27 March 2025 | 08:30 - 10:00 (MDT)
Open Session - HYBRID
Room: UMC Fourth Floor - 415 / 417
Organisers: Arja Rautio (University of Oulu, Finland); Janne Näkkäläjärvi (Sámi Education Institute, Finland); Mervi Heikkinen (University of Oulu, Finland)
Session Description:
Climate and environmental change influence human life, wildlife, and ecosystems in the Arctic in various ways. One Health is an approach that recognises that human health is closely related to the health of animals and the environment. This is particularly true in the Arctic where a community's well-being relies on healthy animals and the environment. Human health is more than the absence of disease; it encompasses physical, mental, behavioural, cultural, and spiritual health.
Megatrends such as globalization, digitalization, migration, urbanization, demographic changes, and the growing role of the service sector including mass tourism have a major economic and environmental impact in Arctic rural and urban areas. These megatrends lead to challenges and threats, which may influence the lives of the people living in these regions. There is a need for local and Indigenous Peoples to be better involved in environmental related decision-making. Amongst these global changes, there are also new opportunities for local people to take part in decision-making.
European Commission funded ILLUQ, ICEBERG and ArcSolution projects are working in this field and facilitate participatory deliberative processes in collaboration with the local, coastal, and Indigenous People of the Arctic. The cluster aims to co-create equal ways and means for knowledge co-creation and democratic participation in environmental decision-making.
Instructions for Speakers: Oral presentations in this session should be at most 8-minutes in length, with an additional 2-3 minutes for questions (unless more detailed instructions are provided by session conveners). See more detailed presenter instructions here.
Oral Presentations:
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unfold_moreEpistemic contribution in the context of Arctic One Health — Mervi Heikkinen
Mervi Heikkinen 1; Suvi Pihkala 1
1 University of OuluFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
This presentation explores the understanding of Arctic knowledge society through the conceptualization of epistemic contribution as a central human capability (Fricker, 2015). To enrich debate in this field, we draw on scientific and intellectual movements in Indigenous Studies (Koskinen & Rolin, 2019), gender responsibility (Schiebinger et al., 2011-2018), response-ability (Haraway, 2008; 2016), citizen science (Marks et al., 2022), and citizen social science (Hardy et al., 2022) and formulate three propositions crucial for fostering a sustainable Arctic knowledge society and future: the democratization of Arctic science, intersectionally gender-responsible science in the Arctic, and epistemic contribution as a central (and more-than-human) capability in the Arctic. We argue these practice-oriented ethical propositions are particularly relevant for transdisciplinary knowledge production in the Arctic. With a move from responsibility to response-ability and its post-anthropocentric, non-dualist premise, we reimagine Artic science with and beyond human others and their capabilities and make a tentative suggestion of epistemic contribution for Arctic One Health to be considered as central for more-than-human capability.
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unfold_moreILLUQ - Permafrost, pollution, health — Leena Viitanen
Hugues Lantuit 1; Paul Overduin 1; Michael Fritz 1; Leena Viitanen 1
1 Alred Wegener InstituteFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Permafrost underlies 22% of the Northern Hemisphere's exposed land surface and is thawing at an alarming rate as a direct consequence of climate change. When thawing, permafrost releases large quantities of organic matter and contaminants into the environment. In addition, permafrost thaw dramatically impacts infrastructure in local communities with wide-ranging consequences for health, economy, and society.
ILLUQ is aims to address the pressing needs of communities on potentially disappearing permafrost. It targets the missing link between studies performed by scientists, engineers and consultants in local communities and solutions devised with local stake- and rightsholders focusing on the long-term implications of decision-making in the context of permafrost thaw and pollution.
By bringing together an interdisciplinary consortium committed to participatory research with local stake- and rightsholders, it will provide the first holistic look at permafrost thaw, pollution and human and environmental well-being in the Arctic and deliver information on the risks from contaminant release, infrastructure failure and ecosystem changes to stakeholders.
The project is funded under the EU framework programme Horizon Europe and integrates research results from three geographical locations; Svalbard, Greenland and Northwestern Canadian Arctic. It closely collaborates with other EU funded reserach projects, specifically the ArcSolution and ICEBERG projects, which jointly target the impacts of pollution in the Arctic and aim at advancing understanding of the main ecological, socio-economic and health associated risks and challenges, following a One Health approach.
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unfold_moreEthical Perspectives of Indigenous Peoples on Knowledge Production in the Arctic Onehealth –Case Ethical Guidelines for Research Involving the Sámi People in Finland — Janne Nakkalajarvi & Mika Aromaki
Janne Nakkalajarvi 1; Mika Aromaki 1
1 The Sami Education InstituteFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
As a result of invited working group representatives comprising of professionals from indigenous and Sámi research related university professors and experts from other Sámi Institutes, Ethical Guidelines for Research Involving the Sámi People in Finland was completed and published in 2024. The work, however, widely involved the Sámi community in Finland. The purpose of our speech is to process the concept of Arctic One Health from the ethical point of Sámi Peoples, inspired by the abovementioned ethical guidelines and based on our own experiences working with Sámi communities.
There are four main principles in the Sámi ethical guidelines;
- Reciprocal Communication and Engagement
- Assessment of the Benefits and Risks of the Research and the Positionality of the Researcher and their Research
- Appreciation of and Respect for Sámi Society and Knowledge
- Obligation to Return and Share Information
Enabling the Arctic One Health initiative requires involving the indigenous communities and providing them with culturally safe conditions and more ethical, community-based dialogue. In the Arctic the well-being of the communities is often based on healthy ecosystems, including the healthy animals.
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unfold_moreArctic Pollution in a One Health perspective – the ArcSolution project — Gert Mulvad
Arja Rautio 1; Jon O Odland 2; Katrin Vorkamp 3; Roland Kallenborn 4; Lars-Otto Reiersen 5; Christian Sonne 6; Gert Mulvad 7
1 UArctic Emerita Chair in Arctic Health, University of Oulu; 2 Nord University; 3 Aarhus University; 4 Norwegian University of Life Sciences; 5 Arctic Knowledge; 6 Aarhus University; 7 University of GreenlandFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Multiple stressors such as climate change and pollution from local and remote sources affect human life, wildlife and the ecosystems of the Arctic. Using the One Health approach, ArcSolution will provide during the next four years knowledge and mitigating solutions, co-created with the people of the Arctic. ArcSolution focusses on Northern Finland, Svalbard, Northern Norway and Greenland to capture the diversity of the European Arctic. Integrating local and Indigenous knowledge with environmental, health, technical and social science research, ArcSolution will identify major pollution issues at each location, evaluate their impacts on Arctic ecosystems and human health and develop solutions in the fields of circular economy, technology and chemicals management. The possibilities of extrapolating the One Health approach over time will be assessed, considering the dynamics of a changing Arctic. Our results will be used in education programmes at local schools and communicated to policymakers, industry and the scientific community.
The ArcSolution project is funded by the European Union.
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unfold_moreInterdisciplinary research ethics — Arja Rautio
Arja Rautio 1
1 UArctic Emerita Chair in Arctic Health, University of OuluFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
One Health approach emphasizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and ecosystem health. It plays a pivotal role in addressing the multifaceted issues of climate warming and permafrost thaw, from where contaminants and infective agents may release, and lead to exposure of humans and wildlife in the Arctic. Other concerns include spread of zoonotic infectious diseases and water and food security. These challenges need the expertise and input of researchers from many disciplines in the research projects.
Building trust between the researchers and local and Indigenous peoples, is the basic element for successful inter- and transdisciplinary research work. Regular communication between partners is important from early beginning to the end of the project. Research teams need also to be aware about the ethical guidelines of countries (of their study sites), European Union, and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, such as ICC and Sámi (in Finland), and about practices and how the different ethical guidelines bring together. One successful example of the collaborative interdisciplinary work is the Permafrost Atlas published as a final product of the European Commission funded Nunataryuk project.
Development of transdisciplinary methodologies and ethics are needed, especially when researchers from several disciples are working together in more holistic way by using One Health approach.
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unfold_moreOne Health approach to contaminants: connecting environment, food systems and health in Arctic ocean-coastal-land dynamics — Thora Herrmann, Élise Lépy, Muriel Mercier-Bonin, & Gaud Dervilly
Thora Herrmann 1; Élise Lépy 1; María del Mar Murcia Morales 2; Mélanie Mobley 3; Gladys Mirey 3; Laila Lakhal 3; Hervé Robert 3; Muriel Mercier-Bonin 3; Bruno Le Bizec 2; Gaud Dervilly 2
1 Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu; 2 ONIRIS, INRAE, LABERCA, France; 3 Toxalim (Research Centre in Food Toxicology), Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, INP-Purpan, UT3, Toulouse, FranceFormat: Oral virtual
Abstract:
The Arctic regions are facing increasing pollution threats, with climate change exacerbating the exposure of ecosystems and local populations to chemical contaminants. Hence, understanding how these pollutants move across the environment-food-health axis is key for developing strategies to protect the Arctic populations. The ICEBERG project tackles these issues at the ocean-coastal-land interface in collaboration with Indigenous people and local communities of Svalbard, Northern Iceland and South Greenland. The project utilizes the One Health approach within a multidisciplinary scientific context. Within the One Health framework, the present study assesses the transfer of both legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and emergent contaminants (e.g. dioxins, PCBs, Flame retardants, Pesticides, PFAS, nanoplastics…) across diverse matrices from the Arctic, including environmental samples (sediments, snow, etc.), representative food products selected through a dietary survey among local populations, and human samples such as breast milk. This innovative and holistic approach allows to trace the flow of contaminants from the environment to the Arctic diet, and evaluate their potential impact on human health of chronic exposure to these compounds by using in vitro cell models. The results of this study aim to contribute to more effective environmental decision-making and health protection strategies for the Arctic populations and ecosystems.
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unfold_morePostgraduate course “One Health in Northern Communities and Ecosystems”: experience of development in international team and pilot results in 2024 — Anastasia Emelyanova
Anastasia Emelyanova 1
1 Norwegian Institute for Water Research, University of OuluFormat: Oral virtual
Abstract:
In 2024, the group of interdisciplinary scholars from Norway, Finland and Faroe Islands piloted the course on One Health in Northern Communities and Ecosystems. The development work was ongoing in 2021-2023 co-funded with UArctic Norwegian funding for project collaboration. Uarctic Thematic Network on Health and Well-being in the Arctic supported this work as well as partner institutions (Uit the Arctic University of Norway, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, University of Oulu, University of the Faroe Islands). This course has offered the two-module system (on-site in Norway 5 ECTS and online 5 ECTS). It suited over 15 MA and PhD level students with a variety of backgrounds, such as social sciences, health sciences from different fields from architecture, veterinary to microbiology. In this presentation, we will present the issues how such course was developed successfully, feedback from the first cohort of students in 2024 and interesting facts about teaching and studying at the course.