Anssi Tarkiainen, D.Sc (Econ. & Bus. Adm.), Leading Researcher, Lapland University of Applied Sciences
Keywords: Resilience, Arctic, Lapland
The Arctic is undergoing profound environmental, social, and economic transformations that challenge the long-term resilience of its communities, ecosystems, and institutions. Climate change represents the most significant driver of change across the Arctic (Arctic Council, 2024). The region is warming approximately three times faster than the global average, resulting in accelerated melting of sea ice, glaciers, and snow cover, as well as widespread permafrost thaw. These changes are reshaping landscapes, ecosystems, and livelihoods while increasing the frequency of extreme events, including wildfires and unusual weather conditions.
For Arctic communities, including those in Finnish Lapland, climate change has direct consequences for infrastructure, economic activities, and human well-being. Permafrost degradation threatens buildings, transport networks, and energy systems, while changing snow conditions affect tourism, reindeer herding, and other nature-dependent livelihoods. At the same time, biodiversity is shifting as species distributions change and ecosystems face increasing disturbance. The challenges are not only environmental, as many Arctic regions face demographic pressures, including population decline, aging populations, labor shortages, and outmigration of young people (Nordregio, 2026). These trends can weaken local capacities for innovation, service provision, and economic diversification. Remote locations, long distances, and dependence on external infrastructure and supply chains further increase vulnerability to disruptions. All this calls for building resilience in the Arctic. The European Union’s new strategy for the Arctic (European Commission, 2026) identifies strengthening security and resilience in the Arctic as one of its four priorities. However, resilience in the strategy extends beyond security. The priority of creating opportunities for people and communities in the Arctic also emphasizes support for climate resilience and democratic resilience.
While resilience is often understood as the capacity to adapt, recover, and thrive in the face of disturbances, the pace and scale of change in the Arctic demand more than recovery alone. They require proactive adaptation, learning, and transformation. Broadly defined, resilience as a concept refers to the ability to adapt successfully in the face of stress and adversity (Wu et al. 2013). Different definitions apply the concept of resilience to different contexts. For instance, psychological perspectives on resilience view it either as a personal trait or as a dynamic process (Herrman et al., 2011). The latter approach shifts attention from individual resilience to the resilience of broader systems, such as families, services, communities, and social networks. Today, the concept of resilience is applied across a wide range of contexts, including business organizations (Bachtiar et al., 2023), urban built environments (Amirzadeh et al., 2022), energy systems (Monie et al., 2025), and terrestrial ecosystems (Yao et al., 2024). Arctic resilience, as defined in the Arctic Resilience Action Framework (ARAF), is “the capacity of people to learn, share and make use of their knowledge of social and ecological interactions and feedbacks, to deliberately and effectively engage in shaping adaptive or transformative social-ecological change” (Koivurova & Kähkönen, 2018; ARAF 2016).
It could be concluded that resilience, in general and in the Arctic, is a broad and abstract concept which is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. Building resilience is a joint effort, where multiple different contributions are welcome and needed. This thematic issue, Building Resilience in the Arctic, presents a variety of perspectives and approaches to resilience-building. It also demonstrates the active role of Lapland University of Applied Sciences in supporting resilience through research, development, innovation, and education. As an editor for this issue, I hope that the value of the thematic issue goes beyond demonstrating different approaches for building resilience. Although a broad understanding of resilience is necessary for addressing Arctic challenges, the diversity of meanings and applications associated with the concept can sometimes appear overwhelming. It is hoped that the contributions in this issue will help readers develop a more comprehensive understanding of Arctic resilience and encourage them to participate in the collective effort to shape the adaptive and transformative social-ecological changes needed to strengthen resilience across the Arctic.
The thematic issue starts with two columns from highly distinguished authors. Kalle Kankaanpää, Ambassador for Arctic Affairs, examines how resilience in the Arctic is strengthened through preparedness, local knowledge, cooperation, and robust institutions, enabling communities to address climate, security and societal challenges. Tanja Joona, professor of Arctic sustainability science at Arctic Centre in University of Lapland, addresses Arctic resilience through the lens of justice and asks for whom is the Arctic resilience built for.
The thematic articles and view point articles present various themes. One of the themes is related to businesses and organizations and how they can build resilience through creating sustainable and regenerative value while addressing environmental, social, and economic challenges. Renfors and Krastina examine how artificial intelligence can help companies in this endeavor. Tarkiainen, Renfors, and Pellikka present a developed business model canvas tool, which helps firms to develop regenerative business models. Juntti, Tarkiainen, and Luhas examine how data on project sustainability reporting can support organizational renewal and continuous learning.
Second theme looks at energy resilience. Lappi and Tikanmäki present a case study on how computational modeling and simulation can be utilized for problem-solving in the field of energy resilience. Okuogume examines energy resilience of energy communities in a platform economy.
Third theme focuses on tourism and hospitality. Alatalo, Howard, Kilpeläinen, Lindroos, Tapaninen, and Tekoniemi-Selkälä examine cooperation and networks, digitalization, leadership and employee wellbeing can foster resilience. Harju-Myllyaho presents viewpoints for collaborative research and development efforts in improving tourism safety and resilience. Silvenius and Satokangas discuss safety and risk management in tourism.
Fourth theme focuses on bioeconomy, where Luhas integrates transformative resilience and regenerative bioeconomy for approaching opportunities for ecological and socioeconomic renewal. Sipola discusses Arctic resilience through the lens of food systems.
Fifth theme focuses on higher education. Renfors and Siintoharju argue that regenerative higher education is a solution to move sustainability education towards a resilient, transformative and life-affirming approach. Reinikka focuses on combining extended reality and artificial intelligence, in order to create immersive learning experiences for healthcare education.
And sixth theme shifts focus into individual resilience. Kaila and Haapakangas explore neuropsychological skills of robustness and resilience. Ahola discusses how study counselling can support not only students’ progress in studies, but also their ability to build a meaningful and sustainable future. Majala and Hjulberg focus on teachers’ resilience at University of Applied Sciences.
Rovaniemi, 21st October, 2026
Anssi Tarkiainen, Leading researcher, Lapland University of Applied Sciences
References:
Amirzadeh, M., Sobhaninia, S., & Sharifi, A. (2022). Urban resilience: A vague or an evolutionary concept?. Sustainable Cities and Society, 81, 103853. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.103853
Arctic Council, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (2024). Arctic Climate Change Update 2024: Key Trends and Impacts. Retrieved [20.10.2026] from: https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Arctic-Climate-Change-Update-2024-Key-Trends-and-Impacts.-Summary-for-Policy-makers..pdf
Arctic Resilience Action Framework; cooperating for a More Resilient and Prosperous Arctic Region (2016). Retrieved [29.4.2026] from: https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/bitstream/handle/11374/1790/EDOCS-3821-v1A ACSAOUS203_Portland_2016_5-3-1_ARAF_Framework_Draft.PDF?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Bachtiar, N. K., Setiawan, A., Prastyan, G. A., & Kijkasiwat, P. (2023). Business resilience and growth strategy transformation post crisis. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 12(1), 1-25. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-023-00345-5
European Commission (2026). EU sets out a new Strategy for the Arctic. Press release, 20 October 2026. Retrieved [21st Oct 2026] from: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/document/print/fi/ip_26_2203/IP_26_2203_EN.pdf
Herrman, H., Stewart, D. E., Diaz-Granados, N., Berger, E. L., Jackson, B., & Yuen, T. (2011). What is resilience?. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 56(5), 258-265. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/070674371105600504
Koivurova, T., & Kähkönen, J. (2018). Pre-Study for the Arctic Resilience Forum 2018. Retrieved [21st Oct 2026] from: https://lauda.ulapland.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/63410/Koivurova.Timo%20ja%20K%C3%A4hk%C3%B6nen.Juho.pdf?sequence=1
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Yao, Y., Liu, Y., Fu, F., Song, J., Wang, Y., Han, Y., … & Fu, B. (2024). Declined terrestrial ecosystem resilience. Global Change Biology, 30(4), e17291. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17291