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Regulatory coherence is crucial to effectively respond to the growing pressures that our oceans are facing. Applying the interpretative lens of ocean connectivity to ocean governance can help address the challenges from a material, epistemic, and geopolitical viewpoint. This special issue intends to uncover various understandings of ocean connectivity taking into account the complex biocultural interactions happening in the marine environment. The research aim is divided into two objectives: (1) to explore the various conceptualizations of ocean connectivity; and (2) to provide a critical analysis on how the law (of the sea) considers or disregards ocean connectivity. Our research methodology combines a literature review and a mapping technique that examines the models of connectivity. The mapping technique has been developed by adopting the 'one-pager approach', where the authors have been asked to answer two research questions, aligned with our research objectives. We structured the work into an introductory section and three main articles. The understanding of ocean connectivity is key to developing international marine policy and suggesting legal tools for the protection of the marine environment. Moving from this angle towards an understanding of connectivity which includes bio-centric elements, Indigenous cosmo-visions, and anthropocentric connectivity, we identified three models of connectivity and explored their suitability to address the systemic challenges.

A number of new technologies for crisis communication is developed based on a now widespread acknowledgment: Information saves lives. But what is really in this realization? The fact that access to information can be equated with access to clean water and food for a refugee? That we no longer need their own exploration crews to track down people which went out to live in the mountains? In the this article I put spotlight on digital map crisis ('crisis mapping') and the importance of an increasingly digitized crisis communication between recipients and donors of humanitarian aid. An initial assertion that discusses the past candidate that more digital communication between professional humanitarian relief agencies and the public contributes to increased efficiency of the traditional relief efforts. Past candidate based on the assumption that the crisis-affected population can provide information that is relevant for response prosecutors, in a manner that is faster and more cost-effective than ever before. In return, crisis victims fervent early response, and through that the taking over of control over the flow of information in response to prosecutors, they also have a greater influence on the welfare services tasks and priorities (Shkabatur 2012: 4). Adapted from the source document.

The Arctic region has attracted the interest of Arctic and non-Arctic states, as well as non-state actors, for decades. Corresponding with the growing attraction towards the region, the number of conferences attending to Arctic issues has expanded. This article provides an historical mapping of the Arctic conference sphere, and demonstrates how the establishment of Arctic conferences has both paralleled central events in Arctic affairs and can be linked to important international developments. Firstly, there is a notable peak conforming with the "second state change" in 2005, brought about by developments opening the Arctic to global concerns: the impacts of climate change and the spread of the socio-economic effects from globalization to the Arctic. Secondly, the expanding number of conferences around 2013 can be seen in relation to the growing interest in the region from non-Arctic states. As such, this article builds the argument for conferences as a central element within the Arctic governance architecture, creating linkages among units in the regime complex. The article devotes particular attention towards the two largest international conferences on Arctic issues – Arctic Frontiers and Arctic Circle Assembly – to illustrate how the necessity for hybrid policy-science-business conferences arose from a more complex governance system, and challenges requiring cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary, and international collaboration.

After a period of relative neglect in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Arctic is back on the agenda of the Russian authorities. To ensure efficient coordination and implementation of its Arctic strategy, the government in 2015 established a State Commission for Arctic Development. It was to serve as a platform for coordinating the implementation of the government's ambitious plans for the Arctic, for exchange of information among Arctic actors, and for ironing out interagency and interregional conflicts. Based on a case study of the State Commission for Arctic Development, this article has a twofold goal. First, it explores the current Russian domestic Arctic agenda, mapping key actors and priorities and examining the results achieved so far. Second, it discusses what this case study may tell us the about policy formulation and implementation in Russia today. We find that while the government's renewed focus on the Arctic Zone has yielded some impressive results, the State Commission has been at best a mixed success. The case study demonstrates how, in the context of authoritarian modernization, the Russian government struggles to come up with effective and efficient institutions for Arctic governance. Moreover, the widespread image of a Russian governance model based on a strictly hierarchic "power vertical" must be modified. Russia's Arctic policy agenda is characterized by infighting and bureaucratic obstructionism: even when Putin intervenes personally, achieving the desired goals can prove difficult.