occur without respect to the borders of states or boundaries of politically constructed regions. In contrast to much publicized and debated threats of an open, international, direct and even military conflict over Arctic resources, these often small-scale, local conflicts relate to unequal social arrangements, benefit sharing and risk distribution in connection to megaprojects and infrastructural development around the region, and they could also be called “structural violence”. Living in the Arctic, for both humans and non-humans, is nowadays a political question of coping with, adapting to and transforming changing conditions and circumstances, but also a starting point and object of political interventions of different scales, institutional arrangements and by a broad range of political actors. Papers and presentations covering different aspects of Arctic life as a political phenomenon are welcome.
Keynote speakers Will be confirmed in the connection of the second call for papers. The second call will be published in early June, 2017.
Deadline for proposals Please send your abstract (max. 250-words) with your name, title, affiliation and contact information before July 31, 2017 by email to Monica Tennberg (monica.tennberg(at)ulapland.fi).
Programme The programme will include keynote talks, presentations by the participants and discussions on the basis of presentations. A symposium dinner will be organized. The accepted papers and programme will be announced by August 15, 2017.
Deadline for registration If you prefer to participate to the symposium without presenting a paper, please register your participation before September 15, 2017 by email to Susanna Pirnes (susanna.pirnes(at)ulapland.fi).
Travel and accommodation The event will be held in Loma-Vietonen, 65 kilometres northwest from Rovaniemi. The organizers will arrange transportation for participants from Rovaniemi to Loma-Vietonen and back. There is no fee for participation, but participants (except presenters) will cover their own travel and accommodation costs. Information about travel and accommodation arrangements will be sent to the participants. Let us know if you have any wishes about the diet.
More information Symposium organizer, research professor Monica Tennberg, research professor, Northern political economy/Sustainable development research group, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland (monica.tennberg(at)ulapland.fi) and the symposium organizing team Tanja Joona (tanja.joona(at)ulapland.fi), Susanna Pirnes (susanna.pirnes(at)ulapland.fi), and Hanna Lempinen (hanna.lempinen(at)ulapland.fi)
The 8th Arctic Business Forum will be organized 17. – 18.5.2017 at Kemi Finland, the capital of Arctic Industry. The theme for this year’s forum is Industry, Innovations & Investments in the Arctic region.
While embracing the economic cooperation between the Arctic countries, the forum offers also valuable information about the possibilities and future investment potential of the Arctic region both for the local business representatives and international investors. Aim is to scrutinize the future and build network and relationships among region’s various representatives.
The Arctic Europe holds investment potential worth of at least 197 billion euro. In the forum will be presented the latest news in business development in this region. Emphasizing this year’s theme, focus will be especially on the Arctic mining, steel and forest industry both with ever developing infrastructure thanks to the export and tourism both in land, sea and air.
The speakers in the Arctic Business Forum are the key representatives and stakeholders on various branch of Arctic industry. The global and local trends at stake are addressed at the Arctic Business Forum. Moreover, the companies and organizations have a chance to present their own business at the trade show in touch with the forum.
The Arctic Business Forum is organized for the first time at the city of Kemi, which is, together with the city of Tornio, one of the biggest industrial centers in the Arctic region. The region’s future development in forest industry at Kemi and steel industry at Tornio offer various possibilities to SMEs in subcontracting and maintenance.
Welcome to the Arctic Business Forum 2017 to bond with other Arctic business representatives and stakeholders working for the Arctic prosperity.
Call for Abstracts (deadline): 1 March 2017 (250-400 words)
Draft papers (deadline): 15 June 2017 (4000-6000 words)
The Arctic Yearbook (www.arcticyearbook.com) is calling for abstracts for the 2017 edition.
The Arctic Yearbook is an international and peer-reviewed volume, which focuses on issues of regional governance, circumpolar relations, geopolitics and security, all broadly defined. It is an open access, online publication. The Arctic Yearbook is an initiative of the Northern Research Forum’s (NRF) and University of the Arctic’s joint Thematic Network on Geopolitics and Security.
This year’s theme is “Change and Innovation in the Arctic: Policy, Society and Environment”. This theme is understood broadly and aims to define and describe innovation as a response to, and as a means for, change in an Arctic context. What changes are precipitating different and new ways of doing things? What innovations are needed to improve the well-being of northern societies and environments? How do we transform knowledge into action?
Topics may include, but are not limited to: knowledge dissemination and transfer in/for the Circumpolar North including tacit knowledges and oral traditions; the interface between research, policy and markets/business in the Arctic; technological and other innovations for the entire North, e.g. in housing, transportation, infrastructure, energy, health and/or education; entrepreneurship, commercialization, and SMEs (Small & Medium Sized Enterprises) in the Arctic; STEM education for the North; the role of governments in promoting innovation; connectivity, broadly defined; local innovations and scalability; creative capital in rural, remote and northern communities; as well as innovations and changes in governance and institutions; and resilience as a response to change.
Other topics of contemporary significance to regional development, northern peoples, circumpolar relations, Arctic geopolitics and security will also be welcome.
Abstracts should be 250-400 words and include author name(s), institutional affiliation and article title, to be submitted to heather.exner(a)usask.ca. The deadline for abstracts is March 1, 2017. Notice of acceptance will be provided on March 15, 2017. Articles must be submitted by June 15, 2017. Publication is planned for October 2017.
We also welcome proposals for commentaries (1-3 page opinion pieces) and briefing notes (4-7 page analyses) from experts and policymakers on current issues and events.
The Calotte Academy 2017 'Perceptions of the Arctic: Rich or Scarce, Mass-scale or Traditional, Conflict or Cooperation?' will be organized between June 1 and 11, 2017 in the European Arctic, starting in May 31 in Rovaniemi, Finland and finishing in June 11 Umeå, Sweden.
Abstract submission and PhD candidate funding application deadline: February 28, 2017.
The theme of the 2017 Academy is ‘Perceptions of the Arctic: Rich or Scarce, Mass-scale or Traditional, Conflict or Cooperation?’. The focus is inspired by the fact that there is a growing global interest, even a hype, from many actors, also from outside, towards the Arctic region and its resources, as well as Arctic issues.
The planned schedule and route is the following: June 1 in Inari (Finland), June 2-3 in Kirkenes (Norway), June 4 travelling via Murmansk, June 5-6 in Apatity (Russia), June 7 travelling via Salla (Finland), June 8 in Tornio (Finland), and Haparanda and June 9-11 in Umeå (Sweden).
This is the first call for established researchers and early-career scientists, particularly PhD candidates and post-docs, with different academic backgrounds to participate and present their work in the 2016 Calotte Academy.
The international travelling symposium, Calotte Academy, organized since 1991, is an annual doctoral summer school for PhD candidates from the Arctic states, as well as from the observer countries of the Arctic Council (see Final Reports of the Calotte Academy). It is also one of the main annual gatherings of the UArctic-Northern Research Forum and Thematic Network on Geopolitics and Security, as well as a sub-forum for the Northern Research Forum (NRF). Furthermore, the 2017 Academy will also act as an annual regional forum for a discussion on the GlobalArctic handbook (see www.globalarctic.org), and a training exercise for the Model Arctic Council 2017-2018, which will take place in October 2017 and 2018 in Finland. Finally, it is a pre-conference symposium for the ICASS IX People & Place in June 8-12, 2017 in Umeå. Sweden
More Information and Contact
For more information about the 2017 Calotte Academy please contact:
Prof. Lassi Heininen, University of Lapland. E-mail: lassi.heininen(at)ulapland.fi Rector Liisa Holmberg, Sámi Education Institute, Inari. E-mail: lholmber(at)sogsakk.fi Director Marianne Neerland Soleim, Barents Institute at UiT – Arctic University of Norway. E-mail: marianne.n.soleim(at)uit.no Senior Researcher Ludmila Ivanova, Luzin Institute for Economic Studies of RAS. E-mail: ludmila_ivanova(at)mail.ru
The first global study of soil carbon loss due to warming, finds that an additional 55 trillion kilograms of soil carbon could be added to the atmosphere between now and 2050. This is equivalent to as much as 17 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions during this same period. Most of it would come from Arctic and subarctic soils.
The Arctic Resilience Assessment (ARA) is an Arctic Council project led by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Stockholm Resilience Centre. It builds on collaboration with Arctic countries and Indigenous Peoples in the region, as well as several Arctic scientific organizations. The ARA (previously Arctic Resilience Report) was approved as an Arctic Council project at the Senior Arctic Officials meeting in November 2011. The ARA was initiated by the Swedish Ministry of the Environment as a priority for the Swedish Chairmanship of the Arctic Council (May 2011 to May 2013) and is being delivered under the US Chairmanship of the Arctic Council.
Download the assessment on Arctic Council website.
"In comparison to the [European] Commission, the EEAS or the Council, the E[uropean].P[arliament]. still wants the European Union to take a much more activist Arctic role and position. Accordingly, some details of the final policy product may lead to intensified discussions between the E.P., its institutional counterparts and Arctic states and stakeholders."
This year, 2016, could very well go down in history as the European Union’s “Arctic Year,” with the various institutions launching several Arctic policy statements, writes Andreas Raspotnik in his commentary. Read the full article on Arctic Deeply.
"Why do the media tell us more about the incoming potential for Arctic war than about the increasing cooperation in the region?"
Research Professor and Director of the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland Timo Koivurova published an article about the Arctic cooperation and conflict.
The new book Settlements at the Edgeexamines the evolution, characteristics, functions and shifting economic basis of settlements in sparsely populated areas of developed nations. With a focus on demographic change, the book features theoretical and applied cases which explore the interface between demography, economy, well-being and the environment. This book offers a comprehensive and insightful knowledge base for understanding the role of population in shaping the development and histories of northern sparsely populated areas of developed nations including Alaska (USA), Australia, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Finland and other nations with territories within the Arctic Circle.
An article published in the December 2016 edition of the Journal of Environmental Science and Studies focuses on the key role science diplomacy can play in a changing Arctic, in light of the current geopolitical situation. The article mentions that climate change, the post Cold-War politics between the West and Russia, and the globalisation/power transition that is taking place as a result of the rise of China are key drivers in a current transformation the Arctic is undergoing. Science diplomacy - using scientific research to foster ties between different countries and other Arctic stakeholders - should play a key role in this transformative period the Arctic is facing, the paper argues.
Read the recap of the article on Arctic Portal website. Arctic Portal Director Halldór Jóhannsson is a contributing author to the journal article.
Helsinki remains committed to build a connection through the Gulf of Finland and all the way to the Norwegian Arctic coast. Construction could start in few years, a member of the country’s Parliament says.
In a comment to the Barents Observer, Oddgeir Danielsen, leader of the Northern Dimension Partnership for Transport and Logistics, says the projects address a “missing link between Europe and the Arctic”. «The Helsinki-Tallin tunnel and the Arctic Railroad will unlock the huge Arctic potential and give impetus to a sustainable economic development both in the region and as well for a number of countries both in Europe, Russia and Asia».
Read the full article on Barents Observer webpage.
Arctic Design Week is the world’s northernmost design week. Theme for the week is Arctic Transition - how we improve living and business, and how prepare for change in the Arctic. The intention of the week is to bring together creative Arctic know-how, help companies to understand the value of design in business and to enhance living in the Arctic sustainably using design. Arctic Design Week is a platform to tell stories, introduce Arctic know-how and create and try out new concepts.
Now you can apply for the programme through the open call. The open call for programme entries is open until Nov 11.
International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) Medals are awarded in recognition of exceptional and sustained contributions to the understanding of the Arctic. A maximum of one award is made each year, assuming that there is a nominee of appropriate quality. The award of medals is normally by the President of IASC during the Arctic Science Summit Week (or exceptionally at another major international meeting) following the ratification of the award.
Nominations for the IASC Medal 2016 can be submitted to the IASC Secretariat until 31 December 2015. The Medal Awards Committee, composed of Rajan Sivaramakrishnan, Yves Frenot and David Hik, will consider the nominations received and the Medal will be awarded at the Arctic Science Summit Week in Fairbanks (USA) on 12-18 March 2016.
The clean-up of Andreeva Bay is being financed through grants from the framework of Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership. Partner governments, like Norway, the European Commission and other donors have contributed with large amounts of money.
About 22,000 spent nuclear fuel elements from the operation of Soviet submarines are stored in three dilapidated concrete tanks a few hundred meters from shore on Russia's Barents Sea coast. That is equal to around 100 reactor cores. No other place in the world has such a large amount of highly radioactive uranium fuel stored under such poor conditions. Removing the waste-elements is considered to be the riskiest nuclear-safety operation ever undertaken in the Russian north.
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