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Smart Societies and Arctic Sustainability: Opportunities and Challenges

Shared Voices 2020 Smart Societies And Arctic Sustainability

By Nadezda Nazarova, Vice-lead of the UArctic Thematic Network on Smart Societies in the High North, Associate Professor and Evgenii Aleksandrov, Postdoctoral Researcher and Anatoli Bourmistrov, Lead of the UArctic Thematic Network on Smart Societies in the High North, Professor, Nord University

There is an increasing discussion in northern countries on the smart concept and how it can help to solve the problems of the Arctic, including climate change. Being highly innovative, it has the potential to contribute to sustainable development efforts by means of modern technologies and social innovations.

Holistic initiatives are still rather uncommon in the High North, but interest in the concept is growing. Smart transportation, smart governance, smart waste, and smart education crowd the top of the climate action lists of national and regional governments.

The partners of the UArctic Thematic Network on Smart Societies in the High North share the belief that smart initiatives can be a solution to sustainable growth and urban development in the High North. In this article, we present a more critical perspective and highlight the current opportunities and challenges of the smart concept implementation, based on our experiences within the Thematic Network.

First, there are differences in what “smart” means across the Arctic regions. At the establishment stage of our network, different perspectives on the appropriate unit of smart analysis resulted in long discussions on “too big vs. too small”. Smart city, smart community, or smart ecosystems? In this respect, the idea of smart society works in its integrating and overarching power that welcomes multiple perspectives. In addition, it allows further cooperation even when it comes to such competing dimensions as technological development and indigenous issues.

Second, there is a constant trade-off between fancy and sustainable solutions in the smartification of the Arctic. With the growing level of digitalization, the discussion between scholars and practitioners increases on the sustainability of the smart city concept in the High North. Many smart city initiatives originally developed in southern regions hardly pass the Arctic stress test. Therefore, they must be properly translated into the High North context in order to represent a solution and not a burden for Arctic sustainability.

Third, there is an essential missing element in everything that relates to smart Arctic development: the dialogue component. Smart solutions should be driven and framed by participatory governance initiatives, such as CitizensLab, participatory budgeting, or e-government. These initiatives demand time to address and realize existing variations of local stakeholders’ perspectives on smart Arctic development. The dialogue can help ensure that suggested smart initiatives get translated for the High North context, and not vice versa, as it often seems to be the case.

To sum up, we agree that smart societies can improve the attractiveness of Arctic cities and regions and foster a sustainable future. However, it is important to address not only the opportunities the concept offers but also the challenges it implies. In this respect, the partners of our Thematic Network are dedicated to develop a joint online course on relevant aspects of smart societies formation in the High North. The course will combine their unique competences and various perspectives on the topic, and the digital format will unite partners across geographical and time zones and make knowledge on smart societies in the High North available beyond the borders of the region. In the long term, this contributes to the sustainability of our Thematic Network as well as the Arctic.

Related Thematic Networks

Table of Contents

  1. Letter from the President

    By Lars Kullerud

  2. Editorial

    By Outi Snellman

  3. Letter from Monaco

    By HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco

  4. Climate Action – A Need for Policy

    By Pekka Haavisto

  5. Russia’s Ten Priorities in the Arctic

    By Alexander V. Krutikov

  6. Learning from the Crisis: Issues in Strengthening Online Learning for the Future

    By Diane Hirshberg and Paul Wasko

  7. Step Up and Take Climate Leadership

    By Eirik Sivertsen

  8. Multidisciplinary Research as Climate Action

    By Annika Granebeck and Nina Kirchner

  9. It Takes a Village: University of New Hampshire Students Spur Climate Change Research to Action

    By Colleen Flaherty, Rebecca Irelan and Cameron Wake

  10. Exploring Arctic Policy from an Inuit Perspective

    By Nadine C. Fabbi, Michelle Koutnik, Ellen Ahlness and Elizabeth Wessells

  11. Stories from the Ice: A History of Arctic Climate and Environmental Change Told in Ice Cores

    By Karl Kreutz, Cameron Wake, Erich Osterberg and Alison Criscitiello

  12. Student story: Anna-Katri Kulmala

  13. UArctic Annual Report 2019

  14. Building Relationships with Land: Bushkids Initiative

    By Chloe Dragon Smith

  15. Understanding Climate Change Through Storytelling, Culture, and Art

    By Aaluk Edwardson, Maleah Wenzel, Sabena Allen, Shelbi Fitzpatrick and Melody Brown Burkins

  16. Many a Little Makes a Mickle: Coastal Studies Students and Staff Take Action Against Marine Litter

    By Catherine Chambers and Astrid Fehling

  17. Our Plastic Ocean, Our Clean Ocean: Art as a Catalyst to Build Understanding

    By Herminia Din

  18. Worlds in Motion – The National Museums of World Culture, Sustainability and the Future

    By Sofie Öberg Magnusson and Martin Schultz

  19. Voluntourism in the Faroe Islands: A Sustainable Nordic Tourism Model

    By Jonathan Wood

  20. Northern Nursing Students Raising Awareness and Spreading Knowledge on Climate Actions

    By Kathie Pender, Donald Leidl and Bente Norbye

  21. Shortening the Time from Observing to Decision-making in the Arctic

    By Olivia Lee and Finn Danielsen

  22. “Breath of the North”: A Literary Portrait of Jean Malaurie

    By Jan Borm

  23. Climate Change – Key Challenge of Arctic Herders’ Livelihoods and Cultures

    By Alena Gerasimova, Svetlana Avelova, Mikhail Pogodaev, Anatoly Zhozhikov, Anders Oskal and Svein D. Mathiesen

  24. Alumni Testimonials from the Model Arctic Council

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