A while ago, Pavel Tkach moved his workstation to a more spacious and quieter room. He needs both space and privacy because day in, and day out, he keeps calling Arctic regional and local decision-makers in Luleå, Akureyri, Anchorage, Kuusamo, Tromsø or Yellowknife for research interviews.

The interviews focus on evidence-based information
local and regional decision-makers need to support their decision-making and the
ways they could better use research results. 

– We often
pay attention to what states are doing in the Arctic. But at local and regional
levels, there are many things where decision-makers need information, Tkach says. He
now explores these issues as a researcher in the project Arctic PASSION in which
research professor Timo Koivurova and researcher Adam Stepien of the Arctic Centre
at the University of Lapland are also involved.

Arctic PASSION is
a massive EU Horizon 2020 project that focuses on systems of observing the Arctic
change, access to Arctic information and the ways it is used. The project has many
partners, and the University of Lapland is one of them. One piece in this puzzle to
produce international research data is junior researcher Pavel Tkach, who, at the
age of 26, is the youngest researcher in the entire Arctic Centre, apart from
research assistants.

Windmills, construction projects, waste
management, and local climate action in general. Environmental impact assessment
practices, environmental and climate decision-making, and the use of the information
therein. All this happens in relation to the national legislations of Finland,
Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and the United States and the domestic
guidelines on regional and local decision-making and planning. The research topic is
extensive and has endless layers. Russia was initially supposed to participate, but
now it is out of this project, like all other projects.

The
construction of wind power involves many levels and stages of decision-making – the
practices vary in different countries. Photo: Matti Kantola.

Decision-makers need comparative
information 

Before the construction of a
pipeline, for instance, somewhere in the Arctic region and before all the related
permits are in order, and the surveying is completed, there is an enormous number of
different levels of decision-making and legislation taking place behind the scenes.
In every Arctic country, the processes are unique, and they are exactly what Tkach
and other colleagues involved in the project at the Arctic Centre, investigate with
the interviews. 

There is also debate about local
climate policies in each country, and the adopted solutions are also quite
different. Recently, Pavel Tkach interviewed the mayor of Luleå. He was very
interested in what was happening elsewhere. 

– It’s
important for decision-makers to get comparative information, Tkach says.

During the study, it has become apparent that local decision-makers in the
Arctic may operate in similar circumstances, yet the practices are different, and
people in different localities do not know how localities in different countries
have resolved similar issues. Yet, such information could be helpful; for example,
Reykjavik and Anchorage in Alaska might learn from each other.

It
is also useful to understand how indigenous peoples’ views and traditional knowledge
of indigenous peoples are considered in different countries as part of
decision-making. Canada has clear legislation; elsewhere, there are varying
practices depending on the nature of the activity. 

–
Everything starts with the law, Tkach points out, and it is the law that interests
him.

No return to
Belarus

For a young man, he has a long experience:
at home in Belarus, he began law studies at the age of 16. 

– In Belarus, people do everything at a very young age, Tkach
says.

After that, his path led him to further studies in Slovakia
and, from there, to Akureyri, Iceland. The University of Akureyri, meanwhile, is
known for its expertise in Polar Law, and there he connected with the researchers of
the Arctic Centre working in the same field. Pavel Tkach first came to Rovaniemi as
an intern for the Sirius project on immigration until he started working in Arctic
PASSION.

The next step still needs to be clarified. Pavel Tkach
is currently interested in the position of researchers starting their careers in
general: many major research projects could not manage without them, but very often,
the position of early-stage researchers is precarious.

From the
point of view of his academic career, doctoral studies would be an option — an
engaging topic would be, for example, the relationship between intellectual property
rights and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, Tkach says. Or else he needs
to find something else to do. One key fact will determine his future choices: he
needs to find a job and earn his living somewhere in the European Union because
there is no going back to Belarus. In the present situation, it is simply not
possible.

But right now, there is work to do in Arctic PASSION.
The project must produce results, and results are forthcoming. There are countless
matters that have not been previously researched for the whole region, so the
interviews will continue.

– We are on the right track, Tkach
says. 

By the age of 26, Pavel Tkach has already managed a lot. In his country of
birth, Belarus, university studies started at the age of 16. Photo: Santeri
Happonen.

Text:
Markku Heikkilä