Calotte Academy 2014

The Calotte Academy 2014  will be organized in June  1-8, 2014  in Rovaniemi and Inari, Finland; in
Kirkenes, Norway; and in Murmansk and Apatity, Russia. Here you can see the program

The  theme  of  the  2014  Academy  is  ‘Resource  geopolitics  -  Sovereignty’    in  the  Arctic  region, particularly the Barents Sea area. The focus is inspired by the fact that natural resources,  options for  them, and  their governance play an important role in Arctic geopolitics  and  orthern security  in the  early-21st century.  Resource  geopolitics  together  with  energy  (security)  has  a  long  history  in shaping  and  impacting  the  Arctic  and  the  entire  North.  Climate  change,  (flows  of)  globalization, the mass-scale utilization of fossils,  and the  opening of new sea routes -  the combination of these represents some sort of Arctic ‘paradox’  -  together with a growing global interest  in  the Arctic and its  resources  have  caused  a  new  kind  of  pressure  for  Arctic  states  and  nations,  and  the  people living there, to be(come) concerned  with the  state of the  Arctic environment. Their  direct physical impacts  and  indirect impacts related  to the economy and development, as well as  the uncertainty related to climate change, are seen and interpreted  as a new challenge, or even a threat, to state sovereignty and national security of the littoral states of the Arctic Ocean.

Following  from  this,  recourse  sovereignty  and  governance,  particularly  access  to  energy  sources, has become increasingly strategically important, and a part of the larger issues of (comprehensive) security  in  the  Arctic,  ranging  from  sovereignty  (including  boundaries,  defence,  economy)  to governance  (development,  utilization,  transport/shipping)  to  environmental  issues  (ecosystems, toxins,  climate  change,  human  health).  Underlying  drivers  include  the  significant  geopolitical, geoeconomic and  environmental changes,  and  changes in  the  problem definition of security,  that are happening at local, national, regional and global scales.

The 2014 Calotte Academy will discuss on resources and resource (geo)politics, and sovereignty in the  Arctic  of  the  2010s,  where  two  influential  perspectives:  regionalism/region-building  with devolution of power, and globalization and its flows with environmental and security problems, as well  as  their  interrelationship  and  related  dualism,  exist  and  influence.  During  the  2014  Calotte Academy,  ‘Resource geopolitics  –  Sovereignty’  will be discussed holistically from many angles and disciplinary  approaches,  from  the  perspectives  of  past(s),  present(s)  and  future(s),  and  from global, or  international, Arctic and local contexts  in the  Barents Sea area. In addition,  sovereignty will be theoretically discussed, defined and reconceptualised, as  will  challenges of sovereignty (i.e. the  traditional  interpretation  of  state  sovereignty),  such  as  indigenous  definitions  of  resource sovereignty,  sustainable  development,  climate  change,  and  change(s)  in  security  premises  and paradigms.

The  Calotte  Academy  is  a  sub-forum  for  the  Northern  Research  Forum  (NRF)  and  its  Open Assemblies, as well as the main annual international seminar of the UArctic-NRF Thematic Network on  Geopolitics  and  Security.  The  Calotte  Academy  events  of  2013  and  2014  are  financially supported  by  the  Nordic  Council  of  Ministers  from  its  Arctic  Co-operation  Programme  2012-2014 (see Final Report of the Calotte Academy 2013 – www.nrf.is).

For  more  information  on  the  content  and  procedure  of  the  2014  Academy,  please  contact  Prof. Lassi  Heininen,  Faculty  of  Social  Sciences  at  University  of  Lapland  (e-mail: lassi.heininen@ulapland.fi);  tel.  +358-40-4844  215);  Assoc.  Prof.  Gunhild  Hoogensen-Gjørv, Department  of  Sociology,  Political  Science  and  Community  Planning  at  University  of  Tromsø  (email:  gunhild.hoogensen.gjorv@uit.no);  tel.  +47-7764  4000);  or  Senior  Researcher  Ludmila Ivanova,  Institute  of  Economic  Studies  at  the  Kola  Science  Center  of  the  Russian  Academy  of Sciences (e-mail: ludmila_ivanova@mail.ru).

This is a call for papers, for both established researchers and PhD students of different disciplines, to  participate  and  present  in  the  2014  Calotte  Academy  on  the  theme  ‘Resource  geopolitics  – Sovereignty’.  The  organizers  will  cover  travelling  costs    (Rovaniemi-Inari-Kirkenes-MurmanskApatity-Rovaniemi) by bus and accommodation  in each destination  for those  PhD students  whose abstracts have been accepted (see funding application deadline).

We  ask  you  to  submit  a  title  and  brief  abstract  (250-300  words)  of  your  paper,  and  your  name, affiliation  and  e-mail  address,  and  following  information  for  Russian  visa  application:  name, date  and  place  of  birth,  nationality,     citizenship,     passport  No  and  period  of  validity (from . to .),  name, address, telephone and fax of the employer and  position  no  later than  the  15th of  March  2014.  Notice  of  acceptance  will  be  provided  on  April  1,  2014.   The organizers will arrange visa invitations for all the participants, but will not cover the visa costs.

Abstract submission deadline: March 15, 2014
Funding application deadline for PhD students: March 15, 2014

All proposals with an abstract as well as funding applications should be submitted to PhD student Jussi  Huotari  (e-mail:  jussi.huotari@ulapland.fi;  tel.  +358-50-5975  292);  and  PhD  student  Hanna Lempinen  (e-mail:  hanna.lempinen@ulapland.fi),  Faculty  of  Social  Sciences  at  Lapland  University, Finland.
For more information on the Calotte Academy: www.nrf.is