Árni Jóhan Petersen from the University of the Faroe Islands explains:
As assistant professor at the University of the Faroe Islands, I received mobility funds for activities in Canada, British Colombia, September 2018.
I am a member of the UArctic Thematic Network on Arctic Sustainable Resources and Social Responsibility, and we held our annual meeting in Canada. The meeting gave the members of the network the opportunity to discuss the progress of the joint efforts in the cross-regional and cross-disciplinary input in detail, as well as planning further activities in 2019. The opportunity to discuss these aspects face-to-face is of high value, because of the increased level of progress and development in each topic put forward on the agenda - when compared to digital meetings. I also received north2north mobility funds for our annual Thematic Network meeting in Greenland, October 2017, and this has been of great importance to me because I have gained tremendous experience through this mobility.
The visit to Canada also enabled the Thematic Network in outreach activities, when the objects are to grow and strengthen the network, and to collect/share knowledge and experience with local stakeholders.
My knowledge about how “gold rushes” influence local communities has really become even more nuanced due to the trip to Canada, where we visited the cities Prince George and Prince Rupert. Observing how different local projects within transportation, fisheries and extractive industries affect the local communities, I gained useful insights in regards to expectations of great financial gain and concerns that construct conditions for “gold rush” experience in the local communities. There were cases that I found potentially useful in my future studies within the extractive industries in the Arctic regions.
The stay in Canada has really inspired me in so many ways. To meet with the other members of the network from different regions in the Arctic has broadened my horizon and opened up for great opportunities for further academic collaboration in the future.