Special Project 4

SP4: Identification of human security in Arctic communities: Community and Research perspectives (synthesis and integration)

Responsible Researcher: Gunhild Hoogensen (University of Tromsø)

Participants: Geir Wing Gabrielsen (NPI), Dawn Bazely (York U, Canada), Kirsti Stuvøy (UiTø), Julia Christensen (McGill, Canada), Holger Pötzsch (UiTø), Alexey Feldt (PSU, Russia), Elena Shavrina (PSU, Russia) Victoria Gonzalez (UiTø), Kari-Anne Bråthen (UiTø), Andrei Repnevski (PSU), Oksana Zaretskaia (PSU).

This project will synthesize and integrate the collected data of SP1-3, as well as the data obtained from the GAPS Canada research. The first three SPs will produce independent outcomes as their own research projects, but all contribute to the overall picture of security in the Arctic. This sub-project therefore consists of the most multidisciplinary facet of the GAPS initiative, bringing community, natural science and policy perspectives together. The outcomes of the species invaders and contaminants research will be compared with the outcomes of the community-based research to determine the extent of similarity and discord in perceptions of human security. This project will also focus on the multiple securities dimension, collecting data from Russia, Norway, Canada and the US pertaining to their security perceptions in the circumpolar region. A further comparison of the community and research identification of threats and opportunities (human security) with state security will be conducted. The outcome will be a comprehensive securities picture of the Arctic as illustrated in figure 2. Most of this collaboration will be conducted through email, and will focus on the production of an edited volume that sums up each individual project, and then analyses the results of the three sub-projects together using a multiple securities approach and the human security framework.