Suchergebnisse

In the late 18th century explorers and scientists started venturing into the Arctic in a heroic and sometimes deadly effort to understand and unveil the secrets of the unforgiving and mysterious polar region of the high north. Despite that the Arctic was already populated mattered less for the first wave of polar researchers and explorations who nevertheless, brought back valuable knowledge. Today the focus in Arctic science and discourse has changed to one which includes the peoples and societies, and their interaction with the world beyond. The image of a static Arctic - heralded first by explorers - prevailed for a long time, but today the eyes of the World see the Arctic very differently. Few, if any, other places on Earth are currently experiencing the kind of dramatic change witnessed in the Arctic. According to model forecasts, these changes are likely to have profound implications on biophysical and human systems, and will accelerate in the decades to come. "The New Arctic" highlights how, and in what parts, the natural and political system is being transformed. We're talking about a region where demography, culture, and political and economic systems are increasingly diverse, although many common interests and aspects remain; and with the new Arctic now firmly placed in a global context. Settlements range from small, predominantly indigenous communities, to large industrial cities, and all have a link to the surrounding environment, be it glaciers or vegetation or the ocean itself. "The New Arctic" contributes to our further understanding of the changing Arctic. It offers a range of perspectives, which reflect the deep insight of a variety of scientific scholars across many disciplines bringing a wide range of expertise. The book speaks to a broad audience, including policy-makers, students and scientific colleagues

This report is a result of and follow-up to the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR), which appeared in 2004 and had been conducted under the auspices of the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG). The AHDR marked processes of maturation within the Arctic Council and beyond. On the one hand, the AHDR represented the first social science-driven report prepared for the Arctic Council, indicating that various stakeholders, from politicians to Arctic residents, understood the importance of the "human dimension" for sustainable development in the Arctic. On the other hand, the processes leading to the AHDR marked new developments in the relationship between Arctic governance and scholarship, including coordinated support for the report from the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (SCPAR).

"….Taking the structure and functioning of the Arctic regional economies and the degree of economic dependence as a point of departure, these region's self-reliance and comparative socio-economic performance is analyzed. The fundamental problem is still the dependency Arctic regions have on their mother economies in the south" "….the impact from climate changes and the global economy strongly influence the self-sufficiency constraints and potentials of the Arctic societies. Traditional approaches to economic valuation may not be sufficient to capture these relationships. Neo-classical economics and the trade off model look upon nature as a good commensurable with all other goods, and henceforward there is a substitution possibility. The rational self-interest and 'homo economicus' is however, not the same as responsible self-interest included in ecological economics. This suggests broader approaches to environmental uncertainties, which take into account ethical values and conflicts of interest". Contributors: Hans Aage, Iulie Aslaksen, Andrée Caron, Gérard Duhaime, Solveig Glomsröd, Jón Haukur Ingimundarson, Ivar Jonsson, Jack Kruse, Joan Nymand Larsen, Svein Mathiesen, Anna Ingeborg Myhr, Birger Poppel, Rasmus Ole Rasmussen, Erik Reinert, Hugo Reinert, Chris Southcott, Gorm Winther, Lyudmila Zalkind.