Sustainable Urban Development in the European Arctic: Towards Enhanced Transnational Cooperation in Remote Regions.

• Applicant: Dr. Dorothea Wehrmann
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: since 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426674468

The proposed project investigates how transnational cooperation among urban areas of remote regions can be enhanced to better harmonize sustainable development practices. By combining theoretical and empirical analysis, the project team compares decision-processes on sustainable development practices through the lenses of participatory approaches in seven selected cities located in the European Arctic. Based on this analysis, a framework will be developed that identifies pathways to enhance the harmonization of policies on sustainable urban development transnationally. In this regard, this research goes beyond existing knowledge as it focuses specifically on remote regions, and as such on the Arctic. Following the idea of interactive governance, the main research hypothesis is that urban development in the Arctic will be more sustainable if simultaneously the positions of local stakeholders are reflected in decision-processes and policies are aligned across the national and regional levels. Currently, urban development in the European Arctic seem to be shaped to a varying degree by both national and sub-national policies of the different Arctic states, and also by international arrangements such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The main research goals are to answer the questions of why approaches differ throughout the European Arctic and how Arctic urban development can be steered more effectively in alliance with local and global policies. The research team will conduct qualitative and quantitative research, including content analysis of relevant policy and legislative documents and a critical reading of the scientific literature. Additionally, the team will organize focus interviews with local stakeholders (residents, businesses, civil society organizations, representatives from local administrations, and elected officials) in seven selected case study cities in the European Arctic to verify and expand on the information gained from the document analysis. The project opens new insights to main features of governance identified in urban governance literature: political and institutional constraints imposed on cities, different types of available resources and relationship between the city and society, including its transnational form. The research contributes to conceptual debates on transnational cooperation and local governance. The research further adds to the emerging debate on human activities in the Arctic region that contribute to climate change and its complex effects in and beyond the region. The outcomes of the project are also of relevance for political practitioners engaged in decision-processes in the European Arctic, for the European Union and the implementation of its Arctic Policy and for the Arctic Council, to which Germany and Poland are observer states.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Poland
• Partner Organisation: Narodowe Centrum Nauki (NCN)
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Michal Luszczuk