The Calotte Academy 2025 with the theme “The Future of Europe – A Northern Point of View” is planned to take place from 10 to 15 November 2025, contingent on the acquisition of adequate funding. We plan to guide participants on an exciting journey through Sápmi, the northernmost parts of Finland, Norway, and Sweden, through Rovaniemi, Luleå, Kautokeino, and Inari. The theme “The Future of Europe – A Northern Point of View” is broad, in order to invite and enable many viewpoints from different disciplines, as well as being very relevant and timely. It is inspired by the consequences of the world (dis)order of mounting multi-crises with two controversial realities: the ecological catastrophe / climate crisis vis-à-vis great power rivalries indicating an antagonism between ‘militarization’ and ‘environmentalization’ of societies, state policies, transboundary relations and media. Europe, as a part of Eurasia, is located between the North Atlantic, Africa, the Middle East, Russia and the Arctic, and is therefore very much concerned with migrant/asylum flows, hot/proxy wars with the related energy crisis and sanctions, turbulent US foreign and security policy, the fragmentation of European democracy and that of the Nordic welfare state, a rapidly warming Arctic climate, and a pause in beneficial Arctic cooperation.
What is the future of Europe, especially from a Northern point of view, in turbulent times of worldwide disorder, great power rivalry and the climate crisis? This is what will be discussed during the Calotte Academy 2025. We are particularly interested in discussions, critical analyses, and empirical and methodological findings on the following topics—although we are not limited to them:
• How is ‘Europe’ interpreted, as a continent per se, or a part of Eurasia? Is Russia a part of Europe?
• Europe vis-à-vis neighboring Africa, the Middle East, Russia and the Arctic.
• Europe vis-à-vis the Global South, including India – will “B3W” by the G7 make a difference?
• Who belongs to ‘Europe’ – the European Union vis-à-vis the rest of Europe.• Indigenous peoples and Europe – the cases of the Sámi and the Inuit.
• Legacies of European colonialism globally and in particular in the entire North.
• The future of an idea of Europe in the world of legal disorder, great power rivalry & the climate crisis.
• The future of European democracy and fundamental rights and freedoms, and the role of civil society.
• Importance of Nordic values – freedom of movement, inclusion, resilience – for Europe?
• Does Europe have its own (common) foreign & security policy, or is it dependent / does it depend on the USA and its military support?
• Europe and China / “Build Back Better” vis-à-vis the “Belt and Road Initiative”.
• Arms control & disarmament as a part of Europe’s foreign and security policies.
• Environmental security vis-à-vis national (military) security in Europe.
• Europe as an advocate of the environment & climate change / the Paris Agreement.
• The European “Green Deal” – will the EU be climate-neutral by 2050?
• Is / was Europe (too) dependent on Russia energy, or is it about strategic partnership? The European Arctic vis-à-vis the Russian Arctic & Northern American one.
• The European Union’s Northern Dimension vis-à-vis its Arctic policy.
• ‘The Barents Euro-Arctic Region’, the vision that became reality – only a history?
• Learned lessons from Arctic stability & cooperation.
• Europe and information technologies & digitalisation: what’s happening on the ‘cyberfront’?
The 2025 event, like its predecessors, aims to be organized in a spirit of open dialogue and a participatory approach to discuss, examine and analyze relevant Northern / Arctic and global issues. The event uses the dual interplay between science, policy and business, and between scientific and Indigenous knowledge, to educate, mentor and train PhD candidates, post-docs and advanced Master’s students in interdisciplinary studies, and to implement a transdisciplinary dialogue between different local and regional stakeholders. For the second time, the 2025 Academy will include a role-playing game with relevant European / Arctic actors represented by the participants. The main objective is to simulate international negotiations on the future of Europe in general and the Arctic in particular, in the context of a world (dis)order with multi-crises and controversial realities.
Registration fee
The registration fee for participation is €425, covering accommodation, transportation, as well as some meals during the travelling symposium. Early career researchers who are funded by a university or institute, or who have travel grants for scientific conferences, are invited to check with their respective funders to confirm whether they can cover this fee. The fee will be paid in two installments: the first part (€125) one month before the start of the trip, and the rest (€300) at the beginning or end of the journey.
Applications
The present document is the 3rd Call for Participation & Papers destined to early career researchers (PhD candidates, post-docs, advanced Master’s students), as well as to established researchers from different academic backgrounds, to participate in & present their work at the 2025 Academy.The deadline for applications is 13 September 2025. An application should include an abstract of approximately 250–350 words, a short bio/CV including (PhD / MA) study status, and a short list of publications. Applications must be submitted online at https://calotte-academy.com/apply .