The resources in the Norwegian Arctic contribute significantly to the overall Norwegian value creation, and the Arctic’s marine resources play a particular role in further developing the region (Regjeringens Nordområdestrategi 2017). Coupled with the marine resources, the renewable energy potential is significant.
Following the Norwegian government’s Arctic strategy (2017) and the EU’s ambition of mitigating emissions by 20% in 2030, the project aim is three-fold: 1) Strengthen the collaborative capacity between commercial and industrial actors in the North of Norway towards an industrial green transition; 2) Building knowledge capacity on private and semi-private companies’ actions regarding choice of technology, production methods and energy sources as alternative to fossil fuels and traditional production methods, whilst clarifying the connections between profit, innovation and the green transition in product and service provision; 3) Increasing the knowledge around the ability of businesses and industries’ to act for sustainable development: their room to manoeuvre – barriers and innovation processes.
The project’s main research question is: ‘What are the driving forces behind, and what is ‘the green transition’ in relation to innovation in businesses working in sectors such as maritime industries, waste treatment and logistics in an Arctic context?’
The project subsequently asks the following leading questions:
• What characterises innovation processes in businesses working with the ‘green’ transition?
• What does the ‘green transition’ mean in relation to the businesses, and what does ‘transitioning to environmental sustainability’ in the maritime sector and in waste management?
• Which barriers surface and what are the conditions needed for sustainable transitions?
• In what way could experiences from Finnish and Swedish industries and businesses provide increased knowledge capacity for the necessary framework conditions for sustainable and environmental innovation in an Arctic/North-Norway context?
The project is a collaboration between research institutions and the industry, enabling insight into the ways in which sustainability and green innovation is understood, the results of innovation processes in these businesses and sectors, and the implications this may have for a regionalised innovation politics with focus on increasingly environmental innovation processes.
