Feb 21, 2025: Presentation by Peter Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk at the 2025 Barents Spektakel

Peter Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk will participate in the 2025 Barents Spektakel, an annual art and culture festival in Kirkenes, Norway. In its 21st edition, the festival explores the theme “Remote Control,” fostering a cross-disciplinary exchange on the center-periphery model and the dynamics between central areas and peripheral (or remote) regions.

On Friday, 21 February, from 14:00 to 16:00 CET, the InfraNorth researchers will participate in the event “Remoteness Reframed: Arctic Urban EcoScapes and Biocultural Heritage” at Terminal B Kunsthall Kirkenes. This session will introduce and discuss a new research project they are involved in, titled Biocultural Heritage in Arctic Cities as a Potential Resource for Climate Adaptation (ARCA). The project applies the holistic concept of biocultural heritage to explore the complex interactions between natural and social systems and the capacity of Arctic urban communities to adapt to climate change. By reframing Arctic remoteness as a space of innovation and interconnectedness, it aims to offer new perspectives on urban sustainability and the role of biocultural heritage in addressing climate challenges.

During this event, Schweitzer and Povoroznyuk will give a talk titled “From InfraNorth to ARCA: Anthropological Engagements with Kirkenes,” where they will share preliminary results from the research conducted in Kirkenes as part of the InfraNorth project (including the future scenario workshops held in 2023) and discuss its connection to the ARCA project.

This event will also feature the participation of art historians Hanne Hammer Stien and Elin Kristine Haugdal (UiT The Arctic University of Norway); artist-researcher Olga Kisseleva (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France / Art & Science International Institute), geographers Vera Kuklina (George Washington University, USA) and Victoria Miles (Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Norway); art critic Hilde Sørstrøm (Arctic University of Norway) and philosopher Olga Zaslavskaya (Art&Science International Institute).

The full agenda of the event can be found here and more details on the Barents Spektakel’s website.

Jan 2026: InfraNorth Contributions to Forthcoming Book “Arctic Silk Roads”

InfraNorth researchers contribute two chapters to the forthcoming book Arctic Silk Roads: An Anthropology of the Unbuilt, edited by Natalia Magnani and Matthew Magnani. The volume will be published by Berghahn Books in January 2026 as part of the Studies in the Circumpolar North series. As climate change accelerates, the melting of sea ice is […]

Presentation by Philipp Budka at the IKSA Wednesday Seminars

Nov 5, 2025: Presentation by Philipp Budka at the University of Vienna

On November 5, 2025, at 5:00 pm CET, InfraNorth researcher Philipp Budka will deliver a lecture titled “Sovereignty by Design: Community Infrastructures and Relational Futures in Remote Canada,” as part of the Wednesday Seminars, the lecture series of the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Budka’s talk examines infrastructural sovereignty—the […]

The skyline of Anchorage, Alaska, as seen from the airport. Photo by Peter Schweitzer.

Oct 2025: Presentation by Olga Povoroznyuk and Peter Schweitzer in Anchorage, Alaska

Olga Povoroznyuk and Peter Schweitzer presented findings from the InfraNorth project at the ARCA co-creative community workshop “Biocultural Heritage and Climate Adaptation in Arctic Cities,” held on October 7–8, 2025, at The Nave in Anchorage, Alaska. Their presentation drew connections between their recent research conducted in Anchorage and other field sites in Alaska: on the […]

Oct 1, 2025: InfraNorth Presentations at the 2025 GASCA Conference “Un/Commoning Anthropology”

On October 1, 2025, InfraNorth researchers Philipp Budka, Elena Davydova, Katrin Schmid and Susanna Gartler will present at the 2025 conference of the German Association for Social and Cultural Anthropology (GASCA/DGKSA). This year’s edition will be held from September 29 to October 2, 2025, at the University of Köln, under the theme “Un/Commoning Anthropology.” Temporalities […]

10th EUGEO Congress Vienna 2025

Sep 10, 2025: Presentation by Alexis Sancho Reinoso at the EUGEO Congress 2025

At the EUGEO Congress 2025 in Vienna, held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences from September 8 to 11, Alexis Sancho Reinoso will present a paper co-authored with Timothy Heleniak: “Turning the Faroes Into One City. Demographic and Spatial Impacts of 60 Years of Transport Infrastructure Expansion.” The paper presents findings from their research in […]