454
Arctic Yearbook 2015
hope that the so far successful cooperation between Western and Russian partners can be sustained
despite the complex political and economic situation.
The fourth day of the Academy didn’t contain any presentations; however, it featured long and in
many ways enlightening travel across the entire Kola Peninsula, the heart of the Russian North
and the home to many cultural, natural and man-made attractions. The first part of the day’s
journey, the northbound route towards Murmansk, was telling the tale of conquering the North:
the heavily polluted industrial sites of Monchegorsk and Olenegorsk, the Kola Nuclear Power
Plant and the long-gone indigenous history of the area. The city of Murmansk, the largest human
settlement above the Polar Circle and home to the Russian Northern Fleet, served as the midpoint
of the journey. During the second part of the day’s ride, the Academy participants had an
opportunity to look at the Russian war monuments, military installations from the Cold War era,
heavy industrial pollution in Nikel and Zapolyarny (with nearly all vegetation destroyed) and
borderland area with barbed wire and streaming rivers. Such insig hts into the cultural and natural
history of the Arctic keep reminding researchers that the Arctic keeps traces of all kinds of human
activity and there is still much to be discovered.
Days 6-7: From Norway Back to Finland
The last two days of the Academy, held at the maritime Norwegian town of Kirkenes and in Inari,
the capital of Finnish Lapland, mainly focused on the issues of social sustainability, human capital
in the North and indigenous and environmental studies. The researchers presented several cases
from all across the Arctic, some of them discussing ways of achieving social sustainability and
welfare in the circumpolar communities (indigenous and non-indigenous alike), some studying the
strategies of environmental management in the Arctic Ocean and the Barents Region, some
reflecting on the national policies of the Arctic activities and climate change mitigation. The
continuity found in these talks provides an interesting insight into Arctic research in general: how
the community-based approach and the studies of global processes can both serve to assess and
address potential Arctic futures and build development strategies for global and grass-roots actors.
The last evening of the tour brought all the participants together for an outdoor barbeque dinner
by the campfire and the genuine Finnish sauna experience on shores of still icy-cold Lake Inari;
indeed, not only the academic sessions, but also the endless hours spent in the bus and the wellplanned social program are crucial components for making the Calotte Academy what is – a forum
for open and enlightening discussions with a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.
*****
The 2015 Calotte Academy features an outstanding example of how the boundaries between
different groups and actors can melt and disappear if cooperation and communication are the
chosen approach. This concerns boundaries between the established and the early-career
researchers, Western and Russian scholars, women and men, but most importantly — researchers
from different disciplines. The nexus between social and political sciences and humanities and,
more broadly, between “hard” and “soft” sciences, is crucial for conducting meaningful Arctic
research. Only comparing different points of view and assessing the situation from different
perspectives we can understand the deep roots of the global processes such as climate change and
militarization of the Arctic or, vice versa, understand how the global issues are reflected in
individual case studies at the local level. This is exactly what happens during the Calotte Academy:
Calotte Academy 2015