Sustainability Panels

[Arctic Futures, Sustainabilities and Strategic Environmental Research] | [SakKijânginnatuk Nunalik] | [From Staples to Sustainability: Can Extractive Resource Development Lead to Sustainability in the Arctic?]

Three Sustainability Research Project Panels will be presented during the Eighth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences being held 22-26 May 2014 at the University of Northern British Columbia, in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. These large-scale sustainability research projects will be held in the same venue as the keynote speeches, and will be scheduled, like the keynoted, so that all conference participants may attend.

1) Arctic Futures, Sustainabilities and Strategic Environmental Research
Panel organized by:
Lize-Marié van der Watt (Project Manager, Swedish Polar Research Secretariat)

Presentation 1: Multiple futures, multiple pasts – on seeing many Arctics - Carina Keskitalo
What has been the role of social sciences and humanities in constructing the Arctic pasts and Arctic futures of the present? This presentation reflects on the role social sciences and humanities, and the individuals conducting social science and humanities research, have played in constructing/deconstructing the prevailing narratives of Arctic pasts. It also looks critically at the influence that social sciences and the humanities can (and should) have in constructing/deconstructing Arctic futures, especially given the intrinsically political nature of sustainable development as a concept.
Authors: Carina Keskitalo (Umeå University), Sverker Sörlin (KTH Royal Institute of Technology), Nina Wormbs (KTH Royal Institute of Technology).

Presentation 2: Is the Arctic rich in resources? Interdisciplinarity in understanding governance - Peder Roberts
How does interdisciplinary work aid our understanding of resources? If we recognize that resources such as ecosystem services are constructed entities, in terms of their location within political-economic and cultural networks, do we gain a tool for thinking critically about their importance – with implications for sustainable development? How can social sciences and the humanities engage productively with natural sciences – and each other – to inform the debate on appropriate governance regimes?
Authors: Dag Avango (KTH Royal Institute of Technology), Scott Cole, (EnviroEconomics), Gerda Kinell (Enveco Environmental Economics Consultancy), Annika E. Nilsson (Stockholm Environment Institute), Peder Roberts (KTH Royal Institute of Technology), Tore Söderqvist (Enveco Environmental Economics Consultancy).\

Presentation 3: Salience, stakeholders and sustainabilities - Suzanne de la Barre or Peter Sköld.
What do we mean when we speak of stakeholders in the Arctic? What does this imply for Arctic governance? Who (or what) constitutes a legitimate stakeholder in Arctic social-science and humanities research? Who should determine research priorities, and where is our own place as researchers as stakeholders in the Arctic? In essence, how is ‘stakeholder’ defined, validated, acknowledged, and operationalized in the Arctic?
Authors: Dieter Müller (Umeå University ), Suzanne de la Barre (Vancouver Island University and Umeå University), Eric Paglia (KTH), Peter Sköld (Umeå University), Kristofer Bergh (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)

Discussant: Peter Schweitzer (University of Vienna).

Moderated open discussion: Lize-Marié van der Watt

Other Panel Members attending & leading the presentations:
Carina Keskitalo (Umeå University)
Peder Roberts (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Suzanne de la Barre (Vancouver Island University and Umeå University)
Peter Sköld (Umeå University),
Peter Schweitzer (University of Vienna & IASSA Council Member)

2) SakKijânginnatuk Nunalik
Panel organized by:
Trevor Bell (Memorial University of Newfoundland), and
Tom Sheldon (Director of Environment, Nunatsiavut Government & Nain Research Centre)

Outline of Hour: Introduce the Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) and briefly outline the issues that led to its creation. Focus on our holistic, action-oriented approach and the relationship between research, policy development and program evaluation. Brief overview of two of the main SCI sub-projects: InosiKatigeKagiamik Illumi (Healthy Homes in Nunatsiavut – piloting Nunatsiavut’s first sustainable, multi-unit residential dwelling) and Aullak, sangilivallianginnatuk (Going Off, Growing Strong – community freezer and youth outreach program). These overviews will include short documentary videos illustrating the scope, outcomes and value of these projects for communities. To be followed by open discussion with questions from the audience.
Other Panel Members:
Christina Goldhar (Environmental Protection Analyst, Nunatsiavut Government)
Dorothy Angnatok (Research Outreach Coordinator for the Nunatsiavut Government)
Invited Government and Community leaders


3) From Staples to Sustainability: Can Extractive Resource Development Lead to Sustainability in the Arctic?
Panel organized by:
Chris Southcott (Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic (ReSDA), Canada & IASSA Council Member), and
Andrey Petrov (Arctic Frontiers of Sustainability: Resources, Societies, Environments and Development in the Changing North (Arctic-FROST), USA & IASSA Council Member)

Outline of Hour: We are proposing to have five individuals on the panel. One will be the moderator and will introduce the topic and the panel. The other four will address the two questions being proposed. Each will have 10 minutes to speak. The final 15 minutes will be reserved for comments from the audience. Not all of four speakers have yet been confirmed, but each will be from a different region of the Arctic and will represent a different academic discipline. At least one panelist will be a non-academic community representative.
Other Panel Members:
Lee Huskey (Economist, Alaska, USA)
Ken Coates (Historian, Canada)
TBA x 2