by Mingming Shi
1) According to RÚV, Icelandic sea eagles have enjoyed a very successful year in 2020, mainly due to the large number of eaglet births. The species is now protected by Icelandic law.
2) An article was published on High North News about how security issues are viewed from different angles in the wake of controversy over future visits of American nuclear-powered submarines to ports in and near Tromsø in northern Norway. These concerns were expressed in an interview with Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, Professor at the Centre for Peace Studies at the University of Tromsø. Prof Hoogensen Gjørv argued that although Norway has its own national defence policies, the central government in Oslo, far to the south, nonetheless does not necessarily share an identical viewpoint regarding security priorities with the northern part of Norway. There was also the argument that ordinary citizens should be taken into better consideration by the central government when planning security policies.
3) According to CBC News in Canada, an exhibition on Indigenous cultures and climate in the Arctic has opened at the British Museum in London. The museum invited artists with Indigenous backgrounds to display their various works. One of the purposes of the exhibit, in place until February of next year, is to illustrate how Indigenous peoples in the far north have been coping with climate change.
4) As Eye on the Arctic reported, Sámi Language Week was celebrated in Norway, Finland and Sweden earlier this month. The event was aimed to raise further global awareness of the protection of the Sámi languages and many social sectors were invited to contribute. Even though Sámi languages and their dialects are commonly spoken in the Sámi region, (which includes the northern parts of Finland, Norway, Sweden and northeastern Russia), these language groups are still seen as endangered.
Over the Circle 