Arctic Environmental Governance by Tahnee Prior
Engaging Complexity: Legalizing International Arctic Environmental Governance
Arctic Resilience Report (contributing author)
Annika E. Nilsson, Grete K. Hovelsrud, Helene Amundsen, Tahnee Prior, and Martin Sommerkorn. “Bui... more Annika E. Nilsson, Grete K. Hovelsrud, Helene Amundsen, Tahnee Prior, and Martin Sommerkorn. “Building Capacity to Adapt to and Shape Change” in Arctic Council (2016). Arctic Resilience Final Report. Carson, M. and Peterson, G. (eds.) Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm.
Breaking the Wall of Monocentric Governance: Polycentricity in the Governance of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Arctic
We often mistakenly assume that institutional design will remain effective indefinitely. Complex ... more We often mistakenly assume that institutional design will remain effective indefinitely. Complex long-term environmental challenges illuminate the disparity between institutions and state boundaries. While globalization has challenged monocentrism, we must look beyond traditional measures and design resilient governance systems, such as polycentric governance, that combine trust and local expertise in small-scale governance with the governance capacity of large-scale systems. These harness globalization’s benefits and provide solutions for the effects of ecosystem changes.
This work examines the lessons – benefits, challenges, limitations, and unanswered questions – that may be learned from polycentric governance in the case of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Arctic, where a polycentric political system has developed as a result of a mismatch in environmental, jurisdictional, and temporal scales. Section One examines characteristics of polycentricity, focusing on actors, multilevel governance, degree of formality, and the nature of interactions. Section Two concentrates on the tools utilized. Section Three applies the outlined framework. Finally, Section Four examines three lessons that global environmental governance may learn from the case study: (1) Peak organizations are effective tools for managing polycentricity, allowing for the inclusion of non-state actors, such as indigenous peoples organizations (2) and epistemic communities (3), in bridging the human-environment nexus.
COP21: Why are we leaving the Arctic out in the cold?
Gender in the Arctic by Tahnee Prior
Overlooking a Regional Crux of Vulnerability: Missing Women in the Arctic
Changes to the Arctic's physical environment—driven by climate change, technological innovation, ... more Changes to the Arctic's physical environment—driven by climate change, technological innovation, demographic shifts, and the increased presence of extractive industries—are significantly impacting the region's social environment. In conjunction, as extractive industries and their associated challenges permeate remote and rural communities in the circumpolar North, the role of women in community adaptation and in shaping change is weakened. Across the Arctic, pressure points arise at a faster rate than regional policies are drafted, and women living in this region often fall between the cracks of a stretched and weakened social safety net. It is this crux of vulnerability in which women get caught.
Global Environmental Governance by Tahnee Prior
Retreat from Principle: Canada and the System of International Environmental Law
Addressing Climate Vulnerability: Promoting the Participatory Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Women through Finnish Foreign Policy
This report considers how to strengthen particularly the participation of indigenous peoples and ... more This report considers how to strengthen particularly the participation of indigenous peoples and women by mapping Finland’s promotion of human rights values at two levels: internationally, in the development of international standards; as well as locally, where it will focus on guidelines and requirements set by international regimes with regard to public participation at the national and local level during the implementation of policies and projects.
Other by Tahnee Prior
Pluralism in Action: How infrastructure, immigration policy are key for Silicon Valley North
Drafts by Tahnee Prior
Gender, Human Security & the Circumpolar Arctic: Where Do Women Stand
The Arctic is changing at an unprecedented rate. While traditional security issues, like war and ... more The Arctic is changing at an unprecedented rate. While traditional security issues, like war and conflict, may not be a source of tension in the region, non-traditional security issues pose significant challenges for northern communities. Arctic indigenous and non-indigenous women are particularly vulnerable with existing research providing evidence of ongoing and potential threats to their roles in community adaptation and in shaping change (Arctic Resilience Report 2016).
These challenges fall along multiple lines. A heightened presence of extractive industries, for example, can significantly impact gender pay gaps and human trafficking in the region (Sweet 2014; Alaska Economic Trends 2016: 3). Climate change brings questions relating to women’s self-determination and the rights of indigenous women, in particular, to the forefront (Prior et al. 2013). What is more: women’s (maternal) health continues to be compromised by the presence of pollutants and long travel distances in the context of childbirth, for example. And women often remain marginalized in discussions on human and societal security in the Arctic; invisible in decision-making processes across multiple levels of governance and in data, as well.
This paper provides a macro-level survey of existing literature, data, and case studies from across the circumpolar North, the Barents region in particular . Broadly, it looks at how we approach gender issues in the Arctic; taking stock of where we stand today and where we might go tomorrow. First, it engages with a theoretical framework that approaches human security through a gendered lens. Such an understanding can illuminate existing top-down governance mechanisms which do not address the above non-traditional security challenges(Hoogensen & Stuvoy 2006; Tickner 1992; Blanchard 2003). Second, it broadly examines the current state of gender issues in the Arctic. In doing so, it points to how current understandings of women’s roles in societal security are insufficient. Finally, the paper turns to how storytelling can build capacity for women’s (and other) voices to be heard and connected from across the Circumpolar North. Ultimately, this paper serves as a foundation, situating Plan A – a digital storytelling platform for women from across the Arctic – within greater academic and policy discourses on gender in the Arctic; to ensure both human and societal security.
Papers by Tahnee Prior
Sustainability , 2021
On 21 May 2021, a milestone Pan-Arctic Report: Gender Equality in the Arctic was published in tan... more On 21 May 2021, a milestone Pan-Arctic Report: Gender Equality in the Arctic was published in tandem with the Arctic Council’s Ministerial Meeting held in Reykjavík, 19–20 May 2021. This article provides a brief review of the report and its major findings across six chapters that address key themes concerning gender equality in the Arctic: Law and Governance, Security, Gender and Environment, Migration and Mobility, Indigeneity, Gender, Violence, Reconciliation and Empowerment and Fate Control. A major conclusion of the report is that accessible, comparable, gender-disaggregated, and Arctic -specific data is severely lacking. Further, all chapters highlight the importance of gender-based analysis and gender mainstreaming in all decision-making processes at national and regional levels. The varying roles that gender—and its intersections with existing inequalities—plays in mediating the impacts of climate change and other socioeconomic transformations are also discussed throughout the report. The Arctic Council is identified as the main driver for implementing recommendations that were provided and discussed at the Council’s Ministerial Meeting and in the Reykjavík Declaration 2021, where the eight ministers of Arctic states “Emphasize[s] the importance of gender equality and respect for diversity for sustainable development in the Arctic . . . encourage[s] the mainstreaming of gender-based analysis in the work of the Arctic Council and call[s] for further action to advance gender equality in the Arctic”. This report and its policy relevant highlights, address these priorities and serve as a knowledge base for promoting gender equality and non-discrimination in the Arctic.
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Arctic Environmental Governance by Tahnee Prior
This work examines the lessons – benefits, challenges, limitations, and unanswered questions – that may be learned from polycentric governance in the case of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Arctic, where a polycentric political system has developed as a result of a mismatch in environmental, jurisdictional, and temporal scales. Section One examines characteristics of polycentricity, focusing on actors, multilevel governance, degree of formality, and the nature of interactions. Section Two concentrates on the tools utilized. Section Three applies the outlined framework. Finally, Section Four examines three lessons that global environmental governance may learn from the case study: (1) Peak organizations are effective tools for managing polycentricity, allowing for the inclusion of non-state actors, such as indigenous peoples organizations (2) and epistemic communities (3), in bridging the human-environment nexus.
Gender in the Arctic by Tahnee Prior
Global Environmental Governance by Tahnee Prior
Other by Tahnee Prior
Drafts by Tahnee Prior
These challenges fall along multiple lines. A heightened presence of extractive industries, for example, can significantly impact gender pay gaps and human trafficking in the region (Sweet 2014; Alaska Economic Trends 2016: 3). Climate change brings questions relating to women’s self-determination and the rights of indigenous women, in particular, to the forefront (Prior et al. 2013). What is more: women’s (maternal) health continues to be compromised by the presence of pollutants and long travel distances in the context of childbirth, for example. And women often remain marginalized in discussions on human and societal security in the Arctic; invisible in decision-making processes across multiple levels of governance and in data, as well.
This paper provides a macro-level survey of existing literature, data, and case studies from across the circumpolar North, the Barents region in particular . Broadly, it looks at how we approach gender issues in the Arctic; taking stock of where we stand today and where we might go tomorrow. First, it engages with a theoretical framework that approaches human security through a gendered lens. Such an understanding can illuminate existing top-down governance mechanisms which do not address the above non-traditional security challenges(Hoogensen & Stuvoy 2006; Tickner 1992; Blanchard 2003). Second, it broadly examines the current state of gender issues in the Arctic. In doing so, it points to how current understandings of women’s roles in societal security are insufficient. Finally, the paper turns to how storytelling can build capacity for women’s (and other) voices to be heard and connected from across the Circumpolar North. Ultimately, this paper serves as a foundation, situating Plan A – a digital storytelling platform for women from across the Arctic – within greater academic and policy discourses on gender in the Arctic; to ensure both human and societal security.
Papers by Tahnee Prior