Close Collaboration between Scientists and Politics can boost the Development of the Arctic
The International Arctic Student Forum, held in Norway as part of the “Arctic Frontiers 2017” event, ended this last week.
Nikita Redkin, graduate student at the Institute of Finance and Economics, was a member of the Russian delegation in the Norwegian city of Tromsø. He won the opportunity to participate in the forum, presenting the Norwegian-Russian project on economic forecasts for Russian Arctic development.
At the forum, the students grouped together into international teams. Each of which worked out and defended their projects that are aimed at social development, resolving environmental problems, and harnessing the Arctic’s resource potential.
“Our team includes a future economist, a geographer, an oceanologist, and a specialist in international relations. All the participants were from different countries and their research was devoted to the Arctic. Thus, we had an opportunity to approach the problem from diverse perspectives ,” Nikita said.
The team designed a project to establish a consulting university, which can unite representatives of science and policy on Arctic matters. According to its authors, the scientists, dealing directly with the issues of global warming, ecology, and environmental management, will elaborate possible scenarios for the Northern Territory development. The politicians, in turn, will make decisions on the information received.
“From our point of view, political decisions should be made on the basis of a complex scientific method, considering all the possible outcomes of this or that natural event,” Nikita continued.
In addition to working on projects, the Arctic forum participants visited the political science conference, discussing the necessity of working together in the Arctic, preserving an environmental balance, and the interests of the indigenous peoples inhabiting the Extreme North.
Now, back in Tyumen, Nikita is continuing to work on his master's thesis. In the past two years, he has forecasted competing levels of investment for the companies in the Arctic region. The knowledge gained will help him to supplement his thesis with the themes of social and political influence on economic issues in exploration of the Extreme North.
Source: UT Office of Strategic Communications
Link to Russian Version: https://www.utmn.ru/presse/novosti/mezhdunarodnaya-deyatelnost/302617/