This March, the CAP-SHARE project team participated in the ICARP IV summit in Boulder, Colorado. The week was filled with fascinating and highly relevant presentations and discussions on Arctic research. We participated and impacted in the discussion related to youth, a sustainable Arctic future, and education.
Jessica Aquino and Rauni Äärelä-Vihriälä served as session conveners on Wednesday, March 26. The session, titled Capacity Sharing in Arctic Regions Through Transdisciplinary Intergenerational Collaborative Research and Inclusive Education, featured an impressive 14 oral presentations. In addition to Rauni, Cécile Chauvat also presented in the session, discussing Biodiversity as a Framework for Capacity Sharing.

Greetings from the Arctic Frontiers 2025: Beyond borders conference, where experts from various fields and communities gathered to discuss solutions to climate change and sustainable development across borders. Part of the CAP-SHARE project team met in Tromsø at the Arctic Frontiers conference. We had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Jessica Aquino from the Hólar University, Iceland, and Dr. Jenny Turton from Arctic Frontiers, Norway. The themes raised during the conference inspired us for the upcoming Arctic Frontiers 2027, where CAP-SHARE will organize international workshops and a panel.

CAP-SHARE's activities sparked broad interest. The interdisciplinary poster session, in particular, was an excellent opportunity to present the project's current and future work to representatives from various scientific fields. One of the key observations was how the same global challenges—such as the green transition and climate change—are relevant across all disciplines, uniting them in a common goal: building a more sustainable future.
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The future of sustainable energy and the green transition is incurring costs that directly and indirectly impact the lives of various communities. Currently, one of the biggest challenges in Europe is the future of energy production, which still relies on approximately 80% fossil fuels. Transitioning to green energy production is not without its challenges, and addressing these issues requires extensive research and stakeholder collaboration. There was also significant discussion about emissions from the maritime industry and the social, economic, and environmental impacts of future shipping routes.

At the core of it all is climate change, which requires adaptation measures. Different stakeholders and regions have capacities that are being brought together in the hope of more effective collaboration. During Arctic Frontiers 2025, the importance of involving young people in decision-making and various processes was highlighted, but the question of responsibility remains open. Climate change is affecting living conditions, and future development paths are pushing young people further from their traditional living areas, particularly from rural to urban environments. Regional development should be considered through future-oriented thinking, focusing on which aspects of climate change adaptation efforts should be prioritized.

It was wonderful to share thoughts with Jessica and Jenny on how the CAP-SHARE project can work on these development areas. I strongly believe that by actively involving young people in the project’s activities, both online and locally, new development directions can be created for a more sustainable and just future.

Best regards,
Emma Karjalainen
[email protected]

Greetings from Tromsø,

My name is Emma Karjalainen, and I am doing an internship in the CAP-SHARE project. I am studying for a Master's degree in Sustainability Education at the University of Lapland, and I also have a background in forestry engineering. I had the opportunity to attend the Arctic Youth Conference, which took place from January 24-26, organized by Norway’s Chairmanship of the Arctic Council. The purpose of the conference was to create networking and meeting spaces for young people to build a sustainable future. The theme of the conference was youth leadership in the Arctic region, the preservation of Indigenous knowledge, sharing of knowledge by young researchers, preparedness, resilience and mental health. Panel discussions, workshops and networking aimed to support the multidimensional inclusion of young people in decision-making processes.

​​The weekend was inspiring, full of new experiences and interesting encounters. For example, a topical local story from Yellowknife, Canada, stirred many emotions. Locals are evacuated every year due to large wildfires, and there are significant changes in weather conditions that also affect water levels in various ways. Additionally, certain species have disappeared. These changes have already had a direct impact on the mental health of young people, as reflected, for example, in an increase in crime. Various organizations and institutions have been working to
strengthen young people's relationship with nature and to develop safety skills. One of these organizations is Arctic Youth Leadership, which implements land-based learning methods through camps in Canada. Being in nature has been shown to have positive effects on young people's health and well-being, which should be promoted worldwide.
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​The need to strengthen resilience and prepare young people for challenges in the Arctic region was raised in many different contexts. Indigenous peoples in the Arctic are particularly vulnerable to changes in living conditions and face significant challenges in areas such as hunting and fishing. Centuries-old traditions and accumulated knowledge are at risk of being lost due to changing living conditions, and global economic development does not ensure the livelihoods of these peoples and communities. Therefore, food security should be guaranteed for the peoples of the Arctic regions, regardless of community size, and more active involvement of Indigenous youth in these regions is necessary. Young people need guidance and mentoring, training and space for influence both locally and globally. Indigenous youth already have language skills and cultural knowledge, which can be used to preserve and share their unique knowledge with future generations.

​In general, young people need more mentoring, internships and opportunities for dialogue with various stakeholders. The Arctic region needs intergenerational, cross-cultural and cross-stakeholder interactions to ensure that the perspectives of all communities are considered in decision-making. The Arctic Youth Conference was an excellent example of what young people can achieve together for the good of the future.


Best regards,
Emma Karjalainen
[email protected]

As the NORA grant is ending and we are wrapping up the current phase of the Youth for Arctic Nature project, we have decided to take the YAN app down. Many lessons have been learned during its development and deployment, and we are positive about the potential to revisit the app in the future to further support citizen science projects.

Thank you very much to all of the testers, users, and collaborators that have provided help and feedback in the last three years!

The YAN team visited our partners in the Faroe Islands, FNU - Føroya Náttúru- og Umhvørvisfelag for Náttúruráðstevnan 2023, their conference on nature and education that was held on the 3rd of October in Tórshavn. We are so grateful to have had this opportunity to share our work and connect with scientists and educators in the Faroes, and hope this leads to more collaboration.

This summer, participants in the Snæfellsnes seal counting pilot project collected seal monitoring data and answered questionnaires after the activity so more could be learned about their experiences. Overall, this pilot action was successful as it set good foundations for the future with positive feedback from local partners and participants. Going forward, we would like to continue and improve seal monitoring at Ytri tunga, and to widen the scope of this project to include other local wildlife, with the aim to:  

• Contribute to scientific research on seals and other species in the future
• Help youth and others who want to learn more about wildlife monitoring through environmental education and training
• Connect with local schools and local stakeholders in Snæfellsnes to establish long-term monitoring projects

 
A meeting with the project’s stakeholders is scheduled soon to discuss next steps.
 
Photos are by Leo Guedes, a Snæfellsnes local and participant who sent us some of the beautiful pictures he took while participating in seal monitoring. Although the seals look to be very close, it is important to remember that these photos were taken with a long lens – while seal watching, please stay at least 100 meters away from seals when possible.

We went out again on the 18th of July to see what kind of wildlife we could find in the Hvammstangi harbor. In Spring, the only crabs we found were spider crabs (Hyas araneus), but now in July the only species that seems to be around is the invasive Atlantic rock crab (Cancer irroratus). We found 5 yesterday, all of which were mature males. This pattern is consistent with previous years, and is probably due to these animals' life cycle: great spider crab mating occurs from February to April, while Atlantic rock crabs mate from August to September. It would be fascinating to study the transition in abundance of these two species in the shallow waters of Iceland, which occurs sometime between May and June. It is also interesting to note that all the individuals we found were males, which shows that females prefer deeper waters.
All results from this year's harbor monitoring can be found on the free YAN app (see here for more information).

References:
Haefner, P.A. 1976. Distribution, reproduction and moulting of the rock crab, Cancer irroratus Say, 1917, in the mid-Atlantic Bight. J. Nat. Hist. 10: 377-397. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222937600770291
Harzsch, S., Miller, J., Benton, J., Dawirs, R. R., & Beltz, B. (1998). Neurogenesis in the thoracic neuromeres of two crustaceans with different types of metamorphic development. Journal of Experimental Biology, 201(17), 2465–2479. https://doi.org/10.1242/JEB.201.17.2465

Mature male Atlantic rock crabs. Males grow up to 15cm while females only grow up to 10cm, and males have a triangle-shaped abdomen while it is more rounded in females.

Meghan Orman is a PhD student at University of Pittsburgh, Fulbright fellow at University of Iceland, and Youth for Arctic Nature collaborator, with her main research interest being the exploration of how humans connect with nature. She spent the school year 2022-2023 in Iceland under a Fullbright grant to study nature connectedness and well-being in Icelandic preschoolers. In connection with her project, the Youth for Arctic Nature project funded her trip to Norway this year from the 2nd to the 9th of June, with the goal to strengthen our ties to academic and organizational communities in Tromsø.

Meghan met with Dr. Monika Abels, our board member at University of Tromsø, and her master’s student, Helenah Gustavsson, who will be doing research on young children’s nature connection this Fall very using similar methods to what she has done in Iceland. This could lead to a joint paper with Helenah about Arctic children’s relationships with the natural world, as well as a possible theory paper in collaboration with YAN project leader Dr. Jessica Aquino and Dr. Abels on critically examining cross-cultural understandings of nature connection. She also gave a talk on her research in Iceland to people in the UiT Psychology Department interested in the topic of young children’s nature connection.

Finally, Monika, Helenah and Meghan met with Katrine Opheim, Arctic Frontiers advisor, at the Fram Centre. Arctic Frontiers a Tromsø-based organization with the goal to foster valuable Arctic research in Norway and beyond. They had a wonderful conversation about the work they are doing, the Fram Centre, and the potential for programming and research collaborations with YAN in the next year. Like YAN, Arctic Frontiers aim to foster curiosity and increase knowledge about Arctic research in youth, to foster international collaboration, and to generate scholarly knowledge.

Thank you very much for your work Meghan, hoping to see you soon again in Iceland!

Youth for Arctic Nature is coordinating a citizen science project in Snæfellsnes, western Iceland. This initiative was created in partnership with the NorReg project and Snæfellsnes Regional Park. Participants will be collecting wildlife monitoring data and we will be interviewing visitors after the activity to learn more about their experiences. The wildlife monitoring data that we are collecting will be used for:  

• Scientific research on some targeted species monitored

• Environmental education and training to help youth and others who want to learn more about wildlife monitoring

• Connecting with local schools and local stakeholders in Snæfellsnes to establish long-term monitoring projects

Seal monitoring in Ytri Tunga, Snæfellsnes