ABSTRACT Permafrost degradation is a major consequence of climate change in the Arctic, with significant implications for infrastructure, societal systems, and the everyday life of local populations. While substantial research has examined these impacts on northern communities, the implications for tourism remain largely underexplored, despite the growing presence of tourism operations in Arctic regions. By bringing together periglacial geomorphology and tourism geographies, this study aims to advance policymaking in tourism governance for future safe tourism and resilient communities. Based on semi-structured interviews, the paper investigates how tourism stakeholders in the Yukon Territory, Canada, perceive permafrost degradation. Findings reveal that permafrost degradation is emerging as a concern for transportation and for the preservation of cultural heritage sites but is not viewed as a major issue for nature-based tourism. Permafrost degradation is also not regarded as an immediate concern for the sustainability of the tourism industry, as opposed to other environmental threats like wildfires. Given projections of increasing tourism in the Arctic and of intensifying permafrost thaw, the paper calls for greater integration of permafrost degradation into future tourism development discourse, proactive planning and strategies, and contributes to broader discussions on climate change and sustainable tourism governance.

ABSTRACT Arctic tourism is increasingly shaped by Arctification, a process through which stereotypical representations of the Arctic as a remote, snow-covered wilderness are attached through tourism and related imaginaries, practices, and products to places that were not previously considered as being Arctic. These representations can contribute to homogenization, and constrained development pathways. While sustainability needs have been widely examined in Arctic tourism, the role of digital technologies in shaping how Arctic places are produced, experienced, and rendered sustainable remains under-researched. This conceptual paper introduces Phygital Arctic Tourism (PAT) as an analytical framework for examining how Arctic tourism is assembled through intertwined physical and digital processes. Building on Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and relational perspectives on place, the paper extends existing Arctic tourism frameworks by conceptualizing digital technologies as material actors in the production of tourism experiences, imaginaries, and sense of place. Furtheremore, it introduces Counter-Arctification as a concept foregrounding processes through which dominant Arctic imaginaries are challenged and pluralized. With examples from museums and visitor centers this paper advances a conceptual lens for analyzing how Arctic tourism is produced, mediated, and transformed in the digital era, offering new directions for research on sustainability, sense of place, and tourism development in Arctic regions.

ABSTRACT Inviolate areas represent a physical and conceptual manifestation of an approach to conservation based on protecting nature from people. Debates over inviolate areas in Antarctica offer useful insights into the values that underpin conservation in the Anthropocene. Antarctica is governed by an international treaty system that declares the continent to be a ‘natural reserve, devoted to peace and science’ and which requires consensus decision-making among a wide range of cultural and political views. Drawing on Antarctic governance and conservation scholarship, as well as the wider geographical and humanities literature, this article examines the contested interpretations and framings of inviolate areas in Antarctica. Starting with international debates over ‘Prohibited Zones’ in Belgium’s 2023 proposal for a new protected area, we trace historical and contemporary perspectives on inviolate areas in the Antarctic. We then propose four frames through which stakeholders might engage inviolate areas, each of which reflects a set of assumptions and values about how Antarctic conservation should be approached, ranging from increasing human presence to re-imagining the region as an autonomous, rights-bearing entity. We offer these frames as a heuristic device for those seeking new ways of navigating disagreement and achieving better conservation outcomes in Antarctica and beyond.

ABSTRACT The use of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) in the maritime industry has increased rapidly in recent years. At the same time, maritime activity in the Arctic is expanding as diminishing sea ice enables greater access for commercial shipping, offshore energy development, fisheries, and cruise tourism. This growth has heightened the risk of maritime accidents in a region characterized by harsh environmental conditions, vast distances, and limited infrastructure. Existing search and rescue (SAR) capabilities of Arctic states are widely regarded as insufficient to fully address the anticipated increase in maritime traffic, prompting efforts to enhance SAR preparedness. This study examines the potential role of USVs in supporting Arctic SAR operations from operational and legal perspectives, with particular reference to the Northern Sea Route. It addresses two research questions: ‘how USVs can support SAR operations in the Arctic in light of existing SAR capabilities and increasing maritime activity’, and ‘what legal and regulatory constraints may limit their deployment’. A qualitative pilot study was conducted based on semi-structured interviews with domain experts, which were coded and analyzed using content and thematic analysis methods. The findings suggest that USVs can enhance SAR operations as complementary assets, provided that existing legal ambiguities are clarified.

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of Svalbard Airport in shaping socio-economic transitions and everyday life in Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on the Svalbard archipelago. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork, complemented by historical sources, the study analyzes how the airport has mediated experiences of remoteness and connectivity across successive historical periods. Situating the analysis within the anthropology of infrastructure and relational island studies, the airport is conceptualized as a connective infrastructure that actively reconfigures Svalbard’s islandness rather than simply overcoming geographical isolation. Tracing developments from Longyearbyen’s origins as an isolated coal-mining company town to its current post-industrial transition based on tourism, research, and education, the article demonstrates how the airport has functioned both as a product and driver of state-led normalization, economic diversification, and geopolitical presence. Empirically, the study foregrounds lived experiences of mobility, transience, safety, and vulnerability, highlighting air connectivity as an ambivalent category. The article argues that increased connectivity does not eliminate remoteness but gives rise to ‘hyperconnected remoteness,' a condition in which extreme accessibility and isolation coexist. By focusing on an Arctic island context, the article contributes new insights into the transformative power of transport infrastructure and the ambivalent social effects of connectivity in remote settings.

ABSTRACT The rapid opening of the Arctic due to climate change and the increasing use of the Northern Sea Route have intensified demand for reliable and sustainable energy supply in remote regions to meet rising industry and residential demand. This article examines whether small nuclear power plants (SNPPs), with particular focus on floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs), can provide a viable solution for the Arctic. This study applies a mixed approach that combines environmental assessment, life cycle analysis based on international standards, spatial mapping of ecological risks, and economic evaluation using standard investment criteria. Results show that FNPPs can be economically feasible under favorable financing conditions, though their long payback periods and high cost limit competitiveness against other energy options. Environmentally, while nuclear energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels, FNPPs carry significant risks, including thermal pollution, disruption of fragile ecosystems, and permafrost destabilization. The findings suggest that ground-based SNPPs may offer a more balanced alternative for sustainable Arctic energy policy. This research contributes to the debate on Arctic development by integrating environmental and economic perspectives, offering insights for policymakers and energy planners considering future deployment of nuclear technologies in the region.

ABSTRACT This paper examines how Antarctic considerations have evolved across four phases of Brazilian geopolitical thought. Drawing on primary texts and academic literature, it situates Antarctic discourse within Brazil’s broader geopolitical trajectory and historical shifts. Using a historical and analytical approach, it traces continuity and change, showing how geopolitical narratives shaped Brazil’s Antarctic engagement. Antarctica emerged as a topic only after World War II, when Brazilian geopolitical thinking broadened its scope to a global scale and integrated maritime space. Across this trajectory, Antarctica remained a distant yet related space – linked to Brazil through strategic, economic, and environmental concerns – and was framed more as a resource for development and projection than as a central element of national identity. The persistence of ideas such as the frontage theory underscores the enduring impact of early geopolitical models, even as newer perspectives bring science, environmental governance, and South–South cooperation without introducing a distinct theoretical renewal. Despite growing academic attention, critical geopolitics remains underdeveloped in Brazil, limiting reflection on the relevance of classical frameworks. By tracing this trajectory, the study underscores the significance of national perspectives in understanding the evolving regional and Antarctic orders.

ABSTRACT In 2015, Naalakkersuisut (Government of Greenland) approved the largest investment in transportation infrastructure ever undertaken by the island’s autonomous government. Consisting of the expansion of two existing airports and the construction of one new regional hub, the project promises development by freeing the island from the constraints of its World War II-era infrastructure and creating greater connections to the globe. However, the project will also realign much of the island’s current transportation network, increasing access to some communities while potentially contributing to the isolation and displacement of others. Focusing on the experience of the airport expansion project in two communities, this article examines how legacies of the past and visions for the future intermix and coalesce around large-scale infrastructural projects and what they can reveal about the interconnection between state policy, the politics of belonging, and the future of Arctic communities.

ABSTRACT Changing environmental conditions in Isfjorden impact the abundance and composition of fish species in this major fjord system in Svalbard. New commercially attractive species have already entered and will expand in Svalbard waters. Based on knowledge from different sources, this paper explores and discusses how fisheries may develop in Isfjorden. We found a mismatch between the current regulatory framework, which is too fragmented and complex to address increasingly intricate fisheries matters, and the extent of ongoing changes that may result in larger opportunities for fishing activities in Svalbard waters. Drawing on the situation in Porsangerfjorden, a fjord system in Northern Norway with a boreal character, we emphasize the importance of fisheries resource management. Finally, we surmise that pressure to open fish-landing facilities on Svalbard may increase in connection with the abundance of new species of commercial interest and a stronger interest in consuming local fish products in Longyearbyen.

ABSTRACT The development of Chinese-Russian relations in the Arctic affects international security architecture. 2014 and 2022 are identified as critical moments in this analysis, reflecting the subsequent stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the systematically activated international sanctions. Focusing on the Arctic as a contested laboratory of great-power rivalry, this study examines Sino-Russian military cooperation. Two main questions are discussed: which determinants have reoriented Beijing’s and Moscow’s approaches to joint military action, and what is the scope and extent of those actions? Using a multi-source qualitative approach, the author traces the post-2014 and especially post-2022 shifts, linking sanctions pressure and resource/logistics imperatives to a measurable surge in joint exercises, patrols, and command-and-control familiarization. Furthermore, this article's discussion includes Chinese-Russian anti-US balancing, Russia’s sanctions-induced dependence on Chinese finance and technology, and divergent governance preferences based on the Russian sovereign approach to the Northern Sea Route versus China’s Polar Silk Road narrative.