In the Arctic, climatic warming is twice as marked as in the rest of the world and the arctic territories are being transformed. The shrinking of the permanent sea ice cover is opening up navigation through the North-West and the North-East passages and massive possibilities are opening up for exploiting the resources of the ocean floor and of its surrounding coastline: oil, gas, uranium, coal, gas hydrates.... 20% of the world's energy reserves are now thought to be found in the Arctic.

The five States bordering on the Arctic (Canada, the United States, Russia, Denmark/Greenland, Norway) are trying to maintain their national sovereignty over portions of the Arctic Ocean or to increase it through extending it onto the continental shelf. The Russian Federation is claiming a sector, which stretches as far as the North Pole. The ecological impact of climatic warming, already clearly evident, would be further aggravated by any industrialisation of the Arctic. The impact is also a human and social one for the Arctic Native populations.

Faced with this situation, are existing juridical arrangements adequate? What role can be played in the protection of the Arctic by international organisations and institutions (the Arctic Council, the European Union...), or even more so by existing organisations for regional cooperation? To what extent are the Native populations listened to and in a position to participate in decisions concerning the administering and management of the Arctic?

By bringing together geophysicists, political scientists, jurists, geographers and historians, this international conference intends to discuss and analyse what is at stake in these present controversies, to clarify modes of governance, to explore the possibility of international regulation, in brief to throw scientific light on this urgent and increasingly controversial topic of major geopolitical interest.

The Conference objectives are threefold:

- To bring together a variety of scientific expertise to stimulate debate and promote further research in the academic world (researchers and students)
- To disseminate the state of knowledge on the transformation of the Arctic and its governance to a larger public
- To influence official policy

Organisation:
Centre d’Etudes Canadiennes de Grenoble
Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Grenoble
Université Pierre Mendès France
PACTE IEP BP 48
38040 Grenoble Cedex 9
FRANCE

Information:
cec38@upmf-grenoble.fr
http://canadatogether.hypotheses.org/arctic2010
Centre Jacques Cartier
Centre Jacques Cartier
26, place Bellecour
60002 Lyon
FRANCE
http://www.jacquescartier.com

Registration Information:
T : + 33 (0)4 72 43 83 28
Amandine.Bresselle@centrejacquescartier.com
n.boutinaud@orange.fr