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Research profile

Our research profile

Our mission is to produce new knowledge and competence from the Arctic perspective so that life in the Arctic can continue to thrive in the future. We strive to ensure prosperity and well-being in the Arctic by encouraging both individuals and communities to take responsibility and by harnessing our global Arctic networks for benefiting our strategic aims.

Our profile is based on our university's strategy.

Strategic strengths

Global arctic responsibility

We are working together to identify and govern change in all its complexities: social, cultural, ecological, industrial, and technological. Moreover, we do research related to indigenous peoples such as the Sámi and develop solutions to achieve sustainable development.

Research in this strategic area aims to produce knowledge of local and global significance with regard to the specificity of the Arctic. By exploring issues that can promote safety, justice and sustainability in the northern areas, we are working towards solutions for global problems.

Sustainable tourism

Our objective is to identify, predict and govern the ecological, societal and economic impact of Arctic tourism and to develop solutions that promote sustainability.

Our multidisciplinary research on responsible tourism, the design of tourism services and the planning of future tourism in the Arctic is of high international standard. We see tourism as a local and global phenomenon, considering its ecological, social, cultural, political and economic sustainability. The research focuses on the identification, anticipation and management of change and the impact of tourism on contemporary and future societies.

Future services and reachability

We strive to identify future service needs and to design and develop service solutions in response to the requirements of reachability, equity in education, and well-being in sparsely populated areas.

This strategic strength aims to promote reachability, equity, and wellbeing in the North in the contexts of public, private and third-sector services. Research under this theme aims to produce knowledge that considers the physical distances, barriers to accessing services, and mental and social distances between different groups of people.

Strategic research themes
Selected research themes are strengthened by the Academy of Finland profiling funding and university's own strategic investments.

Funded by the Academy of Finland

  • ATLAS - Transformative Law for Sustainability in the Arctic (2023-2028)
  • REARCTIS - Arctic human-environment relationality (2023-2028)
  • MESH - Multispecies hospitality (2023-2028)
  • Responsible Tourism Planning (2019–2023)
    Addressing balanced tourism growth globally and locally by trustworthy and accountable tools of responsible and participatory planning.
  • Welfare Law (2019–2023)
    Core questions at the intersection between law and society connected to the major ongoing societal changes, social and healthcare reform and issues of welfare.
  • Sustainability and co-production of knowledge (2018–2022)
  • Arctic Politics and Governance (2017–2021)
    Examining how many of the old problems of the social sciences present themselves in a different light in the Northern political, historical and geographical context.
  • Arctic Design and Arts (2016–2020)
    Interaction with Arctic societies through design works with consumers, businesses and service providers; and arts-based research on ecological and socio-cultural issues.
  • Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic (2015–2019)
    New research streams into Arctic indigenous cultures, peoples and communities, and strengthening Sámi research.
  • Arctic Rights and Natural Resources (2015–2019)
    New research streams into Arctic legal research using various theoretical insights to examine how normative guidance is changing and used in the Arctic context.

University strategic funding