Workshop on “Sustainability in resource-dependent Cities in the Nordic Arctic!”

The “ARCSUS+SDG: Governing Arctic Urban Sustainability through the lens of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals” project, funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, has held its second annual Workshop on 16 October 2024 at the Nordic House in the University of Iceland as a pre-event of the Arctic Circle Assembly 2024. The UiT Arctic University of Norway leads the project and partners with the Universities of Lapland, Iceland, Luleå, and Hokkaido University. The project is a collaborative initiative of the two UArctic Thematic Networks, namely the Thematic Network on Arctic in Asia and Asia in the Arctic and the Thematic Network on Arctic Law. Prof. Kamrul Hossain is a project partner representing the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland and the UArctic Law Thematic Network.

The Workshop focused on a number of specific questions, highlighting different Nordic Arctic urban areas and addressing how sustainability and sustainable development in resource extraction regions shape and transform local and global trends. While addressing resource zones, the Workshop brings an interdisciplinary perspective, touching on infrastructure development, urban planning, and economic development as potentially transformed by implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, which reflects making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. In this context, the Workshop reflected on city planning for inclusive and sustainable growth, focusing on democratic and participatory local governance. The overall goal of the Workshop was to learn about experiences, have a dialogue with academics, municipality leaders, business communities, and other stakeholders, and finally, advance strategies for social, economic, cultural, and population sustainability outlined in SDG 11. The Workshop began with three keynotes followed by a moderated roundtable discussion on industry responsibility to ensure community, economic, and social sustainability in the urban Arctic, stakeholders' consideration of SDG while advancing economic development and profits, and the “green shift” that many municipalities, companies, and countries have promoted over the last decade – whether the shift is enough to lead us towards sustainability and also towards the mitigation of climate change.