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Circumpolar Coping Processes project Circumpolar Problems : Coping with globalisation, a Learning Process Differences matter General objective of the project Main Research Topics 1. Structures of resource-based economic sectors 2. Qualifications for communication 3. Socio-cultural processes and differentiation 4. Political integration 5. Transnational regional co-operation The research process Interdisciplinary approaches Comparative and qualitative methods Research Organisation Activities by stage Expected Output Preliminary budget Project participants Project Co-ordinators Circumpolar Coping Processes project The Circumpolar Coping Processes project was proposed as a regional MOST­project by Svein Jentoft, Nils Aarsæther and Abraham Hallenstvedt, following the MOST Sub-regional meeting at the University of Tromsø, 30-31 March 1995. The Scientific Steering Committee of the MOST Programme accepted the project proposal in its IV Session (15-19 April 1996), and awarded it the MOST label. This short project description responds the requests of the Scientific Steering Committee and was prepared by Project Co-ordinator Jørgen Ole Bærenholdt, North Atlantic Regional Studies, Roskilde University - in co-operation with co­ordinator Nils Aarsæther, Department of Planning and Community Studies, University of Tromsø. The project description was presented and discussed at the Circumpolar Coping Processes Project Meeting at the University of Tromsø, 30 August 1996.  Circumpolar Problems : Coping with globalisation, a Learning Process Increasingly, global economic, technological and environmental forces provide new constraints, but also opportunities for local development. Local responses and local adaptations are one as important as the other in the process of globalisation. Similarly, the trend of increasing extension of social relations in time and space must be seen as of great relevance, as even the most peripheral communities and regions in the North must learn to cope with a world that has become increasingly global. Within the process of globalisation, the ambiguous consequences of radical modernity might be more apparent in the Northern regions of Canada, Russia and the Nordic countries, than anywhere else, as this overall circumpolar region is an extremely modernised periphery, dependant upon natural resources that have involved international trade for centuries. Social transformations in these regions have long involved the integration of local economies into world markets and transnational investments as well as threats to specific modes of life and cultural identities. Hence, the social transformation of the Northern regions enhances local and regional participation in transnational economic transactions as well as in the articulation of local and regional values and symbols in global media. The challenge of globalisation may lead to new forms of co-operation, networking and collective action where communities draw upon values of social solidarity and traditions of mutual self-help. There are many examples of communities and indigenous people that, when put under pressure from the outside world, have become more aware of their cultural heritage, and they have acted to energise their traditional customs - but now in reflexive ways. Global influence and the "global village" may lead to social differentiation, atomisation, chaos and mass psychological loss of social identity, as illustrated by current processes in all circumpolar regions. But it may also serve as an impetus for community cohesion and cultural continuity through a deliberate social response. The radical extension of world-wide economic and social relations which seem to be the most significant feature of globalisation, dramatically raises the question of whether communities and regions are able to cope with the challenges and risks of global integration and division of labour. Thereby, learning processes in households, firms, communities and regional organisation - formal and informal - are maybe more important for the Northern areas than ever before. The question is to what extent people are able to participate in global relations and simultaneously maintain some kind of - maybe new - social identity and local commitment. This is not a question of choosing either-or, as neither total assimilation in global and abstract relations (cyberspace) nor exclusive isolation in local communities will secure social survival. It is rather the question of how to combine local commitment and knowledge based on traditional experience - with abstract disembodied knowledge and global orientation. The differential conditions and processes resulting in either atomisation, marginalisation and isolation - or active global participation based on local learning - are core research issues. As research into coping processes is obviously adequate in the Circumpolar region, the results and the approach of research is relevant for other regions of the world.  Differences matter Research into Circumpolar Coping Processes inevitably has to combine local and global perspectives - but it must also compare coping strategies of different local and regional agents. The interesting aspect of such comparative studies is that different agents - across borders of regions, nations and even continents - compete within the same or at least similar natural resources, technologies and markets. Although marine ressources, for instance, are under national or EU control, technologies are embedded in national systems of innovation, and markets are localised; the increasing hyper mobility of commodities and information always makes the control of either resources, technologies or markets insecure. The most innovative agents able to make hyper mobility their advantage will often attract resources, technologies and markets. Therefore the differences in coping strategies seem crucial, as the learning process in coping with environmental, technological and economic challenges is most often the decisive factor in the segregation of winners and losers. Human beings are not at all as mobile as commodities and information. Travel is naturally possible and expanding, but change in one's permanent place of living is very difficult due to family, economic, social and cultural relations including the job situation of other family members. Consequently, job possibilities in the local, (perhaps) regional, or even national labour markets are crucial to most households. But also people's learning processes are often bound to national systems of innovation formed by educational and other institutions. Small nations of either micro-states or self-governed areas, like Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, have only weak systems of innovation. Such small nations can rely on education in foreign countries and can be able to participate in international technological development; and there is the possibility that they be marginalised. However, there are also examples of regionally embedded innovation systems based on informal and business networks rather than formal institutions. Indeed, many rural communities in the North now find themselves on the brink of extinction as the natural resources they rely on have suffered from overuse for years. In fisheries, for instance, a fleet of industrial, large scale trawlers operating outside national territorial borders, is largely responsible for a crisis with destructive effect on coastal communities (e.g. New Found land). There are also examples of over-fishing inside exclusive economic zones due to the weak efforts from governments lacking national political integration (e.g. Faroe Islands) and examples of uncontrolled exports of unprocessed raw materials (e.g. Murmansk Region). However, other communities and regions are learning to exploit the opportunities of new market niches, potentially acting as global firms from the periphery (e.g., Iceland and Greenland). Also, entrepreneurial participation in new growth industries as tourism is a challenging process to study within the Circumpolar region. Learning processes in both old and new industries often imply a change of 'cosmology' from the natural resources themselves to the market and customers. Such change also has socio-cultural impact, which mean new forms of segregation. For some modes of life, e.g. the educated professionals, coping with global change is easier, compared to other modes of life, e.g. traditional hunters. Differences in social class, gender relations, generations and ethnicity change in coping with globalisation. The "global village" exists in the minds of some people (mainly the well-educated ones) but it seems to exclude the people lacking either access to electronic communication, English language abilities or any professional incentives to communicate globally. Hyper mobility and new technologies are often monopolised by men. Alcohol problems, identity conflicts, violence and suicides are also most common among men in the Circumpolar region. Figures in this region show that women have taken a sufficiently coherent hold of entrepreneurship to be successful in such new service industries as tourism. Indigenous people, apart from Inuit Greenlanders, are often losers in the process of appropriating one's place in the globalisation transformation. However, the Inuit, the Sami, the Nenets and small nations like the Faroese have also developed self­esteem and international cultural and political co-operation as an active response to globalisation and participation in "sustainable development". Indigenous people and small nations are fighting to construct their own socio-economic development, self-governments, political cultures and educational policies, and these are remarkable coping strategies to follow and evaluate in the research.  General objective of the project The long-term objective of the MOST Circumpolar Coping Processes Project is to contribute to social innovations and sustainable development of the Circumpolar Region, thereby avoiding marginalisation. Already within in the project phase I (1996-2000), the project will facilitate transfer of experiences through participatory methods of research and interaction with user-communities. Presentation of practical examples from one community and one country will raise new options in other communities and other countries. Thereby, the project intends to develop policy guidelines in interaction with communities of the Circumpolar region. Main Research Topics First of all, the MOST Circumpolar Coping Processes Project will study geographical differences within the Circumpolar region: as many natural, infra structural and economic conditions are similar in different parts of the Circumpolar Region, a central issue is to understand and explain why some communities are managing the social transformations of globalisation much better than others. Even within one country or region, local development can be very differential from one community to another. To study the conditions and strategies making the differences involves a variety of research topics: Questions of economic organisation, social structures, cultural identity, political strategies and transnational relations have to be addressed. Social science research on community development in Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, within the last decade, contains experiences which make certain research topics fundamental to investigate in every study within the MOST Circumpolar Coping Processes Project. In some countries, like Norway and Canada, there is already a rich tradition and immense amount of publications in community studies. Generally, there are only very few genuine comparative studies. There are some examples of comparative studies of either governmental policies in different countries or development of more communities within one country. For example, the Nordic Institute of Regional Development Research (NordREFO) has reported such studies. But comparative studies on community level and across borders, aiming at cross-border transmission of experience, are lacking. The MOST CCPP will contain case-studies of communities in all countries involved within a common approach of an integrated transnational research team. Comparative analysis of geographical differentiation will provide increased understanding of the specificity of coping processes in each case, on local, regional and national levels. The project will ground theories in practical experiences within the framework of the following five topics, to be studied in all case studies:  1. Structures of resource-based economic sectors Many settlements and whole regions in Northeast Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Denmark, Norway and Northwest Russia are based on fisheries, which is a turbulent economic sector rich in old and new experiences with globalisation. Almost the same marine resources, technologies for catching and processing, and consumer markets, are handled differently in different countries and in different communities. Meanwhile, tourism is a growing new service industry based on very localised natural and cultural environment. Rather than exploited through extraction, it is the object of the tourist gaze facilitated by transport, cooking, accommodation, guiding, shopping, sports etc.  In Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, tourism has become a new major economic sector, whereas for instance Greenland and Northwest Russia have ambitious plans to expand tourism in their desperate search for economic diversity and new incomes. Both in fisheries and tourism, a major problem is what kinds of firm structure facilitate entrepreneurship and innovation - embedded in the local communities of "production" and foreign markets of consumption. Competitive quality production - beyond mass production - depends on strong producer-user-relations that are useful in developing market intelligence among primary producers of fish or tourist products in the North. Often, fishermen and tourist entrepreneurs of Northern communities find that neither anonymous markets nor hierarchical organisations are able to help them develop the market intelligence necessary for innovation. Some cases of success in local development are based on networks establishing direct personal and social contact between communities and their markets.  On the other hand, to cope with the power of supermarket chains and travel agencies under economic concentration, Northern entrepreneurs and communities have to rely on national or transnational sales organisations of the Circumpolar region. We must presume that claims of environmental sustainable products and production/transport methods, as well as documentation and declaration, will be a new interesting challenge for resource-based industries to follow. Both direct producer-user-contacts and professional organisations have advantages and disadvantages in coping with such challenges, which are present not only in tourism and fisheries. Depending on the co-ordinated choice of case-studies in Finland and Sweden, further resource-based sectors will be included, e.g. mining industry, forestry and reindeer herding.  2. Qualifications for communication Obviously, the kind of socio-economic development which involves the Circumpolar region in global markets requires certain qualifications among the people of the region. Increasingly, information technology and air transport make transmission of information and face-to-face meetings possible, although large parts of the Circumpolar region are lagging behind in this respect. But to interpret and use information and meetings creatively in the coping process, people need qualifications to select the most reliable, relevant and applicable information and contacts. And they need the basic ability of speaking a foreign language (if not already English-spoken) and using information technology, and these are crucial problems in many Circumpolar communities. Of course, from a global perspective the Circumpolar North has a relatively high level of education and dissemination of information technology. However, in reality lack of competence, unstable foreign professionals looking Southwards, immense psychical and socio-cultural barriers often counter this fact, and Northern regions often need a specific adaptation of educational systems and information technology, compared to the standards of European and American centres the Circumpolar communities are related to. For example, geographical distances between settlements make the perspectives and problems of distant education and distant work more challenging in the Circumpolar region, in respect to both benefits and costs. And educational systems are challenged by the political and cultural ambitions of indigenous people and small nations which raises immense tasks of education of native speaking teachers, publishing in native language and translation. How to combine socio-cultural identity and self-estimation with abilities to communicate with the world, is an overall question.  3. Socio-cultural processes and differentiation Fundamentally, CCPP involves the dynamic processes of everyday life. The strategies of households for social survival and development can be considered as coping strategies where household members, in relation to gender and generation, manage the challenges of social transformations in education, work, leisure activities, voluntary organisations and mass media. Senses of place and belonging differ according to different modes of life and cultures of indigenous people, small nations and others, and these differences are crucial for the consequences of globalisation in the Circumpolar region and for the feasibility of specific coping strategies. Participation in global relations can very well mean increased social­cultural differences within different parts of the Circumpolar region. A number of examples of privatisation processes in resource-based sectors - not at least in Northwest Russia - raise questions of social classes and uneven development of living conditions. Meanwhile, cultural resistance and adaptation of indigenous people involve many severe problems of personal and social identity. Not at least, gender relations are changing in coping processes, and the processes of social, ethnic and gender differentiations are most often intermixed. Focusing on differentiation also commits every study of the project to be specifically concerned with the unprivileged.  Differentiations will be studied from the point of view of four dimensions: a) living conditions, b) socio-cultural identity, c) entrepreneurship, and d) political participation and power. There are not only interrelations between these four dimensions but also causal interrelations to be investigated.  4. Political integration The way of organising local, regional, national and international regimes of government is a central question of modern societies that need integration in respect to literacy, language, public opinion, mediation of class difference, and political consensus. Firstly, this is true in respect to the nation-state which is the most central institution of modern society - and continues to be so in spite of globalisation. Secondly, social and political integration on the local community level is as fundamental for possible coping strategies, as is the overall national policy. At the national level, the ability of different political systems to cope with socio-cultural and regional differences will be studied, thereby focusing on the typical dilemma of Northern social-liberal or social-democratic policies, how to both shape an encouraging environment for entrepreneurial activity and implement redistribution in their welfare and development policies.  At the local level, there will be studies of local government's responses and strategies for coping, by planning, mobilisation and networking. Both levels can be approached by highlighting the differences between institutional set-ups of societal integration as specific combinations of a) economic market networking, b) political state authorities' administration and c) social relations of civil society. However, a number of Northern cases illustrate that neither economic, nor political, nor social integration can exclusively provide conditions for successful coping. Actually, these three forms of integration ("a", "b" and "c") are pure ideal types which never exist isolated in reality. Rather, the specific different modes of knitting together forms of integration turns out to be crucial. Most often, communities, regions or self-governed areas hid by crises are cases where the knitting together of economic, political and social integration did not work properly  5. Transnational regional co-operation Global economic change and new international regimes have encouraged the establishment of different new forms of transnational regional co-operation. As part of efforts in "low politics" (cultural, educational, scientific and regional) Nordic co­operation has for years formed several transnational regional co-operation schemes such as the North Calotte and the West Nordic Co-operation. West Nordic Co-operation including Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland was changed into Nordic Atlantic Co-operation (NORA) in 1996, thereby including also Northern and Western Norway.  Meanwhile, transnational and international initiatives from Ministries of Foreign Affairs have resulted in, for example, the Barents Euro-Arctic Region (BEAR) since 1993 and the Arctic Council in 1996. The Norwegian initiative to establish the Barents region was explicitly formulated in relation to the EU-discourse on a "Europe of Regions", which now actually will result in several INTERREG projects crossing the border between Finland and Russia.  Yet, at the level of NGOs, for example Inuit Circumpolar Congress (ICC) has played an interesting international role in relation to the growing international political recognition of the rights of indigenous people. And in these processes, Greenland's home rule government within the Danish Realm balances as a both governmental and non-governmental actor. There are very many transnational and international political and cultural constructions but a major problem is whether or not these kinds of transnational policies in any way affect the coping strategies of communities in the Circumpolar region. For example, the use of the Barents Region can be discussed, if it does not facilitate socio-economic co-operative networks which would not exist without the transnational construction. Rather than studying the political construction of transnational regions, the MOST CCPP will look for possible local and regional effects and results of transnational regional projects. The central question is what kinds of transnational regional co­operation projects are working or could work as part of effective coping strategies knitting together political, economic and social integration. Obviously, the Circumpolar North is also a field of political exercise and fight on status in international politics between more Southern centres of power, as the Circumpolar North is still geopolitically centrally placed in post cold war security policies. All of these five topics will be addressed from the point of view of how different communities on the local and regional level in the different countries involved will be able to cope with and manage the social transformations that are to potentially emerge from globalisation. Globalisation may result in the weakening and disembodying of social relations. Coping strategies necessarily involve reestablishment and reembedding of social relations: How civil relations, entrepreneurial activity, and establishment of political consensus - from the local to the transnational scale - can work together, is a central question. It involves questions of trust, identity and solidarity.  The research process Interdisciplinary approaches Apparently, coping processes involve social, political, economic, cultural, and spatial dimensions in ways that no single discipline will be able to study thoroughly. Therefore, it is a vital ambition of the MOST Circumpolar Coping Processes Project that all case-studies are carried out by interdisciplinary approaches. Questions of resource management, industrial development, regional differences, social relations, cultural identity and policy-formation are not (or should not be studied) separate in any of the communities and regions. The interdisciplinary approach to Circumpolar Coping Processes requires: - participation of researchers or reference to research from the following disciplines: Sociology, Economics, Social Anthropology, Social Psychology, Political Science, Economics, History and Human Geography. - interdisciplinary training, discussions and papers to secure that the research staff work within a common approach. The two relative young core Universities of Tromsø and Roskilde are well known for their interdisciplinary traditions and experiences. - a high standard of empirical knowledge about, experience of and commitment to communities in the Circumpolar region as a common framework for practical implementation of case-studies - well-informed selection of specific communities for case-studies. The interdisciplinary approach and coverage of the five topics mentioned will only be realistic, if the scale of the field for intensive field research is limited. But case-studies should represent types of development and strategies with general relevance. Clearly, the project includes ambitions on the behalf of the social sciences which might turn out to be an innovation in themselves. Notably, this innovation in social science should always be evaluated in respect to how social science contributes to and inspires better ways of managing social transformations. Comparative and qualitative methods Due to important differences in the coping strategies, the project has been designed on the basis of several case-studies in the countries involved. As coping strategies In the sense that coping strategies are active ways managing the social in a globalising world, each strategy is highly interpersonal, intentional, and symbolic; the research design is focused on qualitative methods including interviewing, observation and collection of written material. The research approach will in its nature be intensive trying to provide valuable insight in the working of coping processes - rather than extensive overviews. On the background of several studies and databases already existing in the institutions involved, within the preparation period two smaller settlements (villages) will be selected in each of the participating parts of countries, countries and self­governed regions: Northwest Russia, North Finland, North Sweden, North Norway, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Northeast Canada. As a more Southern reference, a case on Bornholm (Danish island in the Baltic Sea) will be included. In the process of selection of cases, certain factors will be constant: population size, peripheral location, local government unit, and dependency on exportable natural resources like fisheries and tourism. Fisheries will be in focus in all North Atlantic cases, but probably not in Swedish and Finnish cases. Possibilities and experiences of tourism will be studied in all case-studies with a special focus on the participation of indigenous people in entrepreneurial activity. Possibly, other resource-based sectors, e.g. forestry, mining industry and reindeer herding, will be included in accordance with the choice of Russian, Swedish and Finnish case-studies. Although each case is not necessarily representative for its country or region, every case study includes analysis of how local communities are integrated in regional, national and transnational structures and processes.  Research Organisation To implement the social science ambitions of the MOST CCPP, several measures have to be taken into consideration. The project has to manage all kinds of possible contradictions between researchers from different cultures, disciplines, kinds of research organisation, methodological approaches etc. Different backgrounds and approaches will be the internal research parallels to the direct comparative approach in mutual field-studies. To use differences in synergetic ways  - the research process has to be organised as a collective process where members of the research team will participate in local learning processes: The research team will work together in Tromsø for longer periods and during field work. - the research team, consisting of one researcher from each country, will work continuously for two and a half years. To facilitate cross-cultural and interdisciplinary discussion and development in an open-minded way, researchers involved should all read, speak and write English. - the research team will be serviced by the project secretary during the whole period and supervised by the project co-ordinator, particularly in fieldwork and writing of final reports To secure the quality and dissemination of studies: - researchers working in the research team will either be PhDs or be doing their PhD thesis as a part of the project, elaborating experiences of the transatlantic PhD program in connection with the Danish Research project "Conditions for Sustainable Development in the Arctic" co-ordinated from NORS, Roskilde University - papers will be reviewed by a panel of scholars and selected potential users including representatives of indigenous people and of transnational regional co-operation - on-going evaluation of the research process will be initiated by the project co­ordinators with reference to the panel of scholars and selected potential users - interactive conferences and "future workshops" with potential users will be organised in the beginning and in the end of project phase 1. Activities by Stage Phase I will include the period from 1 September 1996 to 31 December 2000 in three stages: Stage 1 - 1996-1997: Preparation, fund-raising and team-building * Final establishment of a project secretariat in Tromsø * Raising funds from national and international sources * A seminar for MOST project group members and potential participating researchers including an overview over existing studies * Recruitment and establishment of the research-teams of young social scientists working from Tromsø * Common training in social theory and research methods * Transatlantic conference for research teams and potential user­communities (from selected local communities, local and regional authorities, local business, local NGOs etc.) Stage 2 - 1998-1999: Case-studies with field-work * Final selection of localities for case-studies based on existing studies and statistics with respect to comparability across countries and typological representativeness within each country * Field work based on intensive co-operation of the research team with regional and local authorities, social movements, civil organisations and business organisations * Continuous training, supervision and evaluation of the research team according to experiences and needs expressed during field work * Writing and publication of field reports and working papers on comparative analysis. Stage 3 - 2000: Presentation and evaluation of the phase I with users * Final writing and publication of research reports and presentation in mass media and interactive conferences with representatives of communities, administration, business, NGOs etc. - on local or regional levels according to case-studies * Evaluation of the research process in respect to quality, interdisciplinarity and dissemination of results * Decision on further development of MOST research and competence development Depending on evaluation and decisions in stage 3, a phase II will possibly be implemented in the period 2001-2003 including more Circumpolar regions of Canada, Alaska, Russian Fareast and Siberia.  Expected Output The MOST Circumpolar Coping Processes Project intends to be innovative in social science approaches due to involvement in practical development of policies and competences in the Circumpolar region and to the intensive character of the research methodology and organisation, hopefully also inspiring social science research in other parts of the world. The following outputs are expected in phase I:  * Seminars in the scientific community and conferences involving user­communities. Seminars and conferences will produce valuable dialogue by working with "future workshops" and other innovative organisational forms of interaction and formulation of practical projects to be realised. * Development of transatlantic research networks, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary in nature. Experiences of participation in field work of the transnational research team across borders will be valuable for research and users. * Contribution to development of transnational economic, political and social networks and co-operation, outside research. The project will facilitate cross­border learning processes giving people opportunities to gain practical experiences from communities in regions and countries which they were not familiar with. Transatlantic workshops, seminars and conferences will include excursions and events at the community level. * Competence development in user-communities, e.g. local governments, central governments, fishermen, entrepreneurs, firms, organisations of industries, social movements, and voluntary organisations. The project includes processes of training of officials, political leaders, entrepreneurs etc. Policy guidelines will be developed through researcher-user interaction. * A number of project publications relevant to the international scientific community, to business corporations, to policy-makers, to professionals in welfare services. * Public presentation of main results in mass media. * Separate reports evaluating experiences with cross-cultural and interdisciplinary co-operation processes. * Contributions to the development of the theories and methodologies of social sciences. * Guidelines for potential phase II (including extension of regional coverage with Northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia and Russian Far East) Preliminary budget ITEM US $ 1997 1998 1999 2050 TOTAL Wages:           Research Team   450,000 450,000 225,000 1,125,000 Secretary 50,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 205,000 Co-ordinator   35,000 70,000 70,000 170,000 Lectures 10,000 20,000     30,000 Travel and Subsistence:           Seminars 20,000 20,000 20,000   60,000 Research Team work   18,000 9,000 18,000 45,000 Field work   45,000 90,000   135,000 Conferences with users 50,000     90,000 140,000 Secretary/ co-ordinator 10,000 10,000 20,000 20,000 60,000 Consumables  5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 20,000 Equipment  50,000 10,000 10,000   70,000 Publication  2,000 5,000 10,000 40,000 57,000 GRAND TOTAL  197,000 668,000 734,000 518,000 2,117,000  The pilot period running from September 1996 is to be financed by the Nordic Atlantic Committee (NORA, US$ 15,000.00). MOST/UNESCO gave seed feeds for these activities (US$ 15,000.00). The Department of Planning and Community Studies, University of Tromsø, houses the project secretariat and contributes with P rofessor Nils Aarsæther's work as a co-ordinator. The administration of the project is located at the University of Tromsø. North Atlantic Regional Studies (NORS), Roskilde University, contributes with parts of works of Ph.D students and associate professor Jørgen Ole Bærenholdt's work as project co-ordinator, untill spring 1998. This contribution originates from the research project "Conditions for Sustainable Development in the Arctic", financed by the Danish Research Council 1995-1998. Applications will be adressed to national, transnational and international research councils and agencies. Funds from each of the Nordic countries and Canada are expected to cover costs of one researcher from each country participating in the MOST Circumpolar Coping Processes Project research team.  Project participants The project is facilitated by an already existing informal network of researchers based on co-operation between Roskilde and Tromsø since 1989. Rather than the whole institutions, at the moment the project network consists of researchers from:  Department of Planning and Community Studies, University of Tromsø, Norway, NORS (North Atlantic Regional Studies), Department of Geography, Roskilde University, Denmark, NORUT Social Science Research, Tromsø, Norway, Department of Social Sciences, Roskilde University, Denmark, Norwegian Fisheries College, University of Tromsø, Norway, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Institute of Economic Problems, Kola Science Centre, Apatity, Russia, Expert Group on Regional Development, Østerssund, Sweden, CERUM, Umeå University, Sweden, University of Greenland, Nuuk, University of the Faroe Islands, Torshavn, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, ISER, Memorial University, St, John, New Foundland, Canada, Department of Geography, University of Bergen, Norway, Karelian Institute, University of Joensuu, Finland, Nordland Research, Bodø, Norway, Nordic Sami Institute, Kaitokaino, North Norway department, Norwegian Institute of Urban and Regional Research, Alta, Bornholm Research Centre, Nexø, Denmark,  In addition, a number of officials, political leaders, entrepreneurs and researchers, outside the institutions mentioned, will participate in the research process.  Project Co-ordinators : Jørgen Ole Bærenholdt Roskilde University Department of Geography and International Development Studies Building 21.2 P.O. Box 260 DK-4000 Roskilde Denmark Tel: +45 46 75 77 11 Ext. 2155/2573 Fax: +45 46 75 42 40 E-mail: job@geo.ruc.dk Nils Aarsæther University of Tromsø Department of Planning and community studies N-9037 Tromsø Tel: +47 77 64 42 98 Fax: +47 77 64 64 70 E-mail: Nilsaa@isv.uit.no Co-ordination UNESCO/MOST : Carlos S. Milani, Division of Social Science, Research and Policy Social and Human Sciences Sector 1, rue Miollis 70015 Paris Tel: +33 1 45 68 45 76 Fax: +33 1 45 68 57 24 E-mail: c.milani@unesco.org

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