June 14-15, 2022: InfraNorth Workshop “Arctic Infrastructures: Histories of Exploration, Colonization & Industrial Development”

The Arctic, which often has been recognized by residents of temperate climate zones for its supposed unspoiled nature, has a long history of colonization, urbanization and industrial exploitation. From the days of Arctic whaling to gold rushes and oil booms, the Arctic has a rich legacy of built environment serving as infrastructure mainly for non-arctic resource exploitation and domination.

While the ERC project InfraNorth is focused on transport infrastructures, this workshop takes a broader view and explores infrastructures from mining to hydropower to military. It will bring together a number of academic experts working in different parts of the Arctic and aims at exploring the developments that led to the contemporary entanglements between local communities and infrastructures.

The workshop will take place in a hybrid format – on-site at the Luleå University of Technology and on-line. To participate online, please register here: Zoom registration

Flyer Workshop

Food, Culture & Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research

Apr 2026: Article by Katrin Schmid in the Food, Culture & Society Journal

The international multidisciplinary journal Food, Culture & Society has recently published a new article by InfraNorth researcher Katrin Schmid, titled “Transporting Arctic foodways: the infrastructure of food sovereignty in Nunavut, Canada.” The conversation around sustainable food in Canada’s Arctic today is inherently connected to the logistics of transportation. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork (2022–2025), this research […]

Svalbard Airport, Photo by Alexandra Meyer.

Mar 2026: Article by Alexandra Meyer in Polar Geography Special Issue

The quarterly peer-reviewed journal Polar Geography has published the article “Hyperconnected remoteness: the Svalbard airport and community transitions in Longyearbyen” by InfraNorth researcher Alexandra Meyer. The article examines the role of Svalbard Airport in shaping socio-economic transitions and everyday life in Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on the Svalbard archipelago. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork, complemented […]

InfraNorth researcher Timothy Heleniak presented “Is infrastructure enough? The case of decline in the Faroe Islands” at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Brussels.

Mar 10, 2026: Presentation by Timothy Heleniak at the European Committee of the Regions

On March 10, 2026, InfraNorth researcher Timothy Heleniak presented “Is infrastructure enough? The case of decline in the Faroe Islands” at the concluding conference of the Horizon Europe-funded project PREMIUM_EU. The event was organized by Nordregio and hosted by the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels and live-streamed online. In this talk, Heleniak presented […]

Cover of the Polar Geography journal.

Feb 2026: Article by Susan Vanek in Polar Geography Special Issue

The quarterly peer-reviewed journal Polar Geography has published the article “2200 meters: infrastructure, the future, and the politics of belonging in Greenland and the Arctic” by InfraNorth associate researcher Susan Vanek. The article examines Greenland’s airport expansion project, following its approval in 2015 by Naalakkersuisut (the Government of Greenland) as the largest investment in transportation […]