Photo of two women and a reindeer in Nenets Region of Russian Arctic

NDI POLICY BRIEF 19: Human biomonitoring is needed to improve well-being and mental health of Arctic people

Summary:This policy brief focuses on the importance and necessity of human biomonitoring in the Arctic. An individualized monitoring system is needed to assess the risks of public health disorders (including mental health) which result from the deficiencies of essential trace elements and vitamin D. These deficiencies are caused mainly by the unbalanced local diets combined with the lack of sunlight …

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NDI POLICY BRIEF 18: Culture must be recognized as a driver of sustainable development

Summary:This Policy Brief highlights the potential of culture to create stability and to support sustainability. It argues that culture directly affects our attitudes towards change, our wellbeing and our ability to feel empathy, which are the source of stability. Cultural activities support our experience of meaningful life and the sense of inclusion. The accelerating climate change with all its side …

NDI POLICY BRIEF 17: Local Community Practices Support Healthy Ageing in the North

The governments of Finland, Denmark, Norway and Russia have developed national programs to address population ageing. There are also successful practices in healthy ageing at the local level in different countries, but they remain unknown among the global professional community and governmental authorities. This Policy Brief presents findings of the NORRUS-AGE project. The research and networking project has collected a …

NDI POLICY BRIEF 16: Decarbonizing road passenger transport in the ND area

This policy brief elaborates recommendations for road passenger transport decarbonization in the Northern Dimension (ND) area. On the one hand, road transport emits 25% of total greenhouse gas in ND countries and produces dangerous local pollutions, and the share of passenger transport of these emissions is more than 75% [1] Nitrogen oxide, sulphur oxide and particular matter emissions are the …

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NDI POLICY BRIEF 15: Accident information is needed to prevent emergencies in the Arctic waters

Increasing economic activity in the Russian Arctic has resulted in the growth of vessel traffic related to trade, exploration and research, marine tourism, and natural resource extraction activities. This has heightened the risk of maritime accidents. Navigation and rescue response are challenging in the High North due to its harsh weather and ice conditions, long distances, and vulnerable nature. Therefore, …

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NDI POLICY BRIEF 14: Healthy ageing policy in Russia needs to consider gender, age, and territory

The Russian government has adopted various national policies and programs in the last decade in response to population ageing in the country. We analyzed the targets and actions of two ongoing healthy ageing policies, and how their effectiveness could be improved. We suggest the national (Federal) level authorities to take the following recommendations into account: Recommendation 1: To separate program …

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NDI POLICY BRIEF 13: Analysis of subjective wellbeing is important for wellbeing development in the Northern Dimension area

Actors in the social and health care often aim to improve wellbeing of the population in various interventions and development projects. The evaluation of their outcome is usually based on objective wellbeing criteria only, although people’s subjective wellbeing (SWB) is the foundation of the wellbeing of the population. Therefore, the viewpoint of families and experiences of individual people should always …

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NDI POLICY BRIEF 12: Wind Energy is a key solution for remote area energy supply in the High North of Russia

The energy supply in the Russian Federation is characterized by a large number of remote northern settlements which are powered by imported fossil fuel, mostly diesel fuel. Therefore, sustainable development of remote northern territories is a major challenge. One solution to this challenge is to increase the use of wind energy. The replacement of a majority of diesel power plants …

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NDI POLICY BRIEF 11: Arctic shipping needs anti-avoidance rules to mitigate environmental disasters

Global warming will accelerate the melting of ice and release some of the Arctic territories for shipping. On the one hand, it will have a positive impact on world trade but on the other hand, the risk of ship accidents and environmental disasters will increase. In the period from 2010 to 2019, 512 ship accidents in Arctic Circle Waters were …

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NDI POLICY BRIEF 10: Symbolic resources of the Russian North in the global experience economy

This Policy Brief gives recommendations for the development of cultural products and creative entrepreneurship in the Russian North through the conceptual lenses of symbolic resources and the experience economy. The global experience economy has changed the value chain logic of the cultural market from the traditional production and consumption of creative products and services into co-creation of cultural experiences. This …