Human Security as a promotional tool for societal security in the Arctic: Addressing Multiple Vulnerability to its Population with Spefic Reference to the Region

The main objective of this project was to address human challenges of the Arctic population from a different angle, namely from the human security perspective as it is conceptualized today. The conceptualization can be differently shaped in regional context given that different region does have different reality, different social structure and different geo-environmental characteristics. As a result the concept of human security has gained significance to understand the threats facing the Arctic communities. The project will pay specific focus on the Barents region as the region is facing numerous human activities, such as mining and mineral activities in Finnish and Swedish Lapland, offshore oil and gas activities in Northern Norway, both onshore and offshore oil and gas activities in Russia’s Barents region. In the Arctic perspective this will bring added value in the ongoing discussions and dialogues concerning the vulnerability of, as well as adaptation to, the challenges facing the Arctic inhabitants, more particularly its indigenous and local communities. The project will employ the concept of human security tools in order to create a framework to improve societal security within this particular region. Knowledge developed from this project would bring benefit both to the policy level decision-makers as well as to the local level people, communities and stakeholders, in their understanding of the challenges from differing perspectives. Possible new strategies based on the findings of this project will help fill the gaps of legal framework addressing, for example, the rights of Sámi communities. Policy implementation may be advanced by putting priority issues taking into consideration of the most urgent local level problems while addressing the challenges and promoting societal security.