Finding a blend and a balance across disciplines, research tools, and livelihood sectors: ArcticHubs annual meeting 2022

ArcticHubs annual meeting , 21-24 September 2022 – Magma UNESCO Global Geopark One of the most ambitious features of the ArcticHubs project has been to draw together research across the diverse, but often interwoven livelihood sectors that are transforming lives and communities throughout the European Arctic. In order to achieve this aim, the project is having to balance inputs from an array of natural and social science disciplines. In turn, …

Participatory research tools: Delphi method to assess desirable futures and identify dissents over Arctic

Different interests, geopolitical plans and socio-economic activities are leading to many challenges in Arctic land use management. There are already guidelines and legal norms for improving participation and decision-making processes on land-use planning for Arctic Countries, such as in Finland. But still the effectiveness of participation vary a lot, and Arctic land use is under great pressure nowadays. As part of the project research, different in-depth analytical research methods are …

Maptionnaire & ArcticHubs: using PPGIS for stakeholder engagement in the Arctic

We recently had our partner Maptionnaire writing about us. As the project’s goal is to find a way of designing solutions together with multiple stakeholders, it’s crucial to gather their opinions, as well as understand their practices of using the land, the sea, or other resources. Maptionnaire Community Engagement Platform is used as a data collection and conflict negotiation tool by the researchers, as well as a platform for communication …

Interview with Vigdis Nygaard, senior researcher: how geopolitical research is useful for industry development of the Arctic

The ArcticHubs project is moving to address what needs to be done to solve land, marine and resource conflict in the Arctic region. Whilst tackling considerations of the most appropriate ways to involve all the stakeholders, local populations, indigenous and other actors of the region, in the co-creation of effective tools for sustainable land and sea use planning. In this interview with Vigdis Nygaard (senior researcher at NORCE and part …

New ArcticHubs report: geopolitical tensions and drivers of different industries in the European Arctic

A research team from the ArcticHubs has recently finished two reports which set the ground of the following project steps. The research focused on Arctic geopolitics and global drivers: an investigation of the tensions and drivers affecting the development of major industries in the European Arctic, namely, aquaculture, forestry, mining and tourism. Such kind of geopolitical research is quite new for the European Arctic: by geopolitics analysis in the report …

Participatory research tools: Q-methodology to study perspectives

As used in ArcticHubs, Q-method is being conducted as part of the in-depth analysis of local people’s perception of the existing and new economic activities in the Arctic. It is being used in particular to assess local stakeholders, policy makers and citizens’ perceptions, in order to identify and cluster like-minded people into so-called opinion types. This makes viewpoints across different parts of the Arctic region and industries comparable. Hereafter a …

Interview with Roy Robertsen, NOFIMA senior researcher at Varangerfjord Hub

Dr. Roy Robertsen is a senior scientist for one of the ArcticHubs’ partner organisations, NOFIMA; he is specialised in seafood and aquaculture research, fish farming research and development, and environment sustainability. Within the project, he is researching the trends and industrial development of fish farms around the hub of Varangerfjord (Norway), its environmental sustainability and the ripple effects of new sea-related industries on fish, sea, costs and people. In this …

Varangerfjord: co-creating in a complex hub. Seminar event May 2022

Perched at the far northern tip of mainland Europe as the easternmost fjord in Norway, the Varangerfjord region is no stranger to thinking about adaptations and remaining resilient to complex and shifting circumstances. It was a natural choice for the region to become one of the focal points for the ArcticHubs research team from project partner, NOFIMA, as they are able to draw upon extensive experiences of working with and …