Septentrio Reports

Legal pathways towards sustainable blue food systems in the aquaculture sector

2024-02-01T11:29:47+01:00

The workshop, organized by Mathilde Morel on January 10th 2024, as a part of her PhD project and preparatory work for her PhD midway presentation, aimed to convene experts within the realm of blue food systems with the overarching objective of exploring viable pathways toward sustainability transitions. The reason for this inquiry stems from the escalating recognition that contemporary food systems are increasingly linked to adverse environmental and socioeconomic repercussions, contributing substantially to approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This imperative for change is driven by numerous factors, including the climate crisis, rapid urbanization, evolving dietary preferences, and the expansion of the global population. Consequently, a foundational shift towards food systems characterised by diminished environmental impacts and carbon footprints becomes imperative. Furthermore, aligning with the Agenda 2030, there is an urgent call for expeditious adoption of a more resource-efficient bioeconomy within the world's food systems. Within this context, the integration of sustainable blue food systems, particularly in food producing sectors such as aquaculture, emerges as a critical facet of the solution. Despite the prevailing inclination towards augmenting sea-based food consumption through diverse blue growth strategies, it is crucial to ensure that unsustainable practices inherent in land-based food systems, are not replicated in marine environments. To actualize sustainable blue food systems in the aquaculture sector, the realization of resilient, equitable, and enduring solutions is paramount. The anticipated outcome of this investigative endeavour is rooted in the understanding that the application of legal and regulatory mechanisms can wield substantial influence in the transition process. Such mechanisms are integral to the formulation of comprehensive aquaculture management strategies that strike a judicious balance between safeguarding, rehabilitation, and utilization. The workshop constitutes a key touch base activity and outcome for the project SECURE, UiT The Arctic University of Norway.

Progress report I

2024-02-16T09:57:26+01:00

The Center for Arctic Humanities responds to the challenges in the Research Council of Norway's evaluation of the humanities in Norway. The center is part of UiT's humanities initiative from 2021, initiated by the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education (HSL-fak), The Arctic University Museum of Norway and Academy of Fine Arts (UMAK), and the University Library (UB), and is a measure to achieve the goals in the development agreement with the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (KD) regarding the strengthening of knowledge in and about the Arctic. It is based on the Norwegian parliamentary report on the Humanities in Norway (2016-2017), UiT's humanities strategy (2021), and UiT's strategy Eallju – Developing the High North: UiT’s strategy towards 2030 (2022). The University Board decided in November 2021 to finance the center for a four-year period with funds from UiT's strategic development fund and a grant from the Ministry of Education and Research.

This report documents the background for the establishment of the ArcHum Center for Arctic Humanities and activities in the period from July 2023 to February 2024.

Report Evaluating Safety Culture at UiT

2024-03-07T12:48:20+01:00

The system of safety associated with lab and fieldwork at UiT The Arctic University of Norway’s Tromsø campus is in serious need of improvement. A volunteer working group of employees evaluated current safety conditions at NT-faculty and beyond, and found a wide range of issues with many overlapping causes. This report contains their findings related to three overarching problem areas: communication, accountability, and training; as well as a range of topical safety areas such as chemicals, fieldwork, and biohazards. The report concludes that significant reform is needed from the top and at all levels to prevent both physical injury and further damage to the working environment.

The Ocean Incubator Network (OIN) Living Laboratory and Ocean Literacy Toolkit

2024-05-27T14:08:37+02:00

The report documents the experience and knowledge gained during the Ocean Incubator Network workshop on Ocean Literacy, led by Margherita Paola Poto and Laura Vita. The event was held at the Arctic House in Copenhagen and funded by UArctic UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, over May 2-4, 2024. The workshop was organized as a dynamic living laboratory facilitating active participation and contribution from the Ocean Incubator Network members. Structured over three days, the workshop’s agenda followed two thematic pathways: connecting with each other and connecting with the ocean. This work resulted from the culmination of a series of preparatory meetings spanning from September 2023 (with a kick-off in Tromsø) to April 2024 (Monthly Coffee Meetings).

Positive Play

2024-05-15T17:48:21+02:00

This book results from an initiative by the European university consortium EUGLOH - European University Alliance for Global Health - between the University of Porto, Portugal (U.P.), and the University of the Arctic, Norway (UiT). To support the activity consisting of a three-day masterclass and workshop at UiT, designated as “Tromsø Idea Camp 2024 - Developing ideas through co-creation using human-centred design,” which had as its motto: . “Identify the needs and expectations of Vardesenteret’s patients before, during, and after treatment, considering their and volunteers’ points of view and creating projectual answers that foster empathy and communication”, a handbook was created, which later formed the basis of this book. It has three sections dedicated to Person-Centred Design in the Context of Health and Well-being. The first section— ”Reported Experience”, — Relates to the doctoral project “Ludic Activities in Health Context: An Anorexia Nervosa Case in the Hospital Environment,” which systematizes Ludic methods and tools created in and for a clinical context to support the treatment and monitoring of Anorexia Nervosa. Part of the project stems from collaborative work with São João Central Hospital, Portugal, in a group dedicated to treating eating disorders. The second section - “Documented Experience” — Explores the concept of Positive Play, coined by Giesteira, B., Cardoso, P., and Peçaibes, V. in various papers and book chapters from 2021 onwards. It presents a group of methods and tools created by the authors in recent years, such as the SEED Toolkit - “SomaEsthetics for Enabling Designers” (Giesteira, B. 2023) and the ANgame Collab (Cardoso, P., Peçaibes, V., Giesteira, B. 2022). The first tool aims to work on the concept of Somaesthetics, promoting empathy and contributing to identifying feelings and sensations interdependent on body activities and movements. The second tool aims to mediate playful sessions of Participatory Design, especially in the ‘user research’ phase. Other tools and methods were selected because, based on the aforementioned authors’ experience, they are most suitable for applied research in Health Technology Design. The third section - “Lived Experience” — Records the three days of the workshop dedicated to the themes: “Emotional Design and Somaesthetics”; “Human-Centered and Participatory Design”; “Ideation, Lateral Thinking, and Prototype.” In addition to the aforementioned themes, the different phases of development of the participants' projects from the various universities of the EUGLOH university consortium are recorded, which, in a Participatory Design approach, involved the collaboration of volunteers and oncology patients from Vardesenteret. This section shares the tools used to support each phase of product or service design and the final results of the low-fidelity prototypes.

Cruise report HHUMLT24

2024-09-05T15:54:15+02:00

R/V Helmer Hanssen is an ice class research vessel owned by UiT The Arctic University of Norway. The HHUMLT24 cruise onboard R/V Helmer Hanssen was an initiative by The Arctic University Museum of Norway (UMAK, UiT). Sampling was conducted for the following four projects: 1. The Scalidophora of Norway, 2. The role of microRNAs in animal evolution, 3. The diversity of benthic fauna around Svalbard and the Barents Sea, 4. Reconstruction of past ecosystems using sedimentary ancient DNA. For the first project, which aimed to sample scalidophoran fauna, primarily kinorhynchs, for the Scalidophora of Norway project funded by Artsdatabanken, box cores were taken. The second project employed plankton nets, box cores, and a triangular dredge. The third project used samples from box cores, plankton nets, and a triangular dredge to collect marine macrofauna for the museum collections. All macrofauna present in plankton nets, box cores, and triangular dredge samples were photographed, and records were uploaded to GBIF. The fourth project took gravity cores. The cruise leader was Andreas Altenburger (UiT).

ECO_CARE Multisensory and Experimental Workshop 2024 “We are the ocean, and the Ocean is us. A Living Laboratory to learn from each other and learn from the ocean”

2024-09-05T15:54:09+02:00

This report provides an overview of the Multisensory and Experimental Workshop organized by the ECOCARE team. The workshop took place in the Aldeia Maraka’nà, as a collaborative initiative coordinated by Giulia Parola, Júlia Xavante, Ana María Montaña Mónoga, Natalia Médici Machado, and Aline Wennerstrom, with the participation of Rodrigo Tavares. Law, marine science and Indigenous knowledge systems were interwoven to develop activities that involved scholars, community members, teachers and learners.

AKMA3 Cruise Report

2024-07-22T15:02:10+02:00

The AKMA3 oceanographic expedition (29^th April–10^th May) is part of the Advancing Knowledge of Methane in the Arctic, a project funded by the Norwegian Research Council (287869). The main aim of AKMA is to develop a long-term, multidisciplinary education, and research collaboration focused on Arctic methane sources, processes, ecosystems, and geological history to provide exceptional training for the next generation of experts in Arctic marine sciences and greenhouse gas phenomena.

The AKMA3 oceanographic expedition focuses on three objectives:

SCIENCE: Focus on the interplay between changing ocean conditions and the physical, biological, and chemical response of extreme environments (methane and oil seepage sites) through a multidisciplinary study of sites in the Barents Sea. Research activities: study sediment-sea-air greenhouse gas exchange; conducting water-column profiling of CH4; gas source analyses; biological and sediment sampling.
EDUCATION: This high-level science on this cruise also includes sea-going training for students to develop their knowledge in collecting, curating, and processing samples and data, providing opportunities to fully engage in marine science.
OUTREACH: To generate enthusiasm and interest in research expeditions with students and to promote a deeper understanding of science and its applications.