An international, traveling symposium, with the theme “The Future of Europe – A Northern Point of View”, is planned to take place from 9 to 15 June 2025 (if the necessary funds are raised). The plan is to take participants on an exciting journey through the Nordic Arctic and Sápmi, the northernmost parts of Finland, Norway and Sweden, including Inari, Kautokeino, Kiruna, Luleå, Rovaniemi, and Tromsø.
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 hence 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, as well as a rapidly warming Arctic climate and a pause in beneficial Arctic cooperation.
What is the future of Europe, especially from a Northern and Nordic points of view, in turbulent times of worldwide disorder, great power rivalry and the climate crisis, will be discussed during the 2025 symposium. Of particular interest – although not limited to it – are discussions, critical analyses, and empirical and methodological findings, on the following topics:
- 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. - 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 story?
- 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.
The 2025 Academy will, for the second time, include a Role-Play Game with relevant European /Arctic actors represented by the participants. The main aim 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 symposium (unlike the Calotte Academies earlier) will be charging a registration fee for participants, if the necessary funds are not managed to raise. The fee is intended to cover the costs of a week-long trip (with a minimum of 20 participants), including transport (by rented bus), accommodation in various destinations, excursions, a daily lunch or dinner, as well as teaching & supervision and conference materials.
The registration fee for participation is 575 €. Early career researchers who are funded by a university/institute, or who have travel grants for scientific conferences, are invited to check with their respective funders whether they can cover this fee.
The fee will be paid in two installments: the first part (175 €) one month before the start of the trip,
and the rest (400 €) at the beginning / end of the journey.
About the Calotte Academy model
The traveling symposia will be organized by applying the successful model of the Calotte Academy, as an international, academic “School of Dialogue”, traveling throughout several destinations in the European Arctic, designed to promote interdisciplinary research, and implement the interplay between senior & young researchers. It is been a perfect platform model for early career researchers, particularly PhD candidates and post-docs, and established researchers, as well as young experts and emerging leaders, with different academic & knowledge backgrounds, to actively participate & discuss, and present their work (see Final Report of 2024 Academy https://calotte-academy.com).
Applications
This is the 1st Call for Participation for early career researchers (PhD candidates, post-docs, advanced Master’s students), and established researchers from different academic backgrounds to participate & present their work at the 2025 Symposium.
The deadline for applications is 30 April 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.
The fee will be paid in two installments: the first part (175 €) one month before the start of the trip, and the rest (400 €) at the beginning / end of the journey.
Co-organizers
The three traveling symposia are co-organized by the Northern Policy Society, the Department of Media Studies at Stockholm University, the ETS Institute at Luleå Technical University, the Faculty of Law at University of Lapland, the Geophysical Institute at University of Bergen, the International Center for Reindeer Herding Husbandry (EALÁT), Nasiffik at University of Greenland, the Saami Education Institute (SAKK), and VERA Centre of Russian and Border Studies at University of Eastern Finland, in cooperation with the UArctic Thematic Network (TN) on Geopolitics and Security.