Saqqummersitaq

The paper focusses on potential political and economic future Greenland scenarios and raises the question whether a ‘Free association’ is a way for Greenland to explore?

The paper further analyses challenges for a sustainably developing - and independent - Greenland such as economic aspects – including the question ‘can Greenland benefit from abstaining to exploit some of its natural resources?’.

Sårbarhedsundersøgelsen har identificeret, hvilke grupper i landet der ifølge en befolksningsundersøgelse, fokusgrupper , litteraturstudier og eksperter var dårligst stillede. En af samfundets vigtigste roller er at arbejde med og for dem som er identificeret som sårbare. Resultaterne skal hjælpe foreningen (Røde Kors) og dens afdelinger rundt om i landet (Island) med at identificere de mest presserende behov, og dermed bedre prioritere foreningens aktiviteter.

The Routledge Handbook of the Polar Regions is an authoritative guide to the Arctic and the Antarctic through an exploration of key areas of research in the physical and natural sciences and the social sciences and humanities. It presents 38 new and original contributions from leading figures and voices in polar research, policy and practice, as well as work from emerging scholars.

This handbook aims to approach and understand the Polar Regions as places that are at the forefront of global conversations about some of the most pressing contemporary issues and research questions of our age. The volume provides a discussion of the similarities and differences between the two regions to help deepen understanding and knowledge. Major themes and issues are integrated in the comprehensive introduction chapter by the editors, who are top researchers in their respective fields. The contributions show how polar researchers engage with contemporary debates and use interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to address new developments as well as map out exciting trajectories for future work in the Arctic and the Antarctic.

The handbook provides an easy access to key items of scholarly literature and material otherwise inaccessible or scattered throughout a variety of specialist journals and books. A unique one-stop research resource for researchers and policymakers with an interest in the Arctic and Antarctic, it is also a comprehensive reference work for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

Despite the fact that not a single barrel of Greenlandic oil was ever extracted, refined and consumed in or exported from Greenland, hydrocarbon has nevertheless played a significant role in contemporary economical, environmental, and political. discourses. Not least as a key political issue in Greenland as well as between Greenland and Denmark is the discourse about Greenland’s development from a colony to Self-Governance (2009) via status as a Danish county (1953) and Home Rule (1979). One of the article’s foci is how the discourse about and the gradual acknowledgement of the Greenlanders’ rights to the Greenland subsurface has been an important part of Greenlandic nation building. Furthermore, visions for an independent Greenland have been fuelled by the hopes for ‘a shortcut’ via discoveries of oil and gas that eventually could compensate for the Danish block grant and pave the way for an independent Greenland. In 2012 Greenland Self-Governance took over the full authority of mineral resources including oil and gas. 2012 was also the year following explorative drillings of eight wells that were all dry. The following years were characterised by a rapidly declining interest from the oil industry in developing hydrocarbon activities in Greenland waters and demonstrated Greenland’s dependency on the international market for oil. Greenland being part of a globalised world also became apparent when Greenland was confronted with, for instance, environmental concerns caused by Greenland’s wish to be an oil-producing country. Conflicting interests internationally were also reflected in the results based on a national survey on attitudes to, perceptions of as well as hopes and concerns related to oil development. Some results are presented in the article.