Human-Environment Relations in the North: resource development, climate change and resilience

Research Programme Leader: Professor Mark Nuttall

The research programme Human-Environment Relations in the North: resource development, climate change and resilience focuses on developing innovative perspectives on human-environment relations in the circumpolar North, especially within a context of contemporary environmental changes which affect livelihoods, human engagement with the environment, resource use and development at multiple and interrelated levels. It comprises several projects linking researchers at the Thule Institute, University of Oulu, Finland and the Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Canada.

The programme is funded by the Academy of Finland through its Finland Distinguished Professor Programme (FiDiPro). Other funding for Canadian projects based at the University of Alberta comes mainly from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Henry Marshall Tory Chair research programme in the Department of Anthropology. Our research and activities also connect with other projects and networks, including the Northern Eurasia Geopolitics Project (NEG) and the Icelandic-Canadian Network for the Study of the Cumulative Impacts of Climate Change in the Arctic (ICECAP).

The programme began in August 2007 and currently has three main focus areas:
1) Resource Development: Histories, Patterns, Negotiation: Our work in this area examines the anthropology, sociology and geopolitics of renewable and non-renewable resources, and their development and use. Projects include the negotiation of Northern energy systems, with a focus on Finland; the geopolitical anthropology of energy; oil and gas development, indigenous engagement and the cultural politics of consultation in northern Canada; decision-making processes and oil and gas in northern Russia; mining and non-renewable resource development in Greenland; the history of Northern boomtowns in northwestern Canada; hydroelectric power, people and conservation in Northern river systems in Finland and Canada; and the anthropology of forestry in northern Finland and Canada’s Yukon Territory.

Researchers: Hannu Heikkinen, Hannah Strauss, Simo Sarkki (University of Oulu); Jodie Asselin, Igor Osipov, Michelle Borowitz, Megan Highet (University of Alberta); Mark Nuttall (University of Alberta/University of Oulu).

2) Climate Change: Anthropological Engagement and Shifting Geographies: We are exploring anthropology’s engagement with climate change, the diversity of sociocultural changes in the circumpolar North, the cultural and political responses to climate change, and the negotiation and management of both shifting geographical terrains and climate policy processes. Our projects include: climate change and winter tourism in northern Finland; climate change and the warming politics of autonomy in Greenland; local perspectives on climate change in northern Iceland; climate change and sustainability in south Greenland; marine biodiversity and indigenous peoples; and legal and institutional barriers to adaptation.

Researchers: Kaarina Tervo-Kankare, Simo Sarkki (University of Oulu); Ryan Brown, Naotaka Hayashi (University of Alberta); Mark Nuttall (University of Alberta/University of Oulu).

3) Resilience: How do people maintain viable lifestyles, livelihoods and homes, and how do they nurture human-environment relations, especially in the face of multiple threats, challenges and opportunities? We examine social and cultural resilience from the perspective of anthropology and political ecology, exploring the relationship between politics, culture, institutions, and the environment. Our developing projects in this area focus on: predator conservation and reindeer herding in northern Finland; wolf conservation and public imaginings of the ‘wild’ in Alberta; the interface between water conflict, negotiation process and culture in northern Alberta; the place of forests in the lives of local people in Yukon; and the sustainability and future of local livelihoods in north and south Greenland.

Researchers: Hannu Heikkinen, Simo Sarkki (University of Oulu); Naotaka Hayashi, Ryan Brown, Jodie Asselin, Michelle Borowitz (University of Alberta); Mark Nuttall (University of Alberta/University of Oulu).

Contact person
Mark Nuttall

Links to related pages
University of Alberta

Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta
Canadian Circumpolar Institute, University of Alberta


Related News

Recent publication: Susan A. Crate and Mark Nuttall (eds.) Anthropology and Climate Change: from encounters to actions Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press http://www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=163