Concerns about the Arctic

23.08.16 | News
Phia Evelyn Birgitta Andersson og Rigmor Andersen Eide fra Nordisk Råd i Qaqortoq i Grønland
Photographer
Torkil Sørensen
"Sustainable regional development in the Arctic” was the title for a joint theme meeting with the Nordic Council held after the annual meeting of the West Nordic Council in Qaqortoq, southern Greenland, in August.

Phia Andersson (Sweden) represented the Nordic Council at the meeting and expressed concern about the impact of the current geopolitical situation on the Arctic.

 “We will not accept the Russian annexation of Crimea. On the other hand, we don’t want the Arctic region dragged into conflicts elsewhere in the world. We face enough challenges as it is up here in the far North – there’s no need for any more violent, geopolitical conflicts,” she said.

At the theme meeting, the politicians were presented with the results of a new study of several parts of the Arctic region by a working group under Nordregio, the Nordic Council of Ministers' institution for regional development.

There is an abundance of resources in the Nordic Arctic, but they vary a lot from region to region. In the Nordic foresight analysis, Arctic citizens voice the factors that are most important for their communities to thrive in the future:
Infrastructure, education and skills, job creation and business development and more cultural and social activities.

According to the analysis, the regional and local authorities need to mobilise the people – young and old – and collaborate more with neighbouring regions.

The meeting started with a public event in Qaqortoq attended by local people. A conference was also held for West-Nordic, Nordic and local politicians, at which the Nordic Council was represented by Steingrímur Sigfússon and Ólína Kjerúlf Þorvarðardóttir (Iceland) and Rigmor Andersen Eide (Norway).