Dec 9, 2023: Interview in the Finnish Newspaper Lapin Kansa
The Finnish regional newspaper Lapin Kansa recently featured an interview with our team member Ria-Maria Adams, in its weekend edition. The interview focused on her work with young people in Lapland, which is part of her forthcoming doctoral thesis. Ria-Maria’s dissertation includes the case of young rural “stayers,” who are bucking the prevailing culture of leaving their hometowns to live in more urban areas of the country.
In collaboration with her colleague from the University of Lapland, Teresa Komu, Ria-Maria has co-authored two publications (a book chapter and a research article, both released in 2021) on the well-being of young people in Finnish Lapland. Journalist Niina Lavia builds on these articles in her interview with Ria-Maria, highlighting the voices of local young people. The interviewees talk about the building blocks of what makes a good life for them, as well as the challenges they face. For example, while long distances are not a problem for young people in the North who are used to commuting long distances, the rising fuel prices emerge as a challenge to pursue their lifestyle in the Arctic. The article “He jotka jäävät” (Those who stay) can be read in Finnish behind a paywall at the following link.
In Svalbard, the environment, society, and policy are changing rapidly. On April 10, 2024, a lunch seminar at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) discussed what these changes mean for people in Longyearbyen, and the dilemmas associated with using and protecting the environment. The seminar featured Alexandra Meyer from InfraNorth, who gave a […]
The 4th Vienna Anthropology Days – VANDA conference, which will be held at the University of Vienna (23 – 26 September 2024), has just opened its call for papers. Three InfraNorth-related sessions are included: Philipp Budka, Giuseppe Amatulli, and Ria-Maria Adams are organizing the workshop “Building Tomorrow: Exploring Infrastructures and Futurities.” The workshop invites contributors […]
The latest issue of Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology has published the article ‘Melting Worlds’ and ‘Climate Myths’: Diverging Stories of Climate Change in Longyearbyen, an Arctic ‘Frontline Community’ by Alexandra Meyer and Zdenka Sokolíčková. Climate change is a powerful story in Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on Svalbard in the high Arctic. While most natural science […]
In a recent newspaper article, titled “Radically ordinary life” (in Finnish: Radikaalin tavallinen elämä), the Finnish national public broadcaster Yle Uutiset features an interview with Ria-Maria Adams about young people who have decided to stay in their rural hometowns. The piece also draws on her joint article with Teresa Komu. According to Adams’ Ph.D. research, […]
Olga Povoroznyuk, Alexandra Meyer, and Peter Schweitzer will represent InfraNorth at the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2024 in Edinburgh, participating as part of the IASC Social and Human Working Group (SHWG). Their presentations are scheduled to take place during the SHWG open session on March 22, 2024, from 10:30 to 15:30 GMT at St […]
The InfraNorth project, funded by the European Research Council, is seeking a social scientist with expertise in GIS, cartography, and mixed methods for a pre-doctoral or post-doctoral position (20 hours per week, starting as soon as possible, limited until March 31, 2025), based in the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna. The […]