1. The Arctic Nexus in Asian-Nordic+ Relations
Aalborg, Denmark, 5-7 November 2014
Robert C. Thomsen
CIRCLA, Aalborg University

2. ‘Assignment’
“we invite the panelists to make brief interventions on what they see as the key research questions for their theme and their suggestions for future, collaborative research addressing these questions. 2

3. Key research questions
Comprehensive sustainable development
Sustainable development is: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Our Common Future 1987, 24).
‘Sustainability’: often a synonym for ‘eco-friendly’, environmentally sound.
BUT ALSO
Economic, social, cultural and political sustainability (interconnected, interdependent)
– incl. workable constitutional set-ups, efficient, representative political institutions and governance capacity. 3

4. Key research questions
National movements and comprehensive sustainability in the Arctic
Sustainable development is also a matter of collective, social and cultural identity coherence.
In Arctic communities: Indigeniety and nation-building
Contemporary ‘stateless’ nationalism does not always play out as
separatism: full sovereignty (often ethnic, exclusivist)
Occasionally:
‘autonomism’: adequate measure of self-government (often civic, inclusivist)
Q: What are the internal discrepancies/conflicts between nationalisms in Arctic communities (ethnic-civic, separatist-autonomist)?
Q: How can autonomist nationalism possibly be accommodated within existing or adapted constitutional frameworks? 4

5. Suggestions for future, collaborative research on these questions
A comparative research project, exploring nationalist movements in
unitary states (e.g. Japan, Norway, Denmark (Greenland, Faroe Isl.))
federal states (e.g. Russia, India and Canada)
those in-between (e.g. China ~‘de facto federalism’)
Joint proposal (abstract) for ICARP III/ASSW, April 2015, Toyama…?
Third Circular, B9: ‘Arctic governance, sustainable development of local communities and non-Arctic state’s contribution’
Deadline: 10 November ! 5