ECONOR III – The Economy of the North
Applicant: Statistics Norway
Countries: Norway, Finland, Greenland
Project start 2015, expected to be finalized in 2017.
The purpose of ECONOR III is to provide an updated overview issue of the economy, living conditions and environmental impacts in the Arctic, under conditions generated by economic globalisation and climate change. This is done in order to improve the knowledge basis for policies for sustainable development and benefit the livelihood and quality of life for people of the Arctic. The main outcome of the project will be an updated version of the ECONOR report, following up the reports The Economy of the North from 2006 and 2008. In addition, the ECONOR III report will include a pilot study of assessments of ecological impacts in Arctic regions of human impact factors, by downscaled calculations of the GLOBIO biodiversity model, compared with the Nature Index developed in Norway.
Arctic women conference
Applicant: Kvinnojourer i Norrbotten
Countries: Finland, Norway, Iceland, Russia, Sweden
Project start 2015, expected to be finalized in 2016.
The project aims at arranging an Arctic Women's Conference to continue cooperation between women's refuges and emergency centres within the Barents Region, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The conference will focus on prostitution and trafficking for sexual purposes and will provide participants new knowledge and experience in this particular topic. The knowledge may be used by participants in women's shelters and emergency centres in different countries. Continuing cooperation between women's refuges and emergency centre's in the Arctic region will be addressed at the conference.
The conference is expected to be held in Oulu in Finland in 2016.
Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic (AACA)
Applicant: Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP)
Countries: Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark/Greenland
Project start 2015, expected to be finalized in 2017.
The Arctic countries have in common challenges and interests linked to future changes in climate and environment. The changes could have significant consequences for the countries, societies and the people that will face these challenges and opportunities. It is important to get more systematic knowledge about what new framework rapid environmental and climate change creates for economic activities. Therefore the 2012 Arctic Council ministerial meeting decided to initiate a project (Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic - AACA) where the aim is to compile data on the rapid changes in the Arctic and consider the challenges the Arctic face in order to adapt to them.
The project will consider changes in as well short as (2030-2040) long term (up to 2080).
Preventing Suicide in Sápmi
Applicant: Samisk Nasjonalt Kompetansesenter (SANKS)
Countries: Finland, Norway, Sweden
Project start 2015, expected to be finalized in 2017.
The projects main objectives are to disseminate knowledge about suicides and suicides prevention in the Arctic and Sápmi, along with improving suicide preventions among Saami's. The project includes developing a suicide prevention plan in Sápmi which should initiate culturally sensitive preventive measures against suicide across the borders in Sápmi. One of the measures would be arranging seminars/workshops about suicides and suicide prevention where the goal is to provide information about the theme and to provide a forum to expand new suicide project across borders.
Arctic Health and Wellness Workshop
Applicant: The Danish Centre for Environmental Assessment
Countries: Greenland, Sweden, Canada, The United States
Project start 2016, expected to be finalized in 2017.
In January 2016, a group of Arctic health scholars, health professionals, youth, elders and healers met in Dartmouth College in Hanover to attend an event titled Consensus Seminar on Community Health and Wellness. The focus of the seminar was to discuss frameworks and partnerships. The seminar was a great success and initiated an inspired dialogue about the health and wellbeing determinants in the Arctic. It was an important first step to create a solid basis for future collaboration on important social issues and inclusion of Indigenous methodologies into Arctic research. In the coming months, the output from the seminar will be used in a research project undertaken by a group of Arctic Scholars. The research project is focused on investigating Arctic health indicators and health models both in academic publications and in grey literature to develop a new dynamic health model. A draft health model is expected to be ready by October 2016.
The aim with this application is to build on the dialogue that was started with the seminar in Dartmouth and to gather the same or a similar diverse group of people (Indigenous Peoples, senior scientists, representatives of international organisations, practitioners and media) for a second event to present the results from the research project. The objective is to discuss and develop the model together. Another focus of the workshop will be to identify potential collaboration projects that would include the people of the Arctic, highlight the Northern values and benefit the Arctic communities.
Arctic Youth and Sustainable Futures
Applicant: Stefansson Arctic Institute, Iceland
Countries: Sweden, Denmark, Greenland, Finland, Norway, Russia, The United States, Canada
Project start 2016, expected to be finalized in 2018.
Following up on a key recommendation in AHDR-II (2015), this project (2016-18) on “Arctic Youth and Sustainable Futures” (Arctic Youth) will convene an international working group of Arctic scholars, alongside Arctic youth representatives, to investigate and conduct research on the needs, opportunities and aspirations of Arctic youth, to fill an identified gap in knowledge on the lives, ambitions, needs and challenges of youth – indigenous and non-indigenous – across the circumpolar Arctic. The future of the Arctic will be determined by the choices youth make and their priorities in terms of culture and identities, where to study and where to live, and what occupations and lifestyles to pursue, as well as their choices concerning factors that affect the environment, and the impacts and adaptation to climate change. The working group will research the literature and existing knowledge, determine the scope of an edited volume in terms of topics in consultation with Arctic youth and an Arctic Youth Advisory Committee, conduct interviews, focus group discussions, a youth action forum, and web-based surveys, and thereby contribute to our knowledge on sustainable options for Arctic communities and localities, urban and rural, thus with a project well rooted at the local and regional level. The main deliverable outcome - an edited volume (ca. 200 pages, TemaNord publication) – will present the results of and discussions with youth, a synthesis of the literature on the issues, and in-depth analysis and discussion of some of the most pressing current gaps in our knowledge on Arctic youth and sustainable futures.
Recognising indigenous rights and local Perspectives on Arctic
Applicant: University of Lapland, Finland
Countries: Greenland, Norway
Project start 2016, expected to be finalized in 2017.
The aim of this project is to fill a gap in knowledge on questions of local people’s rights and their views on their possibilities to influence local developments in the Arctic. The project draws on current situations and discussions in Greenland, Norway and Finland. It provides comprehensive recording of indigenous and other local people’s views how their voices are heard in current developments. The project has a bottom-up approach and it emphasises the possibility to learn from the different ways in which indigenous rights have been recognised in these three Nordic countries and the need to understand how and why the question of local rights has been treated very differently within the Nordic region. A method of deliberative hearings will be developed to record the local communities’ views in three locations: Nuuk (Greenland), Karasjok (Norway) and Inari (Finland). The method is consistent with the idea of deliberative democracy - a key Nordic value. The three countries have been selected because of their Nordic commonalities, yet different responses to the recognition of local rights. The project's results will include an overview report containing policy -relevant recommendations and scientific and popular articles. The results can be utilised by Nordic countries in discussing, for example, legal developments, and by local decision- makers, businesses and other stakeholders to improve the possibilities of local and indigenous communities to influence developments that affect them.
Advancing Elderly People’s Agency and Inclusion in the Changing Arctic and Nordic Welfare
Applicant: Päivi Naskali, Professor, Unit of Gender Studies, University of Lapland, Finland
Countries: Canada, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Russia, Estonia
Project start 2016, expected to be finalized in 2019.
This project will increase our understanding of, and support for, the wellbeing, agency, and inclusion of older people living in the Nordic Arctic. It pays special attention to members of diverse cultural minorities and to gender. The focus is on how older women and men experience their own wellbeing and agency in relation to their social welfare needs and entitlements. Specifically, we examine how evolving Nordic welfare regimes affect the welfare experiences and wellbeing of diverse groups of Arctic elderly, and whether ageism plays a role in how services are perceived and delivered. The project seeks to promote ways in which older people can have their voices heard and can become active in their communities and in the maintenance of their rights. The methods follow from the purposes of the study. We will engage older women and men from diverse groups as participants in an exploration of their perceived needs whether these are met or unmet and how this relates to their agency and social inclusion. We will discuss what concerns need to be addressed and how. We will facilitate ongoing networking among stakeholders and older people in response to this new knowledge as it emerges. These stakeholders in older people's welfare and wellbeing include those from local communities and multiple levels of governmental and non-governmental agencies within in the Nordic region. They will be able to use this networking and the findings of the study to develop innovative policies and educational initiatives.