The long-lasting road to an Arctic global vision and illing the void between transport users and specialists of arctic regions

Barrier 8: The long-lasting road to an Arctic global vision and illing the void between transport users and specialists of arctic regions

At the technocratic level, Arctic transportation practitioners and specialists across the Arctic have not had many occasions to meet and discuss circumpolar mobility issues in their global dimension. Although in the recent past some initiatives have been undertaken and have provided an occasion for transport specialists of remote regions to meet or have a rallying point for discussions about shared issues in their practice, most of these events have been aimed at specific, limited sectors (for example, the Arctic Marine Transport Workshop 4, Arctic Roads , the Arctic Aviation Experts Conference ). Other events linked to security, the environment and technical challenges take place on a regular basis. A good example would be the Arctic Council - Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response working group (http://eppr.arctic-council.org). The Journal of Cold Regions Engineering, which has been in print since , publishes articles for transport specialists interested in technical issues of the high latitudes (ascelibrary. org/cro/). Architects of transport policies in the Arctic are beginning to have closer contacts. Several of them have already had the chance to meet at the pan- regional level. The Barents Euro-Arctic Transport Area is an example drawn from

Northern Europe. 44 A Northern Transportation Conference in Canada has taken

44 Cf. Barents Euro-Arctic Transport Area: http://www.beac.st/?DeptID=8573 [Last accessed: 29.03.2012].

place every two years since 5; issues such as new transportation technologies for Northern climates, the capacity of current transportation resources to meet demand, sovereignty and security issues, updates on major projects, and northern transportation corridors have been at the centre of discussion (Van Horne Institute ). Some projects are currently being developed which embrace

a more global vision for the idea of a working group in transport and logistics at the Northern Institute. 45 In the near future, one may hope that those recent initiatives will provide a general toolbox to improve practices and support transport interventions adapted to the situation in the High North.

However, the distance between decision makers / specialists and those who should be the general beneficiaries of transport policies – the infrastructures users and the northern population – must be taken into account. As already suggested, the world of transport is particularly complex. The technical jargon and impossible-to-read infrastructure plans and specifications may widen the gap between the experts and the public.

Hypothetically, the strong male dominant culture in the field may also have certain consequences in the way issues are prioritized. From those who conduct, drive and pilot the means of transport to transport ministers, from those who build infrastructures to those who own transport companies and offer services, transport remains a world oriented towards the male gender (RTPI ). The development of a global vision and matching plan that can challenge, raise questions, and generate debate in which everybody participates, including indigenous people, youths and elderly people, remains an important issue.

Barrier 9: the invisible mobility behind transport

A major barrier regarding the planning of transport in general may be found in the significant misunderstanding that exists between ‘fundamental mobility’ and ‘transport as physical mobility’. The second concept concerns people’s physical access to their place of work and places that provide services like schools, hospitals, post offices and commercial centres. The situation may refer to the existence of public services and the capacity of governmental organizations to provide transport service for the population. Fundamental mobility goes

45 Concerning logistics issues in the High North, cf. The Centre for High North Logistics in Kirkenes (http://www.chnl.no/) and the project conducted by the Northern Dimension Institute on Transport and Logistics (http://www.ndinstitute.org/) [Last accessed: 29.03.2012].

further and concerns an anthropological dimension impacting the geography of transport itself. To be more explicit, it is worth going deeper into the fundamental dialectical concepts of nomadism and sedentarism.

In traditional scientific literature, the concept of nomads and sedentary people has been used to distinguish different human lifestyles. The term ‘nomad’ is used to designate people who are in “constant movement in search of sustenance, especially for grazing animals”, and ‘sedentary people’ is used for those who are ‘non-migrant’, who set up for good in a specific location where local-based production takes place (Clark 5, ). This distinction remains important in the Arctic for social scientists and people defending their traditional rights in connection with nomadic and semi-nomadic activities.

In a distinct usage of this nomenclature, structural geographers have made

a distinction between nomads and sedentary people. The former are defined as actors who control their own mobility, who have the political, symbolic and economic power to go ‘where they want when they want’. Sedentary actors are, therefore, those who must make do with the available space following the control of geographical positions (Desmarais and Ritchot ). According to this new definition, nomads can historically be associated with powerful institutions (the church, the State) and major landowners who benefit from certain privileges, inherited or variously obtained. This situation makes them able to access not only certain prestigious positions but also to insure the building of production equipment and industries, the creation of rules concerning the zoning of agricultural areas, and the displacement of certain populations or groups for various reasons. The advantageous situation of nomads has also given them, and continues to give them, a certain measure of control over transport infrastructures.

This new distinction is important in the sense that it helps to debug the traditional distinction between the rural and urban dimensions, between the centre and the periphery. Having access to the most prestigious places or to the production places is structured in part by the actors’ fundamental capacity for pre-mobility (Desmarais and Ritchot ). There is an important difference between those who build mines and deep water ports, travel by hydroplane with remote hunting/fishing/trekking outfitters for adventure weekends, finance roads and set up military bases, and have the power to prevent construction in certain areas and allow the building of infrastructure in other places; and those who deal with new rules about ORVs, who have to economize in order to buy their own plane tickets or have moved to the North because of their work, This new distinction is important in the sense that it helps to debug the traditional distinction between the rural and urban dimensions, between the centre and the periphery. Having access to the most prestigious places or to the production places is structured in part by the actors’ fundamental capacity for pre-mobility (Desmarais and Ritchot ). There is an important difference between those who build mines and deep water ports, travel by hydroplane with remote hunting/fishing/trekking outfitters for adventure weekends, finance roads and set up military bases, and have the power to prevent construction in certain areas and allow the building of infrastructure in other places; and those who deal with new rules about ORVs, who have to economize in order to buy their own plane tickets or have moved to the North because of their work,