SMARTNORTH: Sustainable development and MAnagement by paRTicipatory governance practices in the High NORTH, 2021

The project investigates the scope of and driving forces for the development of participatory governance (PG) practices and their potential effects on sustainable development in High North communities. The growing use of ICT technology and so-called "smart" city/community/region concepts open up new areas for public innovation, especially regarding the development of new PG practices in the High North. Such innovations can give greater voice to local stakeholders, in relation to strategic, urban and financial planning decisions in the High North territories. However, knowledge about the nature of such PG practices in the context of the High North is mostly missing. This project would address the need for new knowledge about:

1) the variation of practices in the High North;
2) the driving forces behind the development of such PG practices, their divergence or convergence within the High North and towards global trends; and
3) the potential effects of such PG practices on the sustainable development of High North communities.

Founded on an international team, the project is an interdisciplinary research, combining the fields of public administration, management and organizational science. The two-year project will:
1) map PG experiences in the High North via a comprehensive media review;
2) identify and conduct in-depth qualitative studies of several exceptional cases of PG experiences in the High North territories of Norway, Finland, Russia and North America, through documentary analysis, observations, interviews and experimental methodology.

We will summarize and conceptualize PG experiences in the High North by incorporating the dimension of countries' comparison. The output of the project will be five papers in top international academic journals, several chronicles in High North newspapers, a policy-oriented report, participatory practices' guidelines and a bank of best PG practices in the High North.