Researchers: Policy-making related to the Arctic needs a new mindset

‘Solutions to common human security issues must be contextual at the local level, and address the unique concerns of diverse identities within communities,’ state researchers in the final report of the HuSArctic project. The main objective of the four-year project in 2015–2018 is to address human challenges of the Arctic population and to find tools to improve human security within Barents region. The project is funded by the Academy of Finland and hosted by the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, which is part of the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland.

The concept of human security replaces the traditional focus on
the state as referent object with individuals and their communities. Arctic
communities are facing numerous rapid changes that will affect human security. For
example, negative impacts resulting from climate change have a disproportionate cost
for communities facing the environmental degradation, species loss, exposure and
vulnerability to hazards and the risk of disasters, especially in relation to
traditional livelihoods. Developing industries in the Arctic including tourism,
extractive resources and mining, in combination with digitalization and increasing
centralization of governance and services are also challenges for communities.

Researchers state that human security in the Arctic
requires the recognition of local environments as the fundamental basis for
realizing the human right to a healthy environment, and the collective
responsibility to promote sustainability. Policies regarding Arctic engagement
should encourage partnership and collaboration with indigenous peoples and local
communities that goes beyond consultation and consent, and recognizes the
responsibilities of all actors in the Arctic.

Policy-making
related to the Arctic needs a new kind of mindset. A re-evaluation of norms across
the systemic, community, and individual levels is required in order to achieve
sustainability for current and future generations. Basically, development needs to
be separated from economic growth. In doing this, indigenous philosophies should
also be considered, and these should be incorporated in decision-making. This
fundamentally requires an acknowledgement and response to the historical legacy and
current impacts of colonization in the Arctic. As such, contemporary awareness of
different identities and histories in the Arctic need to be raised, and challenges
addressed, through education and community engagement.

The
Executive Summary of the final conference of the HuSArctic project held in October
2018 has been published on the project website in English, Finnish, Swedish,
Russian, Norwegian, and Northern Sámi: http://www.husarctic.org/en/publications. You
can download the Final Report in English here. 

Book about human and societal security focusing on local and indigenous
communities

The final conference of the project
also hosted the official launch of the project’s most recent book publication,
Human and Societal Security in the Circumpolar Arctic: Local and
Indigenous Communities. The book is edited by Kamrul
Hossain, Jose Miguel Roncero, and
Anna Petrétei. The book presents a comparative and
interdisciplinary perspective to which the Arctic is placed as referent, and special
attention is paid to the viewpoint of local and indigenous communities.

The book is the first volume in a new series by Brill, Studies in Polar
Law. The book is available online via the publisher.

More information:

Project website:
www.husarctic.org

Professor Kamrul Hossain
Northern Institute for Environmental and
Minority Law
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
+358 40
484 4281, kamrul.hossain(at)ulapland.fi

 

Group photo of the HuSArctic final conference: Afroja Khanam
LaY/AK/JW