“Increasing the population in the north is a national interest and a security issue”
The Arctic is in the spotlight – for better or worse. It intersects with issues of geopolitics, natural resources, security policy, control of transport routes, climate threats, green transition, shrinking populations and consideration for indigenous peoples.
The Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø brought together researchers, ministers and state secretaries of the Nordic countries, US senators and diplomats, journalists, representatives of indigenous peoples and business and many others. And then the Norrbotten Region through the North Sweden Green Deal project. Here is a selection of voices about challenges, opportunities and ways forward.
There was great interest in Norrbotten and our project North Sweden Green Deal at the international conference Arctic Frontiers in Northern Norway. Project manager Mia Ahlstrand was frequently invited, and appeared four times at various seminars and panel discussions. The conference was held for the sixteenth time and this year gathered around a thousand participants over four days.
Many people stopped between program points to ask questions about everything that is happening in Norrbotten and how we are trying to make the most of the opportunity we have been given with new industrialization.
Mia Ahlstrand opens a "Science session" on community building with a presentation of Norrbotten's work with the North Sweden Green Deal.
This year's conference had the theme "Moving North" and it was striking how the Arctic regions are largely in a similar situation: an economy that is growing while the population is shrinking. Arctic Frontiers thus became an opportunity to meet, talk and learn from what other parts of the Arctic are thinking, trying and saying about our common problem.
Here are some votes.
– Increasing the population in the north is a national interest and a security issue. We do not want large territories in Norway where no one lives. Active and strategic measures are needed to break the patterns. Bold political decisions are needed. Investments in strategic infrastructure, education. Investments in that capacity are a long-term investment that we know will give fantastic returns. We are now introducing free preschool in our northernmost parts. It is a concrete economic measure. We are combining that with easing the burden of student debt, said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Störe.
– We are leading the way in green transition thanks to new and unprecedented investments, mining, battery production. The government now has a new strategy for northern Sweden. There is a need for local communities to step in and increase their population to live up to the potential that exists in the north, without undermining the people who already live there. If we can succeed in that, it would be an inspiring show for the EU and the world, said Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.
Foreign Ministers on stage: Tobias Billström (Sweden), Anniken Huitfeldt (Norway), moderator Susannah Streeter, Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir (Iceland) and Johanna Sumuvuori, State Secretary to Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs.
– People talk a lot about natural resources, but there is another resource – the untapped human resource. We need to be inclusive, work with equality, let indigenous people in. We can do much better than this. When you take advantage of the full potential of humanity, you get good solutions. Use all the innovative minds to find new solutions, said Iceland's Foreign Minister Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir.
“The green transition must be inclusive. We must not ignore the people who actually live where the natural resources are. We must work with local communities and indigenous peoples’ organizations and make meaningful decisions,” said Johanna Sumuvuori, State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
– The green transition is a threat to indigenous peoples. Europe must know that, the state must know that. Today we face the immoral demand that we sacrifice ourselves to solve the crisis our leaders seem incapable of solving, said Silje Karine Muotka, President of the Norwegian Sami Parliament.
– Why are we so shy? We need to share everything positive that is happening. The Arctic is an area of good research and innovation, we nurture people with good ideas. We need to put ourselves at the center, not just take the southern perspective. This is where it happens, said Marie-Louise Rönnmark, Chairwoman of Umeå City Council.
From left: Ida Maria Pinneröd, chair Bodö municipality, Ulla-Kirsikka Vainio, mayor of Rovaniemi, Marie-Louise Rönnmark, chair Umeå city council, Patti Bruns, general secretary Arctic Mayors' Forum, Gunnar Wilhelmsen, chair Tromsö municipality, Mirja Vehkaperä, chairman of the municipal board Oulu, Ane Hansen, mayor Qeqertalik Kommune.
– From the University of Tromsø, 77% stay in northern Norway. Why do they stay? We just ask why people leave here, said Gunnar Wilhelmsen, chairman of Tromsø Municipality.
– We really want citizens throughout Greenland to be involved. Children between the ages of 6 and 17 could vote for representatives in a children's council. They got involved in the election just as much as adults, put up election posters and gave election speeches. Now we are going to start a senior council, they will be 60+, said Ane Hansen, Mayor of Qeqertalik Municipality.
– We need more EU in the Arctic and more Arctic on the EU table. We must raise our issues and opportunities. We have few people, a lot of natural resources, we are strong in innovation. Our cities are key players. Our local population is in the driver's seat. But we need investments from our governments and more and more EU investments in the future, said Mirja Vehkaperä, Chairwoman of the Oulu City Council.
– Imbalanced demographics are unstable. You can’t compensate for unbalanced demographics. Basically, we have to fill the gaps and create a place where people want to live. It’s a big challenge but also a big motivation, said Dr. Janakan Ratnarajan, who works with the project Aging in the Arctic in Northern Norway.
– 52% of Norwegian young people see no opportunities in the north. 64% of companies in the north do not have enough people looking for jobs. It is obvious that we are not succeeding in showing the opportunities. We have to show everything positive that happens after four o'clock, it could be wine lotteries, walking together, social things. Companies have to take greater responsibility. We have a network called Tromsö 2037, it is for professionals between 20 and 37. They get to know each other and learn new things, it is almost always overbooked. We arrange lectures with people in high positions in the region, they get to tell how they got there. It is about making all the opportunities known, said Martine Lödding, involved in youth issues and advisor to the Tromsö Region Business Association.
– Integrate young people through mentoring. Empower young people. Build relationships, it is super important to transfer knowledge from older people. Find new ways to approach things. Make room and create new opportunities for young people, said Janelle Flett, who belongs to one of Canada's indigenous peoples and is at the Barkley Project Group Among other things, they work to create access to solar energy for indigenous peoples.
Janelle Flett spoke about the lack of opportunities for young people in the parts of Canada she comes from. “It's really about getting us to come back after we've finished our education.” On the left is Martine Lödding, on the right is Mia Ahlstrand.
– With the climate changes that are and the new geopolitical situation - remember that we have painful experiences of colonialism that we are very aware of today. We want development by, for and with us. The race to the Arctic has affected us in very serious ways. This time we are ready to participate, but important principles are being violated time and time again. Decisions do not include us. This is a test for our own nations, said Sara Olsvig, Greenlandic politician and chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council.
– For government jobs, you are now required to determine and state for each job whether it is to be performed at a specific location or is a location-independent job. This promotes the freedom to live where you want. Location-independent jobs can be performed from anywhere, said Reinhard Reynisson, Iceland, regional contact person for the Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme.
“Many jobs are never advertised. You go across the street and recruit from the company next door. We have now reached an agreement with all companies in our network that they must advertise all jobs and advertise them in English. They must accept recruiting from abroad,” said Ole M. Kolstad, CEO of Rana Utvikling, a business development company in Mo i Rana in Norway where a large battery factory is now emerging.
– I knew nothing about Tromsø, I ended up here because the university was flexible. I didn't have to prove that my English was perfect. The second reason was that I didn't have to pay for the education. Now Norway is planning to introduce fees, which is not good if you want to attract new brains. We have to look outside our own bubble. Are the people we need in Brazil, Ghana, Canada? But if someone from outside the EU wants to come here and work, it's a difficult migration procedure. And why would they come to Norway? There are all the opportunities here, but you don't tell them about it enough. These things need to be marketed properly, said Larry Ibrahim Mohammed, researcher in political science at the University of Tromsø, originally from Ghana.
Larry Ibrahim Mohammed is a researcher on indigenous rights at the University of Tromsø and says he discovered new sides of himself after moving - like his love of nature in Northern Norway. Here with panelist Mia Ahlstrand from North Sweden Green Deal.
– Scotland is the northernmost non-Arctic country, but we have some of the same challenges as you. We have communities on remote islands in the north. We need to stop the exodus from these communities. In fact, the population of the whole of Scotland is decreasing because of Brexit. We are working across government and have a task force that looks at the whole picture: health, education, housing, transport. We are now starting up a talent and migration service. Hopefully it will be helpful for those who want to move, said Angus Robertson, Member of the Scottish Parliament.
Photos and compilation by: Sara Stylbäck Vesa
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The North Sweden Green Deal is an initiative to realize a sustainable societal transition, in the wake of the new industrial establishments.
The project is run by Region Norrbotten and Region Västerbotten together with a number of other actors. It is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).