Search

Human history is ridden with dreams of utopias. Ideas and visions outlining societies or communities that are free from faults and flaws, running perfectly according to plan. There is no shortage of examples. Many are political, some religious and others stacked somewhere in between. Plato (428-348 BCE) presented a utopia that appeared to be an improved version of the society it was compared to. Here the ideal city (Kallipolis), ruled by supremely enlightened philosophers, would provide the necessary services and constraints so that just and good human beings could develop and thrive. In contrast, early 20th century communism proposed a utopia which was radically different from the grim industrial reality it rose from – a place with no suppression, a direct democracy and where the proverb «From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” would be the guiding principle». It can be said that both visions seemed feasible, but that they failed in making the transition from ideas to reality, although ardent attempts were made. Using an ‘ideal world’ to motivate change is an exercise that has shadowed human history for millennia, whereas the concept itself can be dated more accurately.

In this piece, Øyvind Paasche elaborates his thoughts on the immaterial kinds of research infrastructure., {"references":["Brook, E.J. & Buizert, C. (2018) Antarctic and global climate history viewed from ice cores, Science, Vol 558, 200-208.","Herbert, T.D., Peterson, L.C., Lawrence, K.T., & Liu, Z. (2010) Tropical Ocean Temperatures Over the Past 3.5 Million Years, Science, Vol 328, 1530-1534.","Osman, M.B., Das, S.B., Trusel, L.D., Evans, E.J., Fischer, H., Grieman, M.M., Kipfstuhl, S., McConnell, J.R. & Saltzman, E.S. (2018). Industrial-era decline in subarctic Atlantic productivity, Nature, Vol 569, 551-555.","Paasche, Ø., and H. Åkesson (2019), Let's start teaching scientists how to withstand attacks on fact, Eos, 100, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EO118499."]}

Participatory scenario methodologies are increasingly used for studying possible future developments in the Arctic. They have the potential to contribute to several high-priority tasks for Arctic research, such as integration of indigenous and local knowledge in futures studies, providing a platform for activating Arctic youth in shaping their futures, identifying Arctic-relevant indicators for sustainable development, and supporting decision-making towards sustainable futures. Yet, to achieve this potential, several methodological challenges need to be addressed. These include attention to whose voices are amplified or silenced in participatory research practices, with special attention to diversification and the engagement of youth. Given the historic and potential future role of disruptive events for Arctic development trajectories, methods are needed in participatory scenario exercises to include attention to the dynamics and consequences of such events and regime shifts. Participatory scenarios can also be further improved through approaches that effectively combine qualitative and quantitative information. Finally, there is a need for systematic studies of how the results of scenario exercises influence decision-making processes. This article elaborates on ways in which attention to these aspects can help make scenarios more robust for assessing a diversity of potential Arctic futures in times of rapid environmental and social change., This paper was conceived at a workshop in Stockholm, Sweden, 7–8 September 2017, organized by the Nordic Centre of Excellence Resource Extraction and Sustainable Arctic Communities (www.rexsac.org), funded by Nordforsk, with financial support also from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra-Arctic programme) and the Swedish Research Council Formas. Riina Haavisto acknowledges support by the Academy of Finland through funding of the TWASEproject (funding decision 283101). Bruce Forbes has been supported by the Academy of Finland Decision no. 256991 and JPI Climate no. 291581.

Participatory scenario methodologies are increasingly used for studying possible future developments in the Arctic. They have the potential to contribute to several high-priority tasks for Arctic research, such as integration of indigenous and local knowledge in futures studies, providing a platform for activating Arctic youth in shaping their futures, identifying Arctic-relevant indicators for sustainable development, and supporting decision-making towards sustainable futures. Yet, to achieve this potential, several methodological challenges need to be addressed. These include attention to whose voices are amplified or silenced in participatory research practices, with special attention to diversification and the engagement of youth. Given the historic and potential future role of disruptive events for Arctic development trajectories, methods are needed in participatory scenario exercises to include attention to the dynamics and consequences of such events and regime shifts. Participatory scenarios can also be further improved through approaches that effectively combine qualitative and quantitative information. Finally, there is a need for systematic studies of how the results of scenario exercises influence decision-making processes. This article elaborates on ways in which attention to these aspects can help make scenarios more robust for assessing a diversity of potential Arctic futures in times of rapid environmental and social change. QC 20190926 Resource Extraction and Sustainable Arctic Communities