Humanizing the Arctic: Cultural Heritage as a Development Resource
The Arctic has always been a region of ideas, where human creative energy has found expression for centuries. The discussion will examine how the cultural and historical heritage of the Arctic is studied and preserved, above all the ethnocultural legacy and experience of the region’s indigenous peoples, and consider current trends in international cultural cooperation in the Arctic. The humanization of the Arctic regions is becoming a necessity of the twenty-first century. It is critically important for creating an atmosphere of social optimism and for configuring a comfortable environment in which to live in the region, and consequently for the sustainable development of the Arctic.
Points for discussion:
• What humanitarian resources does the Arctic possess? What will preserving them bring both for the Arctic itself and for society as a whole?
• How are the indigenous peoples of the Arctic being involved in humanitarian and scientific projects? What does the notion of developing the Arctic mean to them?
• What languages does the Arctic speak? Why should the languages of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North be revitalized and protected?
• Why can Arctic museums be regarded as an indicator of the region’s level of modernization?
• What is the mission of Arctic education? Why does the experience of exploring the Arctic through art matter today?
• What successful practices and what barriers exist for international humanitarian partnership in the Arctic, given the current geopolitical situation?
• Arctic educational tourism: between dream and reality.
Discussing a broad range of social and cultural questions through specific projects will make it possible to reveal shared values and experience and to anticipate the main approaches to working with the heritage of the Arctic, so that the past can be turned into a living present.