Arctic and North

9

Authors: Nenasheva M.V.

This article is aimed at scientific review of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of social (community) resilience and its empirical applicability in the context of territorial development of the Arctic. The relevance of this research is determined by the need to solve the problems of sustainable development of the Arctic region in the context of economic, social and natural challenges. Using the method of knowledge contextualization, the paper analyses various definitions of the concept of resili-ence, and describes factors and strategies for community resilience. It concludes that social resilience is the ability of communities to be flexible and able to adapt in response to external influences. Social resilience is difficult to measure and control; however, resilience factors are potentially observable using quantitative and qualitative methods, enabling the development of community resilience strategies. These strategies should be based on local realities, since they will take different forms depending on the community, and the idea of resilience itself will manifest in different ways. This justifies the need for empirical studies that would provide longitudinal data on social resilience in a particular area. Using the Arctic region as an example, the article presents foreign and Russian experience of research on social resilience in the context of global changes. It concludes that the development of resilience in Arctic communities requires a systematic approach, which should be based on knowledge of how local communities respond to global challenges.

12

Authors: Tsvetkov A.Yu.

Arctic tourism is an important mechanism for sustainable development of territories in the Far North. Russia has developed strategies for the development of Arctic tourism, which is one of the areas of international cooperation. However, the complicated relations of Russia on the international stage have endangered further successful development of tourism in the Arctic. Numerous problems of tourism development in underdeveloped territories are exacerbated by new obstacles that have caused changes in the tourism services market. The article analyzes the problems of Arctic tourism development in Russia in the context of a difficult geopolitical situation that emerged in 2022. We have identified priority issues hindering the development of Arctic tourism and predicted which of them will be the most relevant at the present stage. Based on this, possible directions for planning Arctic tourism in Russia in the regional context were proposed. In order to identify problems and justify the prospects for overcoming them, we conducted a content analysis of the reviews of tourists who visited the main tourist destinations in the Russian Arctic, and made a SWOT analysis of Arctic tourism logistics. As a result, we found that the main problem for the development of tourism in the Arctic will be the deterioration of transport accessibility due to difficulties in organizing air travel, especially in regions that do not have land-based communications with places where tourist interest is formed. Therefore, the focus in planning the development of Arctic tourism should now be given to the regions of the European sector of the Russian Arctic, the most accessible and popular among tourists.

13

Authors: Vopilovskiy S.S.

Moving forward, striving for perfection of any human activity is associated with innovative development of technologies, manufactured products, labor relations and other factors. The study presents the results of the joint activities of educational, scientific and industrial organizations in the energy sector of the country. It has been established that with the acceleration of scientific and technological progress, in-novations and investment technological processes are becoming key components of government and business activities that contribute to the development of energy sector companies to ensure their long-term competitiveness, which is especially important when implementing Arctic projects. The importance of developing and creating an innovative technological product is especially acute in the energy industry that provides life support for people, businesses, and the country. The energy sector is a rather conservative industry in terms of innovations (this is due to the long life cycle of the main equipment, which is several dozens of years), created by domestic enterprises using exclusively domestic components. Modernization and construction of new facilities in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation in the energy sector requires significant investments with long payback periods, which is a significant factor in decision-making. Small and medium-sized businesses operating in the energy sector are set to make a profit in the short or medium term, but such companies are characterized by a low level of research and development. Nevertheless, the reconstruction of the energy sector is an urgent topic for the industry today, due to the fact that the wear and tear of equipment exceeds its service life. The key results of investment activities and key trends in the development of the energy sector, including in the Arctic, are highlighted. The purpose of the study is to identify long-term trends in innovative technological solutions in various areas of the country’s energy sector and to determine methods for their application in Arctic projects.

15

Authors: Kondrateva S.V.

Taking into account the importance of maintaining and restoring physical and emotional strength, the need to reproduce human capital in harsh natural and climatic conditions of life, the problem of organizing tourism and recreation for the population of the the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation is an important area of scientific research. Despite the growing interest in the Arctic, the issues of choosing tourist destinations by residents of the Arctic regions and their change under the influence of modern challenges remain outside the scope of scientific research. This paper seeks to answer these important questions from the perspective of recreation in the Arctic. The aim of the study is to identify the general trends and specifics of the organized outbound tourism development in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation under the influence of the modern challenges for the period 20042021 on the basis of the official statistical data. The model site of the study is nine Arctic Russian regions, fully and partially belonging to the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The study allowed assessing the dynamics, general trends and specifics of the development of outbound tourist flow of residents of the Arctic subjects in comparison with the average Russian indicators in the context of domestic and international tourism. It reveals changes in the volume of organized tourist flow, as well as its redistribution between tourist destinations under the influence of the challenges of our time.

18

Authors: Polikarpov A.M., Druzhinina M.V.

The purpose of this article is to present the conceptual ideas of innovative interdisciplinary Russian-Chinese project “Digital Lomonosov”, the idea of which appeared five years ago and is based on a decade of experience of Chinese studies development in the North of Russia and at the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov. In accordance with the goal, the work solves the following main tasks: 1) justifies the relevance of the project “Digital Lomonosov” and its demand in China; 2) provides an overview of scientific works and interdisciplinary research on the humanitarian ideas of Lomonosov — a great scientist, an outstanding personality of the Russian North; 3) summarizes the main results of ten-year development of Chinese studies in the North of Russia and at NArFU; 4) briefly presents the expe-rience of five-year network project of federal universities as the basis for developing the concept of innovative Russian-Chinese project; 5) outlines the prospects for the project and the promotion of Lomonosov Studies in China. The methodology of the review article is based on an interdisciplinary vision of the directions of humanities development in the focus of digitalization and further development of Lomonosov Studies in the interaction of Russian and Chinese scholars. The authors substantiate a new conceptual idea of international transfer of M.V. Lomonosov’s heritage digitally from the North of Russia to China. The results of the analysis are summarization and systematization of the experience of five years of cooperation between federal universities in the field of applied linguistics and education in the context of digitalization, ten years of experience in the development of Chinese studies in the North of Russia and NArFU, actualization of possibilities of international transfer of M.V. Lomonosov humanitarian heritage, and presentation of prospects of Lomonosov Studies in China.

19

Authors: Volkov A.D., Karginova-Gubinova V.V., Tishkov S.V.

The current stage of economic development of the Russian Arctic combines two contradicting tendencies — the intensification of economic development in line with the adopted special preferential measures and the aggravation of technical and technological contradictions under the tightening of sanctions and technological blockade, increasing wear of equipment, the loss of markets for extracted products. Under these conditions, anthropogenic and, particularly, technogenic environmental threats to nature and human habitat become the most important risk factor. The purpose of the work is to identify current eco-logical threats, problems and features of the environmental and economic development of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The study applies a comprehensive economic and sociological toolkit, including general theoretical approaches — dialectical, spatial economics and sustainable development, and private methods — statistical analysis, a number of sociological methods of collecting and processing data. The information basis of the study is the data of official authorities, statistics, the work of domestic and foreign scientists, as well as the results of a sociological survey of residents of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (May 2022; n=539). Key features of environmental and economic processes in the region were identified. Low degree of waste processing, high risks of technogenic accidents at oil and gas production enterprises and transport infrastructure remain. The main environmental threats perceived by the population include oil and gas production facilities, household waste and illegal dumps. In a number of territories, threats from defense activities, catching and processing of fish and illegal fishing are also relevant. The population is least satisfied with the quality of water resources, the cleanness of the environment and the state of forests and parks. Based on the results obtained, recommendations aimed at optimizing the environmental component of the social well-being of the population are given. The scientific significance of the study is determined by the actualization of knowledge about environmental and economic processes in the Arctic region of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, based on a comprehensive economic and sociological toolkit. The practical importance lies in the formation of the analytical framework for managing the environmental and economic development of the regions during the period of exacerbated contradictions in the development of the Russian Arctic.

20

Authors: Biev A.A.

The article deals with the most important problems of the communal complex in the subjects of the Far North and the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The main attention is paid to the aspects of formation of territorial heat supply systems, which are the basic components of the infrastructure of life support in harsh polar natural and climatic conditions. The impact of the growth of utility tariffs on the structure of consumer spending of households in the northern and arctic regions is assessed. It is shown that the state of the municipal energy sector determines the formation of the socio-economic environment and investment attractiveness of the Arctic municipalities. Its renewal and modernization are the main conditions that contribute to reducing the rate of migration outflow of the local population, increasing industrial production and the state military–strategic presence in this important macro-region. Despite the predominance of energy sector specialization in the list of leading industrial enterprises, the presence of the necessary fuel and raw materials base and increased inflow of investment resources in the energy sector, there is further obsolescence and reduction of fixed assets of municipal energy supply units as well as the highest level of utility consumer costs in comparison with all-Russian indicators. The conclusion about the loss of previously available territorial infrastructure advantages of the Russian Arctic regions is substantiated: there has been a reduction in the total number of heat sources, territorial energy production, the length of heat communication networks. The increase of these energy threats is a factor limiting the socio-economic growth of Russia’s northern and arctic territories.

35

Authors: Bhagwat J., Khalturinskaya V.A.

Russia published a series of documents from 2018 to 2022 indicating its desire to transform the Northern Sea Route (NSR) into a globally competitive international shipping route due to its awareness of the importance of the NSR for the socio-economic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. This article examines the evolution of Russian policy through a regulatory analysis combined with an empirical analysis of shipping along the NSR over the period 20182022, as well as the impact of Western sanctions. The aim of the article is to examine the viability of Russia’s new infrastructure plan for the NSR, published in August 2022. The analysis of Russia’s policy towards the NSR suggests that Russia needs to review its policy in relation to the imposed Western sanctions. This would entail a new focus on revitalising the shipbuilding industry. The targets set earlier, and then in 2022, for shipping cargo on the NSR should be redefined taking into account current realities. The practical significance of the article is in its use by policymakers engaged in the development of the NSR and researchers of Arctic shipping.