Nordregio

The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average, with particularly profound impacts along Arctic coastlines. Coastal erosion is accelerating due to longer open-water seasons, stronger winds, and rising permafrost temperatures. These changes have far-reaching consequences for Arctic communities, whose livelihoods and cultural practices are closely tied to local ecosystems and the services they provide. Approximately 1162 seasonal and year-round settlements are located directly along Arctic coasts.This study focuses on an Arctic summer settlement on Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island) in northwestern Canada, a site where coastal environmental change has been documented by natural science research for several decades. Building on this long-term record, we conducted ecosystem services (ES) mapping to integrate social and natural science perspectives on these changes. Questionnaire-based interviews with a diverse range of stakeholder groups - including Yukon Territorial Park Rangers, Indigenous community members, a Yukon Parks Conservation Biologist and scientific groups from Canada and Europe - were combined with participatory mapping methods. The resulting maps identify a wide range of ES across this Territorial Park and reveal spatial patterns and hotspot areas of ES provision and change. These outputs provide a valuable foundation for future management and planning by linking observed environmental change with human use, values, and dependencies.By bridging the natural and social sciences, this study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the consequences of a rapidly changing and highly sensitive Arctic coastal environment. As one of the first ES assessments conducted in an Arctic community, this work demonstrates the potential of an expanded ES approach to capture the complex socio-ecological impacts of climate change along Arctic coasts.

Arctic ecosystems are undergoing unprecedented environmental and societal change, driven by accelerated climate warming and expanding human activities. These transformations alter key ecological processes, reshape biodiversity, and directly affect the well-being, food security, and cultural heritage of Arctic Indigenous peoples and local communities. Despite the growing urgency of these changes, the ecosystem services (ES) concept (now widely used in biodiversity conservation, land-use planning, and policy-making elsewhere) remains underdeveloped and underutilized in the Arctic. Only a small fraction of global ES assessments explicitly address Arctic systems, reflecting both conceptual misconceptions and structural barriers to uptake.We argue that an appropriately adapted ES framework can provide an essential bridge between science, policy, and Indigenous and local priorities in the North. We identify three overarching reasons for the limited use of ES in the region: persistent misunderstandings of ES as primarily monetary valuation; fragmented, multi-level Arctic governance that limits coordinated policy integration; and existing ES frameworks that inadequately represent Arctic socio-ecological realities. Climate-driven ecological transitions, strong seasonal dynamics, and culturally embedded relationships with the land, all call for Arctic-specific approaches to ES assessment.Building on the well-established MAES framework, we propose a revised, Arctic-tailored approach that embeds Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge throughout the assessment process, adapts ES classifications to reflect Arctic-specific values and ecosystem functions, and incorporates seasonality and rapid ecological change. We also highlight opportunities for improving governance uptake, including the potential of Arctic Council bodies such as CAFF and AMAP to support co-developed ES initiatives, enhanced collaboration with Indigenous rights-holders, and greater visibility of Arctic ES in science-policy platforms such as IPBES, as well as in international statistical and accounting frameworks like the SEEA-EA. Integrating an ES lens into Arctic biodiversity research and decision-making is both timely and necessary, and a co-developed, context-aware ES framework can support more inclusive dialogues at the science–policy–decision-making interface, strengthen intercultural understanding, and contribute to more sustainable actions in a rapidly changing Arctic.

Climate change (CC) impacts on marine areas make it increasingly urgent to address mitigation and adaptation actions in maritime spatial planning (MSP). Despite growing interest in ‘climate-smart’ MSP, the integration of CC objectives within MSP practice is still limited. Using selected North and Baltic Sea jurisdictions as examples, this study examines how integrative governance features in MSP enable CC to be addressed. Based on a qualitative analysis of empirical materials by MSP practitioners, we find that integrative climate-smart governance is emerging in an MSP context while being largely focused on the inclusion of CC concerns only. Coordination and prioritisation are still developing, tools for modelling CC impacts are inconsistently applied, and reporting is largely absent. By linking climate-smart MSP with integrative governance theory, we highlight the importance of strong governance frameworks for effective CC policies integration. Further research is needed on key enablers and barriers to advancing climate-smart ocean governance.

Public perception regarding the fairness of climate mitigation policies is considered a key determinant of social acceptance. The literature distinguishes between perceptions related to the impacts of climate policies on individuals and households (self-interest) and broader concerns regarding the distributional impacts of climate policies (societal interest). This study also examines perceptions of fairness at the local community level. The aim is to examine the interplay between climate consciousness, perceptions of distributive justice at the societal level, expectations regarding climate policy impacts on the local community, and personal experiences at the household level to support climate change mitigation policies. Based on survey data from a representative sample of the Nordic population (N = 5080), we utilise ordinal logistic regression (OLR), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine the role of these factors in promoting social support for the climate agenda across the Nordic Region. Our results highlight the key role played by climate concerns, expectations regarding the impacts of climate policies at the local community level and perceptions about their financial effects on respondents' households, rather than considerations regarding distributive justice at the societal level. Our results suggest that, within a Nordic context, individuals place more importance on the perceived and expected impacts of climate change mitigation policies at the household and local community levels (‘fairness to us’) than on distributive justice at the societal, level (‘fairness to others’). • We examine the role of fairness in Nordic climate policy acceptance. • Climate consciousness and perceived localised impacts of climate policies are key drivers of climate policy acceptance. • Perceived localised impacts of climate policies mediate the relationship between climate concern and climate policy acceptance. • Perceived localised impacts of climate policies exacerbate perceptions of distributional inequity at the societal level. • Climate policy acceptance isn't driven by perceptions of distributive justice at the societal level.

ABSTRACT Permafrost characterizes ground conditions in most of the Arctic and is increasingly thawing. While environmental consequences of permafrost thaw are under intense scrutiny by natural and life sciences, social sciences' studies on local communities' perceptions of change is thus far limited. This hinders the development of targeted adaptation and mitigation measures. We present the results of a survey on communities' perceptions of permafrost thaw, with a focus on subsistence activities, carried out between 2019 and 2020 in Aklavik (Northwest Territories, Canada), Longyearbyen (Svalbard, Norway), and Qeqertarsuaq (Qeqertalik Municipality, Greenland). Results show that the majority of the 237 participants are well aware of the consequences of permafrost thaw on the landscape as well as the connection between increased air temperature and permafrost thaw. The majority perceive permafrost thaw negatively although they do not perceive it as a challenge in all life domains. Permafrost thaw is perceived as a major cause for challenges in subsistence activities, infrastructure, and the physical environment. Different perceptions within the three study communities suggests that perceptions of thaw are not solely determined by physical changes but also influenced by factors related to the societal context, including discourses of climate change, cultural background, and land use.

ABSTRACT This paper analyses challenges and enablers for integrating a transboundary land-sea interaction (LSI) perspective into marine spatial planning (MSP) practice as experienced in the Baltic Sea Region. Collaborative research results from the Pan Baltic Scope project indicate that LSI remains an amorphous concept, particularly within a transboundary MSP context. Difficulty lies in bridging planning practices across land and sea and between varying uses, administrative settings and governance functions. Addressing LSI requires capacity, time, resources, awareness, reflection, and forums for collaborative learning across sectors and governance levels.

MAP Denmark has identified six themes that are central to changing production and diversifying the rural economy in a Danish context: 1) green transition, 2) education and competencies, 3) liveability, 4) entrepreneurship, 5) financing and 6) digitalisation. In order to stimulate successful and efficient rural development and a strong economy in Denmark, initiatives addressing the six highlighted themes need to be linked. The green transition entails huge investments in rural areas that can contribute to rural development if they are a part of a co-ordinated effort. If not, the increasing number of initiatives to address the situation in rural areas will lead to greater polarisation of Danish society and rural areas will end up as the loser.<br>

The move towards a climate neutral economy and society requires policymakers and practitioners to carefully consider the core technical, social, and spatial dimensions of a just transition. This paper closely examines the processes undertaken during the development of EU Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs) for the three Swedish regions of Gotland, Norrbotten, and Västra Götaland. The aim is to establish whether the content and actions outlined in the TJTPs were driven by the technical, social, or spatial dimensions of a just transition. The analysis is primarily based on a socio-economic and governance impact assessment conducted in each region as part of the TJTP formulation process. These data are also supported by observations of the TJTP development process by the article authors who were part of the team put together by DG Reform to work with the preparation of the TJTPs. The paper finds that the TJTPs development process was largely driven by technical considerations, rather than spatial and socio-economic issues. This indicates that a more open and inclusive place-based territorial approach to climate transition policy formulation and implementation is required. A balance between the technical, social, and spatial elements of a just transition is needed if policies are going to meet the requirements of local and regional citizens and provide sustainable socio-economic growth and environmental protection, without risks of delocalizing energy-intensive processes to other regions.

The population of the Nordic region has grown substantially during recent decades, though most of this growth has been in urban regions. While the Nordic countries are projected to see continued population growth in the future, almost all of the increase will be concentrated in urban centres, with population decline or stagnation in many rural municipalities. This will make it difficult for these regions to remain economically competitive and for national governments to provide a uniform level of services across entire countries. This article provides policymakers at the national, regional, and municipal levels with projections of the size, composition, and geographic distribution of rural populations in the Nordic countries in 2040. In total, remote rural regions will not become depopulated and are projected to grow moderately from 5.3 to 5.5 million persons to 2040, though many will experience significant declines in their total and working-age populations and will have much older age structures. For many rural municipalities in the Nordic region, their population peak was at some point in the distant past, and they should therefore develop policies based on smaller populations.