SEK 24 million for new Arctic research
The climate is changing, tourism is increasing and the Arctic is under pressure from several directions. Researchers in the Nordic countries are now joining forces to defend nature and the rights of indigenous peoples – and Mid Sweden University is one of the main actors.
The research project ALAMOT (Adapting Law for Moving Targets) has been granted SEK 24 million in research funding from Nordforsk. Of this, seven million SEK will go to Mid Sweden University, of which the largest part will go to the Department of Nature, Design and Sustainable Development, NDH. Climate researcher Andreas Andersson is one of those who will work in the project.
Growing challenges for the Arctic
"It's a super exciting project that will start on June 1. Right now, we are working on all the preparations for the start of the project and the most exciting thing in the near future is the recruitment of a doctoral student to MIUN who will work with us in the project," he says.
The ALAMOT project aims to investigate how laws and policy frameworks in the Arctic are applied today – and how they can be improved to meet the growing challenges of climate change and overtourism. These factors threaten animal and plant life as well as the traditional way of life of Sámi and local communities.
Extreme weather and overtourism
ALAMOT is led by Minna Pappila from the Finnish Environmental Research Institute and focuses on national parks in Sweden, Norway and Finland. By studying how different countries deal with similar environments, the researchers hope to identify best practices for protecting both nature and culture.
"The part of the project that we at Mid Sweden University are primarily working on is to increase knowledge about how climate change with a changed extreme weather and tourism affects animal and plant life as well as the conditions for living in our Arctic national parks in Sweden," Norway and Finland," says Andreas Andersson.
Laws that strengthen and protect
The project is based on a diverse research methodology that includes quantitative studies, interviews, legal analysis and comparative case studies, with the aim of developing concrete legislative and policy proposals that strengthen environmental protection and at the same time support the rights of indigenous peoples, not only in the Nordic countries, but in the entire Arctic.
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