Thematic Network Update
THE “GLOBAL ARCTIC” PROJECT
Lassi Heininen & Matthias Finger
The GlobalArctic project (see www.globalarctic.org) is an international and interdisciplinary expert
network based on individuals affiliated in several Nordic and circumpolar institutions, networks
and forums in the field. A joint strategy for the GlobalArctic project considers the Arctic region in
the 2010s to have become part and parcel of global political, economic, technological and
environmental, as well as societal, change. Correspondingly, what happens in the Arctic has
significant implications worldwide.
Following from this, the context of the emerging research project is twofold: the first stage, the
‘Global > Arctic’, is to (re)define globalization and its multi-functional effects, as well as impacts
of rapid climate change, as drivers of change in the Arctic region.
The second stage is the ‘Arctic > Global’, which will identify and explore the global implications
and drivers of the globalized Arctic affecting the rest of the globe, and their interactions, as well
as the role the Arctic plays in world politics and the global economy. In order to address the
major stages the Project is aimed to be organized around four interrelated thematic areas of
varying scope (see Matrix below): Resources, Energy, Economics, Infrastructures and Technology;
Environment, Environmental Degradation and Climate Change; (Geo)Politics, Security and Governance; and
Peoples, Cultures, Well-being and Societies. They represent the major functions of the Arctic region in
globalization of the 2010s and cover the most relevant field