Research at the Arctic Centre

People of the North need to adapt to various changes. We study the past, current and future adaptations in various Arctic livelihoods, and the resilience of local communities. Knowledge is co-produced with participatory methods within the projects on northern nature-based livelihoods such as reindeer herding, fishing and Lapland cattle husbandry.

The research is centered around the changes in the Arctic region and the resulting geopolitical dimensions that influence both hard and soft security concerns in the region.

The Arctic continues to experience increased industrialisation, also related to the green transition. Anthropological research shows how such industries impact Arctic livelihoods and cultures – knowledge which becomes useful for environmental and social impact assessments in our research sites.

In northern areas, the different forms of water – as fresh and salt water, snow, ice – shape the environment and the way people live: they are an essential part of culture, everyday life and societal activities. Water is also strongly involved in the Arctic Centre’s research, whether viewed from a legal, humanistic, or social perspective.

Studying the cryosphere – all things frozen – includes studies on seasonal snow cover, permafrost dynamics and ice sheets, for example, the potential for rapid sea level rise due to ice sheet collapse. Methodologies range from large-scale simulations of glaciers to snow pit measurements. The researchers work closely with local communities, also developing citizen observations.

The research focuses on environmental governance in the Arctic from the perspectives of climate change, climate justice, human rights,  and climate litigation, while exploring the legal frameworks related to biodiversity and the law of the sea.

The impacts of land use in the Arctic are studied from the perspectives of mining, wind power, traditional livelihoods, Indigenous peoples, children, and youth. Attention is especially paid to the equity, sustainability, and inclusiveness of a green economic transition in the Arctic.

In the Arctic human life has relied on people’s relations to animals. People provided all their needs such as food, clothing, transport and housing as well as spiritual fulfilment through their hunting of wild and herding of domestic animals. Human-animal-environment relations are therefore at the core of our understanding of how people subsist, live and thrive in the Arctic.

We study legal issues related to Indigenous peoples in the Arctic region such as the application of human rights law to Arctic Indigenous peoples and their active participatory role in shaping Arctic governance.

Planetary approach to Arctic politics means that we advance research on multispecies justice where politics and governance no longer focus exclusively on state and human interests, but the needs and interests of non-humans, such as animals, plants, oceans and rivers, are also put at the heart of politics.

Current global uncertainties have made calls for individual and community resilience more frequent, both in politics and research. By developing resilience, it is claimed, individuals and communities can avoid the worst-case scenarios deriving from uncertainty and be prepared to cope with the unknown. In our research we ask: How does resilience structure the society, and what are the power implications of such calls for resilience?

We examine conditions for cooperation, stability and peace within the Arctic region, and analyse how the changing dynamics of global power shape regional politics and economics. By analysing trends in and beyond the Arctic, we develop scenarios to envision what alternative developments and plausible futures can be anticipated in the Arctic.

The research focuses on the effects of global warming and human activities on Arctic nature. When studying the state and change of ecosystems, we combine the expertise from various disciplines, such as plant ecology, soil microbiology and environmental history – not forgetting the local knowledge of people living in the area.

In the Arctic region, people are constructing their lives in various ways, all considering the building blocks of a good life differently. Anthropological research shows that wellbeing is a multifaceted concept and can be perceived differently by diverse groups of people, culturally, collectively, and individually.