The Board of the University of Lapland has in its meeting on
3rd November appointed Research Professor Timo Koivurova as the Director of the
Arctic Centre for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020. Koivurova has worked as
the acting Director of the Arctic Centre since August. In total 13 people from
Finland and abroad applied for the directorship, and four candidates were
interviewed.

48-year old Koivurova graduated as Doctor of
Law from the University of Lapland in 2001. The topic of his dissertation was
“Environmental impact assessment in the Arctic: a Study of International Legal
Norms”. Koivurova has worked as the Director of the Northern Institute of
Environmental and Minority Law at the Arctic Centre since 2004.

“The global significance of the Arctic region has grown rapidly and the
interest towards Arctic is nowadays global. This is mainly the result of climate
change but many other factors are also included. In our own work we face this vast
interest every day, as we are in the middle of all this. The way the Arctic Centre
works, combining strong Arctic research with dissemination and popularization of
information is unique internationally. We have an opportunity to be a forerunner
both at the national and international levels”, says Koivurova.

“One of the biggest challenges of my directorship will be the chairmanship of
Finland in the Arctic Council, starting spring 2017. As a research community, we
will play an important role. We have already begun to prepare ourselves both at the
national level and in Lapland for enhancing the chairmanship as effectively and
reasonably as possible. This is also a great opportunity for increasing knowledge
about the Arctic issues in Finland”, says Koivurova.

“The
Arctic Centre has reached a high level international status in Arctic research and
it holds a good national position as well. But there are also many other places
where a top-level work is carried out, and it is important to develop networks of
cooperation. In Lapland the University, the University of Applied Sciences and
various research institutes all have much potential for world-class research in
their own fields. We also need even closer connections to other institutions doing
Arctic research in Finland. Those can be found especially in Oulu and in the
Helsinki region. An important international network is the University of the Arctic.
The Arctic Centre wants to enhance cooperation and continue to be an active actor at
the regional, national and international levels”, Koivurova states.

“In the Arctic Centre we have strong multidisciplinary research as well
as expertise on how to bring the information in use for various target groups in a
meaningful way. Therefore we can form the foundation for the EU Arctic information
Centre should they so decide in the EU. We have the capacity to lead a
European-level network that can also produce for the whole European Union
information about the Arctic region that is both popularized and credible”, says
Koivurova.

Timo Koivurova is a docent at the universities
of Turku and Eastern Finland. His field of expertise is international and EU law,
and especially their applications in the Arctic region. He has been an expert member
in many international processes and cooperative networks concerning the Arctic
region and has written an extensive amount of publications about the theme.

The Arctic Centre is a research institute at the University of
Lapland. Its premises are located in the Arktikum Building in Rovaniemi. Its
functions also include an Arctic Science Centre, science communications and
interaction towards the society. The Centre employs around 70 people from more than
ten different countries.

Additional information:

Timo
Koivurova, Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland
timo.koivurova(at)ulapland.fi
+358 40 5519522
(n.b.:
Koivurova is abroad on November 3rd due to work. He will return to Rovaniemi on the
afternoon of November 4th )