A circumpolar view

International programs on the Arctic shores

Interview with Sergey Kulikov-Shuyskiy

The Arctic today is a living lab of climate systems and potential settlement models. Establishing infrastructure in these remote areas with extreme conditions is essential to enhance the knowledge, explore resources and prepare for climate migration. Science-based approach is a key. We talked to Sergey Kulikov - architecture historian and critic, the expert in territorial development of the Far North and international Arctic - about the sustainable development potential of the Arctic shores.

ShoUrbanism (Oksana Veselkova): Sergei, do you think the Arctic has a future in terms of sustainable development and service economies? What are the good examples from your recent work?

Sergey Kulikov: Today the Arctic region has three basic pathways of development. In the industrial era the resources development was at the forefront, which has not changed in some places. But now there are science, tourism and logistics. An example of the latter is an ongoing project to develop the port in Kirkenes in northern Norway with the participation of China. A railway line is being extended there from Rovaniemi in Finland. This will be the stronghold of the Northern Sea Route, that will boost tourism development. Tourism, including cultural, ecological, and extreme, in addition to the service economy, stimulates the growth of creative industries among indigenous people. In addition to the purely economic aspects, this reflects its ethical and aesthetic sides.

OV. You recently talked about how Svalbard and Norway are developing visitors programs based on the Arctic scientific and research laboratories. Please illustrate it in more detail - how does it work, and how the access of tourists is regulated - to such sensitive objects?

SK: Spitsbergen, or as it is called in Norwegian - Svalbard, is governed by the Kingdom of Norway. Although, there are three cities under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation - Barentsburg, Grumant (completely closed) and Pyramiden. The latter is a ghost town where 3 people live in winter, and 5 in summer, to maintain the hotel and accomodate the tourists. According to the Svalbard Treaty of 1920, if a state is engaged in mining on the archipelago, then it can have settlements in its jurisdiction. Therefore, the Russians are still engaged in coal mining there, despite the fact that it is extremely unprofitable. The Norwegians, in turn, completely abandoned coal mining, and recently closed the last thermal power plant in Longyearbyen, the Norwegian capital of the archipelago, which worked on coal.

Photos of Pyramiden - Ilya Sidorov

For Norway, Svalbard is first and foremost a scientific center. There are about 20 research stations in Ny Ålesund, run by the scientists from all over the world. In Longyearbyen there is a branch of the Arctic University. The so-called Doomsday Vault, where the plant seed samples from are collected, is also located there. A repository was built for the world cultural heritage, where the Russian Federation for some reason decided to place the recordings of the Soviet Moldavian singer Sofia Rotaru. These storages construction is conditioned by the fact that the archipelago is located in an earthquake-resistant zone with a unique microclimate, where organic matter does not decompose. (Therefore, all funerals take place on the mainland)

Scientific tourism also thrives in the archipelago - there are regular conferences and symposiums. There is also cultural tourism, for instance an art residence was opened in Longyearbyen not long ago. A mass tourist, of course, cannot get inside the Doomsday Vault or science labs, but is allowed to take pictures at the entrance. Tourists are taken to see the Pyramiden ghost town, unique natural objects, there are extreme tours on snowmobiles. This is very well-organized tourism, since the population of polar bears on Svalbard exceeds the humans population, and it is forbidden to leave the settlement without a weapon. There are two main tour operators in the archipelago that regulate the flow of tourists - one is Russian, managed by ArktikUgol, and another is Norwegian - Svalbard Experts.

A very good example of science-based tourism development is the city of Vardø in the North of Norway. It was the main point of trade between Norwegians and Pomors in the Middle Ages. The northernmost fortress in Europe, where about a hundred witches were burned in the 17th century, is still stands there. The basis of the city's economy in the 20th century was fishing. But when the fish has gone, it became a depressive village. What made a real change was a combination of grassroots initiatives and the government programs. Street artist Pøbel, a native of Vardø, called there his colleagues - and they organized Komafest for several years in a row. During these events, public art objects were made in the city with the help of local residents. So Vardø became the Arctic capital of this field of art. Along with it the three state programs were implemented: Vardø Restored, during which the architect Peter Zumthor, together with the artist Louise Bourgeois, designed and implemented a memorial to the burnt witches, as well as the programs to develop the national roads and parks. Vardø is located in the territory of Varangerhalvøya National Park, famous for the abundance of bird species nesting there. It has become accessible to nature lovers, especially bird watchers - for whom Biotope has designed the bird-watching shelters, valuable for their aesthetic qualities. So with the synergistic effect of all these, from the depressed village Vardø turned into the center of cultural and ecological tourism.

Image Credits - REUTERS, JVA, Mari Tefre

OV. What other socio-cultural objects of the Arctic territories are good for attracting the visitors with the least harm to the fragile ecology?

SK. First of all, cities with a developed tourist infrastructure. For example, the largest scientific and cultural center is the city of Tromsø, or the city of Bodø, where an art festival is held. Otherwise, the anthropogenic load must be somehow regulated. Along the entire coast of Norway with final points in Bergen and Kirkenes, there is a flotilla of tourist ferries, and here the main load is at the landing points.

OV. How the issues of visitors load on the ecosystem are regulated? Are there good cross-border planning and management practices already in place in the Russian Arctic?

SK. A smelter of the Norilsk Nickel company in the city of Nickel, previously situated close to the Norwegian border, was extensively affecting the environment. Norway invested in installing the filters and other means to minimize pollution, as well as their maintenance and operation. Now that the plant has been closed, another problem arose - what to do with the city without its core enterprise? There is an excellent example of cooperation in Svalbard, where the Norwegian bureau LPO developed a master plan for the Russian city of Pyramiden. The most ambitious cross-border cooperation initiatives were undertaken by the Barents Secretariat, created in 1993 by the initiative of the father of the current NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as a platform for cooperation between the countries of this region. One of the initiatives was a visa-free 50-kilometer zone between Norway and the Murmansk region, whose residents could safely cross it. Numerous grants were issued for joint cultural and educational projects. Every year, the Barents Spektakel festival was held across the border in Nikel and Kirkenes, to celebrate the end of the polar night. Now, using such an euphemism, the activities of the Barents Secretariat in this direction are practically frozen because of the tragic events in Ukraine.

OV. What tools do you think are important for this? Does master planning make sense, or more focused and short-term programs might be prioritized?

SK. If we talk about international and transboundary efforts, there is a clear need in master planning. It is impotant both at the global, circumpolar level, and at the local, tactical scale, as in the city of Pyramiden. But now it takes to wait for a new thaw.