Anna Niia Varfolomeeva

Tag: energy transition

  • Conversations at the edge of the world

    A conference where you are slightly afraid to leave the guesthouse because of the strong wind bending low-growing trees down. A conference set amongst stunning landscapes, where fish and chips are sold next to woolen sweaters, and coinciding with a traditional Faroese whale hunt. Yes, the UArctic Congress 2026 at the Faroe Islands (sometimes referred to as The Edge of the World) was a very unique conference experience.

    My participation was seemingly straightforward: I presented my research on the impact of energy transition on more-than-human landscapes in the panel on meaningful stakeholder engagement co-organized with my colleagues from UArctic Thematic Network on Arctic Sustainable Resources. However, large academic events represent much more than a presentation slot.

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  • Discussing sustainability from the margins

    The long-awaited edited volume “Decolonizing Sustainable Development Goals” has been published open access. I am extremely grateful to the editors for all their efforts in making this book available beyond library access and institutional affiliations.

    This book analyzes the well-known SDGs from a very important but rarely addressed angle: Indigenous and local perspectives. It shows why the goals cannot be taken for granted, but need to be critically discussed to limit conflicts and tensions during their implementation.

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  • Beyond the Arctic as “Great White Nothing”

    During the heated Greenland controversy that intensified in January 2026, Donald Trump famously said: “What I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly located… It’s hard to call it land.”

    This statement reflects a much wider and deeply rooted issue: the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions have long been imagined as “nothing” – as an “empty space” supposedly lacking meaning.

    Such harming representations continue today, as new technologies and industries once again present the North as being empty, abundant, and endlessly resourceful. It becomes easy to forget that, for many, it is a long-lived and deeply loved place.

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  • Notes from an Arctic retreat

    Last week, just as the grant submission emotions were finally settling down, I got to experience a bit of tourist Lapland. The project REBOUND, focusing on just green transition in the Finnish North, had a two-day workshop and retreat in a holiday village right at the Arctic Circle.

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  • Arctic just transition: project notes

    I just returned from Denmark after ten busy days spent at Skalling Laboratory in Southwestern Denmark and at Copenhagen Business School. It was quite surreal to land back in Oulu after the full bloom of spring in Copenhagen and to feel the touch of snowflakes. Yes, we are still in (Arctic) April!

    During the first week of the trip spent at Skalling Laboratory, we discussed the research outcomes of the project Towards a socially just transition in the Arctic: Exploring, theorizing and disseminating best practice in meaningful stakeholder engagement for communities (PI Karin Buhmann): an one-pager on meaningful stakeholder engagement and a collaborative scientific article. All of this with great views included.

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