Development Of Arctic Regions Research Articles

Russia’s Foreign Policy Priorities in the Arctic Region Development at Current Stage

The article reviews the features of the processes in the Arctic region in the context of its growing importance in world politics and economics. The Arctic has the richest resources in the world. In the depths of the Arctic there is about a third of all the world’s reserves of natural gas and up to 13% of oil, huge reserves of coal, gold, copper, nickel, tin, platinum, and manganese. The growing dependence of the world economy on energy resources is pushing foreign countries to develop their interests in this region. Russia occupies a unique geopolitical position in the Arctic. The Arctic zone of Russia is singled out as a special object of state policy on the basis of its special national interests in the areas of geopolitics, economics, ecology, science, defense and national security. The development of mutually beneficial international cooperation in the Arctic meets the interests of Russia and its socioeconomic development. International cooperation in the Arctic is greatly influenced by the contradictory trends in modern international relations. As a result of the confrontation unleashed by Western countries against Russia, there was a significant complication of relations within the Arctic community. The Western Arctic states have blocked the development of common approaches to solving the most important issues for the region in the modern Arctic. In these conditions, Russia is building a multi-vector policy in the Arctic, which has brought positive results in attracting friendly states to partner cooperation on the implementation of projects in the Russian Arctic zone.

Comparative effectiveness of Arctic region development projects

Comparative effectiveness of Arctic region development projects

Assessment of the demographic potential of municipalities of the Arctic zone of Yakutia

The prospects for the development of Arctic regions are of great interest today for the entire scientific community, in view of the strategic status of these territories. The implementation of large resource projects is impossible without preserving and developing its demographic potential. This article discusses issues related to the state and development of the demographic potential of the Arctic regions of Yakutia. The role of natural growth and migration in the formation of the population of the Arctic regions was revealed. Understanding the reasons for the outflow of the population will allow in the future to form a modern regional policy regarding the spatial development of the Arctic regions of Yakutia. The subject of the study is the demographic potential of the Yan group of districts. Interest in the group of regions under consideration is caused by a historically formed territorial production complex for the extraction of ore minerals (primarily tin and gold), as well as promising plans for the development of new deposits. The creation of energy (PATES) and transport infrastructure (Yana road, Nizhneyansk and Ust7Kuiga ports) allows us to assess the regions of the Yan group as a single promising zone for the growth of the republic’s Arctic economy. Due to the above circumstances, it becomes necessary to assess its demographic potential. The materials for the study were the official data of the territorial body of the Federal State Statistics Service for the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), presented in annual statistical collections.

Трансформация модели развития северного оленеводства в Ненецком автономном округе

The era of accelerating globalization and urbanization has necessitated adaptations in Arctic economic systems. Among the key factors are the active industrial development of Arctic regions, social and cultural shifts among the indigenous peoples of the North, and changes in the modern market. The reindeer husbandry sector developed against the backdrop of collectivization in the 1930s and market reforms in the 1990s. This study aims to analyze shifts in the economic model of contemporary reindeer husbandry in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO) within the context of global transformations. The research novelty lies in examining the evolutionary transition of reindeer herding farms to a new management system during the Soviet period and investigating the factors influencing its effectiveness. While management improvements resulted in a profound restructuring of the mindset of reindeer herders, the onset of political reforms resulted in the shift to market relations and the upheaval of the industry during the crisis-ridden years of perestroika. The ensuing decline stemmed from the disintegration of the economic system and the government's not being ready to search for the right economic reforms. By employing the principal component method, the study identified two primary factors impacting the unstable nature of meat production: the number of reindeer per herder and the proportion of adult female reindeer in the herd. In farms facing challenges such as understaffing, low morale, or a high percentage of inexperienced workers, caution should be exercised in adopting advanced techniques. This involves adjusting the reindeer load per herder, managing larger herds, and increasing the number of adult female reindeer in the herd. An individual approach and an analysis of previous years' work are crucial to prevent negative trends in production indicators such as the number of calves, adult livestock preservation, and unforeseen loss prevention. Promising directions for future research include an analysis of the effectiveness of support programs for reindeer herding farms, encompassing both subsidies and trainings for young professionals in the industry.

Перспективы технологического развития нефтесервиса для освоения нефтегазовых месторождений арктического Севера

The article discusses the key challenges associated with the economic development of the oilfield service industry within the climatic, geological, and infrastructural conditions of the Arctic. The evaluation of the Arctic's contribution to the total hydrocarbon production in Russia is an important research problem, which is particularly relevant amidst the current international political tensions. The study aims to unveil aspects of research and development (R&D) prospects of oilfield services in Russia's Arctic regions and adjacent territories. The research identifies characteristic features of economic development associated with economic activity risks. These include infrastructure and technological constraints linked to the distance from federal R&D and industrial centers; insufficient financial resources and experience for large project implementation by local authorities; the intricacy and labor intensity of work, coupled with a shortage of specialists possessing the necessary skills. The study establishes that the complexity of developing Arctic oil and gas fields is mitigated by the application of innovations and highlights the vulnerability of domestic companies to import supplies, which are currently inaccessible due to Western sanctions. The results presented offer a comprehensive view of the promising facets of the innovation-driven and technological development of the oilfield services industry in the Arctic. They propose specific measures geared towards enhancing production efficiency in the oil and gas and oilfield services sectors for implementation by the government. The study's conclusions constitute its scientific novelty and affirm that the sector under consideration is characterized by the following aspects: 1) the demanding nature of work necessitating substantial financial assets and professional competencies of often scarce labor market participants, alongside the utilization of innovative technologies to curtail production costs; and 2) a constrained pool of oil and gas market participants diminishing competition in the oilfield services market and enabling vertically integrated oil companies to dictate prices to service organizations, thus limiting opportunities for the industry's innovation-driven and technological development. The study's conclusions hold significant practical potential and are recommended for incorporation into territorial, regional, and federal programs for the social and economic development of Arctic regions. These findings contribute to the innovation-driven and technological revitalization of the oilfield services industry, an integral element in developing the resource base of Northern territories. Additionally, they provide avenues for further scientific exploration, delving into logistic, financial, technological, corporate, and other economic aspects specific to participants in forthcoming development processes.

Study of water purification reactor operating modes

Wastewater treatment is one of the main problems of development and urbanization of the Arctic regions. This article is devoted to the development of a method for assessing the degree of water purification in order to determine the optimum operating parameters of treatment reactors for water treatment by ferrates from industrial and household waste resulting from the development of Arctic regions. Experiments reflecting the influence of the amount of air supplied to the purification plant on the processes of mixing and distribution of water were carried out and analyzed. Based on the experimental data, a method for determining the optimum operating parameters of a new mobile water purification plant has been developed and applied. The operation of the plant is based on the use of the ferrate method. equations and dependencies describing the relationship between the reactor volume, liquid flow rate and the degree of water purification are given. The degree of water pollution is estimated as its fraction which has left the reactor before the time required for complete treatment of the liquid from the moment it enters i the reactor. Optimal parameters of the ferrate reactor, such as volume and air supply, for a mobile water treatment plant were determined.

Reline Jacket: Efficient Reduction of Frost-Heave Uplift of Piles in Warming Permafrost

Air temperature in the Northern Hemisphere has been progressively warming in the recent decades, and the ground temperatures have increased correspondingly. The air temperature increasing due to the climate change induces degradation of permafrost and frost heaving activation. The frost heaving forces cause unevenly distributed damaging displacement of foundations and thus poses problems to the development of Arctic regions. Frost-heave uplift forces can be reduced by protecting piles with an OSPTReline (or Reline) polymer heat-shrinkable jacket. The interaction of heaving soil with a pile covered with the Reline jacket is modeled in laboratory to estimate the uplift force and the related shear strength of frozen soil along the soil-pile adfreeze surface at temperatures from −6 to −1 °C. The data are obtained for silty sand and silty clay soils and mortar (1:5 cement-sand mixture). The experiments show that frost-heave uplift forces on Reline-protected piles are 52% to 85% lower than on uncovered steel piles (steel grade 09G2S—analog to European steel grade S355JR), depending on soil type and temperature.

Microbial Communities of Seawater and Coastal Soil of Russian Arctic Region and Their Potential for Bioremediation from Hydrocarbon Pollutants.

The development of Arctic regions leads to pollution of marine and coastal environments with oil and petroleum products. The purpose of this work was to determine the diversity of microbial communities in seawater, as well as in littoral and coastal soil, and the potential ability of their members to degrade hydrocarbons degradation and to isolate oil-degrading bacteria. Using high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene, the dominance of bacteria in polar communities was shown, the proportion of archaea did not exceed 2% (of the total number of sequences in the libraries). Archaea inhabiting the seawater belonged to the genera Nitrosopumilus and Nitrosoarchaeum and to the Nitrososphaeraceae family. In the polluted samples, members of the Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Actinomycetes classes predominated; bacteria of the classes Bacteroidia, Clostridia, Acidimicrobiia, Planctomycetia, and Deltaproteobacteria were less represented. Using the iVikodak program and KEGG database, the potential functional characteristics of the studied prokaryotic communities were predicted. Bacteria were potentially involved in nitrogen and sulfur cycles, in degradation of benzoate, terephthalate, fatty acids, and alkanes. A total of 19 strains of bacteria of the genera Pseudomonas, Aeromonas, Oceanisphaera, Shewanella, Paeniglutamicibacter, and Rhodococcus were isolated from the studied samples. Among them were psychrotolerant and psychrophilic bacteria growing in seawater and utilizing crude oil, diesel fuel, and motor oils. The data obtained suggest that the studied microbial communities could participate in the removal of hydrocarbons from arctic seawater and coastal soils and suggested the possibility of the application of the isolates for the bioaugmentation of oil-contaminated polar environments.

Strategic management of the Arctic zone development based on the multicentric approach

The relevance of the research is determined by the need to create scientifically substantiated approaches to the strategic development management of the Arctic zone on the basis of a multicentric approach. The state management of the development of this region on the basis of the multicentric approach will contribute to the economic growth of the territory. The aim of the research is to study the concept of multicentric interaction between internal and external actors in the territory of the Arctic region, the specifics of their implemented strategic activities, to assess their impact on the state policy of Russia in the Arctic zone in order to develop measures aimed at transforming the strategic development of this territory in order to develop the Arctic zone potential as part of a unified nationwide agenda. The author’s proposed concept of strategic management of the Arctic region development involves the formation of human and social capital, support of local initiatives, diversification of activities, development of public policy based on a balanced consideration of the interests of internal and external actors, as well as the development of appropriate mechanisms to improve the efficiency of the entire Arctic ecosystem. The article uses the methods of structural and system analysis to study the essence of the stakeholder approach in the management of socio-economic systems. The retrospective assessment and textmining of domestic and foreign experience of studying the stakeholder management system allowed to define its role in the state management of socio-economic development of the Arctic zone and to propose the concept of multicentric approach, which allows to differentiate the interests of parties and choose the most effective interaction strategy. It is concluded that to improve the effectiveness of state management of socio-economic development of the Arctic zone it is necessary to develop strategic measures to involve stakeholders in management decision-making processes.

Impact Of Seasonal Fluctuations In Natural Light On Cerebral Metabolism In Arctic Region Residents With Different Autonomic Tones

Background — The study of physiological mechanisms of human acclimatization to extreme climatic conditions is an urgent task in current socioeconomic conditions of the Arctic region development. Natural cycles of seasonal adaptation based on light stimulus cause functional restructuring of the cerebral cortex and subcortical activity centers and change the activity of the autonomic nervous system. Objective — The article aims at determining the characteristics of brain energy metabolism in Arctic region residents with different autonomic tones during different seasons. Material and Methods — The first stage of our study was conducted using the computer appliance VNS-Spectrum (Neurosoft LLC, Russia) and resulted in setting up two groups: with predominance of the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system (26 subjects) and with prevailing sympathetic autonomic nervous system (23 individuals). At the second stage, the study of the seasonal dynamics in cerebral energy processes took place (in October, December, March, and June) by means of using the five-channel diagnostic complex Neuro-KM for topographic mapping of brain electrical activity via direct current potential levels (DCPL). Results — Our results did not exhibit statistically significant gender-related differences, hence they permitted to form a single group. The results were compared with the software reference values for the norm. Conclusion — Enlarged levels of natural light prompt the activation of energy metabolism in frontal and occipital lobes of the Arctic residents’ cortex, accompanied by forming an exhaustion area in the temporal lobes. In the group of sympathotonic individuals, we revealed somewhat tense adaptation processes. Adaptation process of brain energy supply in vagotonic individuals occur less stressfully during the annual cycle.

INDICATOR APPROACH FOR ANALYSIS OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATE AND DEVELOPMENT TRENDS OF THE ARCTIC COASTAL REGIONS

The Arctic zone is a strategically important region for the sustainable development of the Russian Federation and the Union State. At the same time, an absolutely large part of the population and economic activity in the Arctic is concentrated in the coastal zone. For the effective decision-making process support on the sustainable development of Arctic regions, it is necessary to develop scientific justifications for the implementation of Arctic strategies. As a such tool an information and analytical system can be used in the form of a model of strategic spatial planning of Arctic coastal eco-socioeconomic systems based on an indicator approach. The current state and trends of socio-economic development of the Arctic coastal regions of Russia are analyzed as an approbation of this model.

Сценарии социально-экономического развития регионов Белого моря.

In the process of creating a national system of strategic planning and within the framework of normative economics, the scenario approach provides opportunities for constructing goals and directions of socio-economic territories development. Being a planning tool the scenario approach allows forming the directions of regional development. These processes take particular relevance for the regions of our country that are the parts of the Arctic zone, especially in increased interest and attention to these territories resources from other external agents. The main aim of this paper is to elaborate development scenarios for the regions, which are fully or partially included in the Arctic zone and the White Sea catchment area. Based on the dynamics analysis of the main macroeconomic indicators and development trends for 1990–2019, the dependence of indicators for forecasting socio-environmental and economic development of these regions, was built. We applied scenario approach to describe possible development scenarios of Arctic regions in the White Sea catchment area. The novelty of the work is the construction of matrix of development scenarios of the Arctic regions, united by belonging to the White Sea catchment area. The analysis results of macroeconomic indicators for three elements of sustainable development show that the regions have rather weak economic development, stagnation of social indicators and difficult environmental situation. We outlined the problems constraining the development of Arctic regions in the White Sea catchment area and the directions to their solutions. To reach the trajectory of sustainable development is possible under condition of coordination and implementation of the measures taken by the state and regional authorities. This scenario of development strategy according to the innovation trajectory will allow to consolidate activity of federal, regional and municipal authorities of these territories. The integrated development program of the Arctic regions in the White Sea catchment area can be a coordinating platform.

The concept of “Smart City”: specific nature of innovative development of Russian Arctic cities

Innovative development of Arctic regions has insignificant dynamics to withstand the emerging challenges and threats. The initial asymmetry of the economic development of Arctic regions stimulated scientific search and innovative orientation but later financial and economic crises and new development priorities reduced the innovation potential of this macro-region. The condition of the regional innovation system becomes critical for the development of the innovation activity in Arctic cities. The study reveals the current state of digital transformation of the Arctic cities of Yamalo-Nenets autonomous area. Digitalization of the economy, the implementation of the “Smart City” concept focused on socio-cultural interactions creates new opportunities for the innovative development of Arctic cities. The advantage of many arctic cities is the concentration of human potential, infrastructure, specific social and economic practices. It is assumed that Arctic cities may face non-systemic and ineffective digital transformation, so the process should be accompanied by the development of local innovation systems. The concept of “smart people - smart city - sustainable region” is proposed, which implies prior development of the socio-cultural and intellectual potential providing the ability of arctic people to meet the current challenges and ensure a decent future for themselves.

Digital infrastructure as the factor of innovative development of Arctic regions in framework of Industry 4.0 concept

The purpose of the article is studying of the impact of the level of digital infrastructure development on formation of Industry 4.0 in Arctic regions of Russian Federation. The study objects are four arctic territories of Russian Federation, namely, Murmansk region, Yamalo Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Chukotka Autonomous District and Nenets Autonomous District. The methodological basis for the study is assessment of the level of regional digital infrastructure through analysis of separate indicators and calculation of the integrated indicator. The data of the Russian Federal statistic agency and its branches for period of 2014-2019 were used for assessment and analysis. The results highlight the not very positive dynamics of integrated digital infrastructure development indicator since the level of it has a tendency or stagnate or grow slowly. The formation of Industry 4.0 that requires to combine internal enterprise’s computerized design and automated machinery with ecommerce and Internet of Things in one integrated ebusiness system, is looking problematic in current situation for analyzed regions. The authors formulated the limitations for the study and defined the directions of the future research.

Зарубежный опыт стратегического планирования в Арктике в контексте устойчивого развития региона.

The article describes the key areas of strategic planning for the Arctic socio-economic development of the countries in the Northern Europe and Northern America from the point of two concepts: spatial organization of economy and sustainable regional development. The results of the Arctic region development are quantitative and qualitative positive changes in the socio-economic situation. They generate spatial modification taking into account the Arctic conditions of the environment of existence. The aim of the work is to study and accumulate the best foreign practices of applying sustainable development principles for the purposes of strategic planning in the Russian Arctic.The article is based on the analysis of the Arctic strategies in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Canada and the United States, with an emphasis on ranking the interests of these countries in the Arctic and public policy instruments. The author focuses on the issues of northern territories’ sustainable development and the results assessment of the implementation of strategic goals in the Arctic countries. The author presents a comparative characteristic of strategic priorities within the framework of the Arctic economic development.The research made it possible to identify common cornerstone problems that require the attention of governments: climate change and environment, rational economic development of territories and integration of traditional lifestyle of indigenous people into sustainable regional development. Similar priorities and tasks for the lean development of the Arctic and positive dynamics of regional development make it possible to use its results within the Arctic interregional cooperation. Strategic priorities are compared with statistical indicators values of development and subjective assessments of population on the same characteristics of life quality in the High North. Similar estimates of comparative analysis are consequence of the Arctic policy pursuedby the governments of these countries. The author underlines the necessity of foreign experience accumulation in the process of regional strategies’ development in the Russian Federation.

Геополитические вызовы российской Арктике при углеводородном освоении территории

The article is devoted to the issues of geopolitical risks (GPR) in the hydrocarbon development of the Russian Arctic. The authors pay special attention to the analysis of modern geopolitical and geostrategic challenges of the Arctic region development. The article identifies the key geopolitical factors that affect the sustainable development of the Arctic and analyzes the similarities and differences in the geostrategic positions of the Arctic Five. One of the most important factors of the XXI century that determines the alignment and interaction of various geopolitical forces is the struggle for resources. In this regard, an increase in GPR in the Arctic, related to its resource potential, is inevitable. For oil and gas industry facilities, GPR can be transformed into opposite environmental factors in the form of additional opportunities or threats, which the authors identify in detail for each type of risk. The authors focus on such positions of the GPR, which are related to ensuring access and obtaining control rights over the Arctic's hydrocarbon resources from different countries, the uncertainty of the legal status of the Arctic region, and the use of geoecological risks (GER) as manipulative priorities of attention to Russia's actions in the Arctic.

Agro-Industrial Complex of the Arctic of Yakutia: Features of Development and Prospects

The Doctrine of Food Security of Russia determines the need for regions to ramp-up production. The ritual food of the nationalities living in the North is predominantly food of animal origin (up to 97% fat and up to 78% protein). Since senile industries are the main source and supplier of animal products in the Arctic, their development determines the food supply of the population not only in the Arctic zone, but also throughout Yakutia. The Arctic has significant natural resources, for this reason it is sometimes considered only from the perspective of obtaining economic benefits. There is another category of scientists who view it as an unspoiled and sensitive area, insisting on the need to limit industrial development in the region. Against the increasing of its geopolitical and economic importance, the underlying problem of the Arctic region development is being formed [1]. The article defines the role of Arctic agro-industrial complex senile industries in the food facility system and the economy of Yakutia. The purpose of the article is to assess the current state of the agro-industrial complex of the Arctic in Yakutia and, on its basis, to develop methodological approaches to address the problem. The relevance of the article is stemmed from the need to increase food self-production level of the region in accordance with the Doctrine of Food Security of Russia, from the position to preserve the agro-industrial complex senile industry of the Arctic in Yakutia and their development. The article novelty is to determine promising measures contributing to the development of the agro-industrial complex senile industry and to orient on increasing food self-production level.

ВЛИЯНИЕ СОВРЕМЕННЫХ УСЛОВИЙ НА РАЗВИТИЕ КЛАСТЕРА АРКТИЧЕСКИХ ПРИБРЕЖНЫХ РЕГИОНОВ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

The article is devoted to the identification of modern factors influencing the development of the cluster of Arctic coastal regions and the development of proposals to reduce the risks of economic security, taking into account the specific features of the development of these territories. A lot of research works have been devoted to aspects of the economic security of the Arctic coastal regions, and there is also an interest on the part of the state to address issues of balanced development of the Arctic territories, which is expressed in a systematic approach implemented through a number of strategic documents, including the Economic Security Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030. Despite this, the change in modern realities requires constant adjustments to existing documents and forecasts affecting the regional specifics of economic security and Arctic coastal regions, from the perspective of the influence of various factors, such as, for example, sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic, instability of world commodity markets, the introduction of green technologies, changing priorities in the development of Arctic regions.

Comprehensive socio-economic development of Arctic territories of the Russian Federation: case of risks in the coordinate plane.

Nowadays the development of Russian Arctic territories became a paramount problem of socio-economic development of our country and technical growth. Such a breakthrough can come true because of an effective state politics (rising of life grade, high standard investment protection by the law, strict requirement of protecting nature) and attracting of investment to comprehensive development of Arctic regions, including risk projects in long. However, the provisions of the state policy about the Arctic region is not completed today. The comprehensive way of region development is not shown. The specific Arctic conditions and especially a commerce control not completed too. The possibility of comprehensive socio-economics growth of the region is addicted to its potential, ability of adaptation for innovations and well risk management. All these factors define a relevance of risk research. In this article presented a risk analysis, defined and systemized the risk factors, on the base of spatial structuring in the coordinate plane, including trends of development and area features with region own potential and quality of socio-economic region development control. The case of risk and accounting have to become a part of the making an administration decisions to decrease the risk influents with using an integrated risk management.

ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКАЯ АКТИВНОСТЬ В МУРМАНСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ:ОСОБЕННОСТИ ПРОЯВЛЕНИЯ И УСЛОВИЯ ОПТИМИЗАЦИИ

The key role of economic activities is in ensuring development and growth of both national and regional economies. Under the modern conditions, the prospects for development of the Arctic regions of the Russian Federation are associated with implementation of large investment projects, which should give an “impetus” to development of adjacent sectors and Arctic regions, i.e. implementation of these projects should be ensured by concentration of economic activities and their further spread. Basing on previous research, it was found out that economic activities in the Murmansk region are characterized by the critically low level of manifestation and non-static type of prevailing economic activities of businesses and the state. At the same time, the region has a significant potential for development caused by its economic and geographical location, unique natural resources and sufficiently developed infrastructure compared to other Russian regions of the Arctic. This paradox determines the risks of implementing the planned “megaprojects” in the region, and is conditioned by the peculiarities of socio-economic development of the region. Identification of the factors of socio-economic development of the Murmansk region, which determine its uniqueness, will be the basis for making recommendations for sustainable development of the region, contributing to resolution of the existing contradictions. The article analyzes and systematizes the factors of the socio-economic development of the region, which determine the manifestation specifics of economic activities in the region. Analysis, synthesis, comparison and grouping were used as methods. As a result, the author’s classification of factors of socio-economic development was proposed, which can become the basis for developing a strategy for optimizing the economic activities in the region adequate to its conditions. At the same time, the optimization of economic activities will mean achievement of such proportions in the regional economy in terms of the intensity of their manifestation by economic entities of different forms of ownership, which will contribute to achievement of sustainable regional development goals by influencing the behavior of economic entities.