Hanna Lempinen is researcher at the Arctic Center in Rovaniemi & PhD Candidate at the University of
Lapland, Finland. Joël Plouffe is researcher at the Raoul Dandurand Chair of Strategic and Diplomatic Studies
and PhD Candidate at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada.
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Commentary:
Dialogue across Borders in the Circumpolar
North: Highlights from the 2012 Calotte Academy on Water
in/and the Arctic
Hanna Lempinen & Joël Plouffe
This year’s Calotte Academy (CA) programme focused on “Water – Globally and in the North
Calotte,” a broad but timely theme inspired by the multiple functions and meanings of water for
human and non-human beings alike. Indeed, water in its various forms can serve as a transportation
channel, a basis of cultures, identities and livelihoods, a living environment and a precondition for
life, and health and well being, as well as a traded commodity in itself. Therefore understanding the
geopolitical issues of water
in
the Arctic, and water in relation
with
the Arctic is imperative in the
context of Arctic change.
This brief feature of the CA seeks to expose the main discussions undertaken in 2012 by the
Academy participants, and to point out some of the key research outcomes resulting from this year’s
weeklong dialogue in the Arctic.
The Calotte Academy: Bringing People & Ideas Together
The CA is an annual international travelling cross-border symposium in Europe’s North Calotte
region (Arctic regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Western Russia), designed to foster dialogue
among members of the research community, academia, and northern experts and stakeholders.