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Arctic Indigenous Peoples' Culinary Institute

Applicant: International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry, Norway
Countries: Russia, Iceland, Denmark, Finland

The purpose of the pilot project is to further develop the concept of the Arctic Indigenous Peoples' Culinary Institute as a virtual network institution in terms of content (scoping and development of areas, documentation and research concepts and skills/training), process (professional international seminar involving young indigenous people, and to develop partnerships) and partners (building on the existing network by identifying further institutional/academic partners). An expected outcome of the pilot project is a comprehensive project proposal for the development of the institute.


NEO-BEAR

Applicant: University of Lapland, Finland
Countries: Sweden, Norway, Russia

The purpose of the project is to analyse local, regional and national discourses and governance patterns to clarify different concepts of sustainable development. The project is based on a Nordic network with Russian experts "Barents International Political Economy" with support from NordForsk. It will explore the roles of the state and local communities as catalysts for sustainable development.


 

Nordic Forum for Security Policy 2014

Applicant: Finnish Committee for European Security, Finland
Countries: Sweden, Norway

The purpose of the project is to organise an international conference in Tromsø in November 2014 with a focus on security issues in the Arctic region. The conference aims to look at the characteristics of the Arctic in a broad security perspective to strengthen cooperation and long-term sustainable development in the North. Speakers will be invited from the Nordic countries. This also includes representatives from local and regional level.


 

Mental health among indigenous youth in the Arctic

Applicant: The Danish National Institute of Public Health, Danmark
Countries: Norway, Greenland, Finland

The overall objective of the project is to improve the mental health among young people in indigenous communities in the Nordic countries by strengthening the understanding of the factors that affect mental health in a negative way and resilience in a positive direction. The project has five sub-objectives: 1. To provide knowledge about suicide, suicidal thoughts and mental health. 2. To investigate the protective and risk factors for suicidal behaviour. 3. To examine the similarities and differences in mental health and occurrence of traumatic events among young people in the North. 4. To investigate the association between traumatic events and mental health as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). 5. To investigate how personal resilience modifies the relationship between traumatic events in childhood and adolescence and mental health.


 

Gender and law in the Arctic

Applicant: University of Tromsø, Norway
Countries: Sweden, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Canada

The main objective of the project is to map the knowledge on gender equality in the Arctic region, and thus contribute to research that can promote gender equality efforts in the region. The network TUAQ Gender project consists of researchers from Denmark, Finland, Canada, Norway, Russia and Sweden, as well as practitioners and activists. It will explore how public mechanisms budget process, legislative and gender equality policy developed at the interface between the public and the private sector, the labour market and in family life. The project is interdisciplinary with researchers from law, economic statistics and social science.


 

Access to plant genetic resources as a fundament for local food production in the Arctic

Applicant: Nordic Genetic Resource Centre, Sweden
Countries: Iceland, Norway, Faroe Islands, Greenland

The purpose of the project is to help maintain access to and use of plant genetic resources in the context of climate change in the Arctic. The project will initiate networking between institutions in the field by organizing a workshop on plant genetic resources in the Arctic; provide a better picture of access to plant genetic resources for the production of cereal, assorted vegetables, potatoes, etc.; produce a common vision for the future by studying the need of adapted varieties for local food production, and suggest priority areas and action plans that can provide input to national policy in the Nordic countries.


Wastewater treatment in Nordic Arctic areas: Northern Norway, Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland – is it sufficient?

Applicant: Environment Agency, Faroe Islands
Countries: Norway, Iceland, Greenland

The project will bring together actors from institutions responsible for wastewater treatment together. The group will provide a forum for exchange of experience, and will also include persons with expertise in environmental issues. Analyzes of samples at different distances from the discharge point and in different seasons will be performed. The goal of the project is to describe the extent to which the current level of wastewater treatment is sufficient to protect the marine environment of towns and villages surrounding area. The project will present opportunities to improve wastewater treatment, which will subsequently form the basis for policy decisions regarding improvements in waste treatment systems.


Marine resource governance in the Arctic

Applicant: Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
Countries: Iceland, Norway, Greenland

The project will bring together researchers with expertise on the living marine resources and the Arctic Ocean to resource managers and policy makers. The aim is to identify and advise on how the main challenges of a reduced ice cover can be handled in relation to governance of marine resources. An ecosystem and marine biodiversity approach will be used to analyze harvesting practices, invasive species and pollution issues, and to describe opportunities for marine conservation. The project will produce "peer-reviewed" articles, organize workshops and produce a "white paper" to policy makers.


Mapping and analysing Saami space

Applicant: University of Uppsala
Countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland

The aim of this project is to retrieve, collect, store, and disseminate data concerning the Saami areas, from projects relating to both the ACIA and the International Polar Year. The collected data will be processed to a form in which it can be compared and analysed. In particular, spatial/geographical characteristics will be analysed in order to see the relationship between the social, economic and cultural characteristics and use of the spatial conditions. In addition to dissemination through analyses, the project will conclude by using the combination of new data and spatial characteristics to compile an 'Atlas of the Saami Space'. For the final stage of the project, an application is submitted for funding to finance the writing of articles and dissemination of results through conference presentations.


Children's changing world

Applicant: Roskilde University
Countries: Denmark, Faroe Islands, Iceland

The objective of the project is to study children's living conditions in the north-west part of the Nordic region. Through a new collaboration in the field of social psychology in Denmark, Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, the project will help to highlight the cultural dimension of socialisation of pre-school children. Three conferences will be arranged on the basis of two ongoing postgraduate projects at Roskilde University Centre. The conferences will enable dissemination of multi-disciplinary research through dialogue between local practitioners and Nordic researchers. The application is for funding of the first conference, which will be held in Nuuk.


Urbanisation and the role of housing

Applicant: Institute for Economic Studies of the Kola Science Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences
Countries: Russia, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Denmark, Greenland

The objective of the project is to analyse developments in the housing sector in the Arctic, with focus on the relationship between involvement of the private and public sectors. A particular focus will be on the role played by the housing sector in relation to issues concerning development of society, and on finding good examples that can be used in other regions. The project will develop a number of indicators for evaluating what can be regarded as safe and sustainable development of settlements.


Neoliberal governance and sustainable development from local communities' perspective in the Barents region

Applicant: University of Lapland
Countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia

The objective of the project is to analyse local, regional and national discourses and governance patterns to identify various perceptions of sustainable development. The project is based on a Nordic network of Russian experts, 'Barents International Political Economy', supported by Nordforsk. The project will analyse the roles of the state and local communities as catalysts for sustainable development, and examine how new forms of collaboration break with former geopolitical frames.


The Arctic change and elderly exclusion: a gender-based perspective

Applicant: University of Lapland
Countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia

The project focuses on the exclusion of elderly people in an Arctic context. The overriding objective is to encourage greater involvement of elderly people in local communities, and improve their ability to influence decision-makers. Consequently, the specific challenges faced by elderly people in the Arctic will be studied, with a particular focus on how they are affected by climate change. The project will result in a publication.


This year's northern people

Applicant: Riddu Riddu International Indigenous Festival
Countries: Norway, Greenland, Sweden

The annual Riddu Riddu International Indigenous Festival will be held 10-15 July 2012. The plan is to invite to the festival a delegation of Inuits from Greenland, the most northerly people in the world. The objective of this invitation is to highlight how climate change affects indigenous peoples, and the participation of the Inuits therefore helps to promote the cultural, international and information status of the festival.


Neiden and Ponai rivers – life streams of eastern sapmi - Development of traditional knowledge and co-management regimes in Russia, Finland, and Norway

Applicant: Snowchange Cooperative
Countries: Finland, Norway, Russia, Iceland, Sweden

The project is based on 'Making Saami knowledge live again', which received funding from the Arctic Programme in 2009. The aim of the project is to disseminate materials previously funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, via workshops arranged for local populations to provide a forum in which to discuss their experiences. The focus will be on traditional foods, particularly fish. The effects of climate change will also be discussed in this connection. The application is for funding of a series of workshops in 2012.


International Arctic urbanisation conference in Greenland in 2012

Applicant: University of Greenland
Countries: Greenland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Canada

The aim of the project is to arrange an international conference on urbanisation in the Arctic, to be held in Greenland. The primary participants will be Nordic and Canadian researchers, but also a keynote speaker from Australia, a country that has areas facing similar challenges to those in the Arctic. Selected presentations will be compiled in a Nordic Council of Ministers publication. The target group is the scientific community engaging in demographic and Arctic studies.


West Nordic Municipal Structure

Applicant: University of Akureyri
Countries: Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg

The objective of the project is to examine the importance of changes in municipal structures to the development process, including the importance of local democracy. On the basis of, for example, the West Nordic Foresight process, the project will collect experiences from the relevant countries. The aim is to arrange a workshop with participation from the countries in the West Nordic region, to exchange experiences and examine development perspectives.


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