The Arctic Five is a partnership between Luleå University of Technology; UiT The Arctic University of Norway; Umeå University; the University of Lapland; and the University of Oulu, whom together aim to lead the way on key Arctic issues. The mission of the alliance is to advance and share knowledge, develop education, and create innovations for the advancement of our region and a sustainable Arctic.

The Chairs initiative represents a group of scholars with the will and capacity to form original research and education alliances. Thus, the Arctic Five institutions have collectively appointed 15 Arctic Five Chairs – all of whom are highly ranked scholars from across the human, social, natural and technical sciences.

– These appointments will help build a strong foundation for the Arctic Five alliance, and the collective efforts of our Chairs offer great potential for the stimulation and growth of cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary research and education, says Dag Avango, Co-director of the Arctic Five, and head of the Chairs initiative.

This inaugural group of chairs represents a new collaboration format for the Arctic Five, and each chair has defined their scope of collaboration by framing their research focus and plans, including potential linkages with educational activities. 

The two prominent researchers from the University of Lapland, appointed as Arctic Five Chairs are Tanja Joona, Senior researcher in Northern Political Economy, and Docent in Public International Law at the Arctic Centre and Outi Rantala, Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

– The Arctic Five Chair-position together with the multidisciplinary team and network will seek external funding to deliver high-quality research on the vulnerability and resilience of the Arctic environment and societies and co-develop options for sustainable development that meets environmental and social standards and, by so doing, fulfills the needs of future generations, says Joona.

Outi Rantala sees that the position of Arctic Five Chair enables developing further the ongoing joint research and teaching activities in the diverse small tourism units at member universities. 

–  The research group will focus on envisioning alternative approach to Arctic tourism that is based on respect towards the carrying capacity of human and non-human nature, giving also our students a possibility to engage in recent, international research on Arctic tourism, Rantala describes. 

The funded term for each Chair is 2 years (2022-2024), with the possibility of an additional 1-year extension. All appointments corresponding to this round will formally commence on June 1st, at which time the chairs will begin establishing and leading their respective cross-disciplinary group of colleagues from other Arctic Five universities and beyond. 

For more information, visit the Arctic Five website at: www.ArcticFive.org