🚢 Olga Povoroznyuk and Peter Schweitzer contribute the chapter “The Promises and Fears of Infrastructure: An Alaskan Port Expansion, Geopolitics, and Local (Dis-)Engagement” to the newly published volume 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘴: 𝘈𝘯 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵. @berghahnbooks.bsky.social - Find out more:
Meyer, A., Adams, R.-M., & Elixhauser, S. (2026). “Lifelines and Gateways: The Relational Affordances of Arctic Airports.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 55(1), 37-62. https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416251398478 (Original work published 2026)
Tasiilaq, East Greenland. Photo by Sophie Elixhauser.
Svalbard Airport, Longyearbyen. Photo by Alexandra Meyer.
Rovaniemi Airport runway. Photo by Ria-Maria Adams.
✈️ Airports are vital to #Arctic life, yet often shaped by geopolitical and economic interests.
An ethnographic comparison of Longyearbyen, Rovaniemi & Tasiilaq by Meyer, Adams & Elixhauser is now #openaccess in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. #InfraNorth
🔗 infranorth.eu/news/dec-202...
JCE cover.
New special issue: "Ethnographies of Infrastructure," ed. by me, P. Schweitzer & O. Povoroznyuk, in JCE.
It explores #infrastructure (& its futures) as social phenomenon, spanning the #Arctic & beyond: ports, roads, supply chains & environmental conflict.
journals.sagepub.com/toc/jcec/55/1
🗓️ Feb 9: #InfraNorth researcher Philipp Budka will give a talk titled “Sovereignty by Design: Community #Infrastructures in Remote Canada” as part of the seminar series of the Department of Social #Anthropology at the University of Manchester. @philbu.bsky.social @uomsoss.bsky.social
❓ What can scenario workshops offer to the #anthropology of #infrastructure that other ethnographic methods might not?
This #openaccess article by Schweitzer et al. in 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺 reflects on #InfraNorth scenario workshops in #Kirkenes & #Churchill 👇
@journals.sagepub.com
🚗💥 In the #Arctic, a journey is as unpredictable as the weather.
From Chukotka’s tundra to Scandinavian roads and Canadian far-north trails, breakdowns reveal a common logic of Arctic mobility: #infrastructure is both material and relational.
Three #InfraNorth researchers share their experiences:
🛫 Arctic Airports as Lifelines and Gateways? Shaped by geopolitical agendas and external economic interests, Arctic airports are essential lifelines for communities across remote regions.Our @infranortherc.bsky.social article explores these relational affordances journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
🎧🌏 #InfraNorth PI Peter Schweitzer on Austrian public radio Ö1 traced the history of ideas around an #Arctic Silk Road, circumpolar shipping routes, and the proposed Bering Strait tunnel—from promises of #infrastructure to geopolitical ambitions and local realities. Listen online (in German only):
The #Arctic is perceived as a future military theatre. But while war rages to the south, it has become a safe haven for refugees from #Ukraine and beyond.
New blog post drawing on fieldwork in Vardø with @riaadams.bsky.social @infranortherc.bsky.social
www.cryopolitics.com/2025/12/19/f... 🧪
📰✨ The introduction to the “Ethnographies of Infrastructure” special issue of the 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺 is out #openaccess, situating contributions within developments in the #anthropology of #infrastructure.
➡️ The print edition is due Feb 2026.
@journals.sagepub.com @univie.ac.at
✈️ New #openaccess article in the 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺!
📦 “Amazon in the Arctic: E-Commerce, Infrastructure, and Alimentary Assemblages in #Nunavut, Canada” by #InfraNorth researcher Katrin Schmid.
@journals.sagepub.com @univie.ac.at
📣 We are excited to announce that Peter Schweitzer, Principal Investigator of #InfraNorth and APRI board member, has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the European Polar Board.
@europeanpolarboard.bsky.social @austrianpolar.bsky.social
@univie.ac.at #PolarResearch
Symbolic recognition isn’t enough. Indigenous communities in Canada face unresolved issues in water, energy & transport #infrastructure and demand real say in decisions that meet their long-term needs. #InfraNorth researcher Philipp Budka highlighted this issue at the “GAME ON!” press conference.
📰 New article by #InfraNorth researcher Olga Povoroznyuk in the Journal of Contemporary #Ethnography!
“Toward a Comparative Ethnography of #Arctic Seaports Projects: Local Impacts of Expanding Maritime #Infrastructure in Alaska, Norway, and Russia”
@journals.sagepub.com @univie.ac.at #openaccess
🗞️Within @infranortherc.bsky.social, Katrin Schmid and I examine very different #Arctic communities to show how capitalist logics drive #housing scarcity — and how “infrastructure’s failed relations” become visible in diverse local contexts.
🏚️🏗️ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Davydova, Elena, and Povoroznyuk, Olga. Temporality of Arctic Transport Infrastructure: Bridging Seasonal Supply in Egvekinot, Chukotka. In Polar Geography, 2025 (in print). https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2025.2592137
View of Zaliv Kresta and Evgekinot. Photo by Elena Davydova. Published in Polar Journal: https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2025.2592137
📢 New paper alert! Polar Geography has just released the article “𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗴𝘃𝗲𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗼𝘁, 𝗖𝗵𝘂𝗸𝗼𝘁𝗸𝗮” by #InfraNorth researchers Elena Davydova and Olga Povoroznyuk. @univie.ac.at
🔗 Find out more: infranorth.eu/news/dec-202...
Arctic transportation futures are at a crossroads. ❄️🚛🚢
@infranortherc.bsky.social gathered experts and community voices to discuss how to make future #transport #planning more responsive to local needs.
💡See the recommendations: infranorth.eu/arctic-trans...
“In northern Canada, transport is essential for daily life. My research focused on Churchill, Manitoba, which has no road connection and is the only place in the North American Arctic with a deep-sea port linked to a railway system.” – Philipp Budka (University of Vienna/InfraNorth).
“In 2017, flooding damaged the railway and cut the town off for 18 months, revealing how transport sustains northern communities and how vulnerable that lifeline can be.” – Philipp Budka (University of Vienna/InfraNorth)
“After the 2017 railway disruption, local and Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba took ownership of the railway and port. This gave them more control over transport and local development. Churchill’s experience shows that community-led decision-making can make infrastructure more reliable and fairer.” – Philipp Budka (University of Vienna/InfraNorth)
“When the railway stopped working, Churchill became isolated. Instead of giving up, local and Indigenous communities worked together to buy and manage the railway and port. It is now one of the few community-owned transport systems of its kind in Canada and a strong example of local cooperation and resilience.” – Philipp Budka (University of Vienna/InfraNorth)
💡 As #InfraNorth enters its final stage, we spotlight the people behind the research, starting with Philipp Budka, who focused on #Churchill, Manitoba. His research shows how local ownership and community-led decisions can make #infrastructure more reliable & fair.
@philbu.bsky.social @univie.ac.at
📄 Katrin Schmid’s “Flying into Frictioned Futures” examines Canada’s northernmost runways, how materiality shapes access & mobility in #Nunavut, frictions between residents’ aspirations and infrastructural realities, and advocates Nunavummi-centered solutions. @anthropologica.bsky.social #InfraNorth
In the latest issue of @anthropologica.bsky.social, #InfraNorth researcher @philbu.bsky.social contributes the article “Infrastructural Disruption, Entanglement and Change in Northern #Manitoba,” where he examines how #Churchill residents live with, adapt to, and reimagine infrastructure.
📄 An introductory essay by Budka & Amatulli frames the contributions on #Canadian #infrastructures and invites critical reflection on how they can be reimagined as vital sites for more just, relational, and sustainable futures.
@philbu.bsky.social
@gamatulli.bsky.social
@anthropologica.bsky.social
🆕 The latest issue of #Anthropologica (Vol. 67, No. 1, 2025) features the thematic section “Narratives and Temporalities of #Infrastructure: The Canadian Experience,” co-edited by Giuseppe Amatulli & Philipp Budka.
@anthropologica.bsky.social
@gamatulli.bsky.social
@philbu.bsky.social
🏗️❄️🛳️ #Arctic transport is at a crossroads. Reconciling global drivers with local needs is a major policy and planning challenge. The #InfraNorth workshop brought together diverse voices to support sustainable, inclusive Arctic #transportation futures. The dialogue continues – more soon! @univie.ac.at
Looking forward to my lecture on community #infrastructures, #sovereignty & futures in remote 🇨🇦 @ the Wednesday Seminar Series of the Dpt. of Social & Cultural #Anthropology @univie.ac.at.
Alexandra Meyer (University of Vienna/InfraNorth) and Julia Olsen (Nord University) present a poster on their collective paper, “Building transdisciplinary bridges and learning from the Svalbard context,” at the Svalbard Science Conference 2025, representing a team of co-authors.
Recommendations for transdisciplinary research in Svalbard. Figure from Olsen, Julia, Alexandra Meyer, Lisbeth Iversen, Ulrich Schildberg, Ragnhild Holmen Bjørnsen, Grete K. Hovelsrud, James Badu, et al. 2025. “Building Transdisciplinary Bridges and Learning from the Svalbard Context.” The Polar Journal, October, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/2154896X.2025.2569950
#InfraNorth researcher Alexandra Meyer co-presented with Julia Olsen at the #Svalbard Science Conference, sharing insights from their collective article “Building transdisciplinary bridges and learning from the Svalbard context,” now open-access in The Polar Journal.
🔗 infranorth.eu/news/nov-202...
📅 Join us this Wednesday, Nov 5, at 5 pm CET, for a lecture by #InfraNorth researcher Philipp Budka, on infrastructural sovereignty in remote Canadian communities.
🌐 Hybrid at Uni Wien & Zoom, no registration needed. More details on the link below!
@philbu.bsky.social @univie.ac.at #Infrastructure
📚 #InfraNorth researchers contribute two chapters to 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗸 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀: 𝗔𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 (Berghahn Books, eds. N. & M. Magnani, Jan 2026).
🚢 The forthcoming book traces how melting sea ice fuels global imaginaries of #Arctic routes and #infrastructure visions shaping local agency.
Olga Povoroznyuk and Peter Schweitzer are in #Alaska, where they presented #InfraNorth findings at the #ARCA workshop “Biocultural Heritage and Climate Adaptation in Arctic Cities,” linking their research on #Arctic transport infrastructures and biocultural heritage as a climate adaptation resource.
📚 We highly recommend 𝗨𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗼𝘇𝗲𝗻: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰, by Mia Bennett (Univ. Washington; InfraNorth associate researcher) & Klaus Dodds (Royal Holloway) — an insightful look at the rapid climate and geopolitical shifts shaping the #Arctic.
@cryopolitics.com @klausdodds.bsky.social
Port of Churchill, MB, Canada. Photo by Philipp Budka.
I’m really looking forward to my talk tomorrow at #DGSKA2025 (@dgska.bsky.social) in #Cologne.
I’ll be speaking about #sustainability & #infrastructure in 🇨🇦, drawing on my work with @infranortherc.bsky.social @univie.ac.at.
