The challenge of Northern regions

Abstract

The challenge of northern regions is becoming clearer every day. They have less to do with physical conquest of nature than with subtle social and political choices. The final response of our 'developed' and 'advanced' industrial nations remains uncertain, however. What is most remarkable may be the fact that despite different national traditions and geography, the challenges and responses are similar among the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries surveyed here. The papers in this volume are each part-report and part-interpretation. Each is written by a specialist with many years of field study and reflection behind his or her comments. Each author was asked to think about current political and socio-economic issues in the north - the north of Australia, the north of North America and northernmost Europe. On 12 July 1990, all the authors spoke to their papers in a one-day forum where each could question the others. The northern public was invited to join us. The results stimulated the participants as well as many in the audience from whom we have had follow-up requests for more discussion, more information, etc. No more important role vis-a-vis the basic issues in northern life could be played by the North Australia Research Unit (NARU), Darwin.