Arctic Youth and Sustainable Futures (Arctic Youth)
Following up on a key recommendation in AHDR-II (2015), this project (2016 - ongoing) on “Arctic Youth and Sustainable Futures” (Arctic Youth) convenes an international working group of Arctic scholars, alongside Arctic youth representatives, to investigate and conduct research on the needs, opportunities and aspirations of Arctic youth, to fill an identified gap in knowledge on the lives, ambitions, needs and challenges of youth – indigenous and non-indigenous – across the circumpolar Arctic. The future of the Arctic will be determined by the choices youth make and their priorities in terms of culture and identities, where to study and where to live, and what occupations and lifestyles to pursue, as well as their choices concerning factors that affect the environment, and the impacts and adaptation to climate change. The working group will research the literature and existing knowledge, determine the scope of an edited volume in terms of topics in consultation with Arctic youth and an Arctic Youth Advisory Committee, conduct interviews, focus group discussions, a youth action forum, and web-based surveys, and thereby contribute to our knowledge on sustainable options for Arctic communities and localities, urban and rural, thus with a project well rooted at the local and regional level.
Project Leaders and Managers
Dr. Joan Nymand Larsen, Senior Scientist and Research Director, Stefansson Arctic Institute; Professor, University of Akureyri & Dr. Jón Haukur Ingimundarson, Senior Scientist and Anthropologist, Stefansson Arctic Institute; Associate Professor, University of Akureyri
Other researchers at SVS: Sveinbjörg Smáradóttir
Core funding: Nordic Council of Ministers’ Arctic Cooperation Programme