The first International Conference on Public Policy will be held in France in the summer of 2013. It is calling for abstracts for this interesting conference entitled Perspectives on public policies in the Arctic region.
The conference website states that "developments in the Arctic have mostly been studied through defense studies, international relations, geopolitics, and to a lesser extent, economics. Public policies of Arctic states in the High North have attracted far less attention, with the exception of indigenous peoples rights."
The conference will run from the 26th of June until the 28th in Grenoble, France.
The conference will see a panel analyzing and discussing these topics:
- To what extent climate change and the economic prospects in the Arctic have changed public policies
- To what extent public policies are limiting or motivating economic development, through legislation, infrastructure development, direct or indirect subsidization, particularly in the mining and hydrocarbon sector and in transport (shipping)
- The capacity to act by the elected representatives at the local level, and to analyze to what extent citizens and communities are engaged in the development of public policies
- How conflicting interests between economic sectors are considered (e.g. tourism versus mining, petroleum activities versus fisheries and traditional subsistence)
- How social cohesion between various categories of the population (indigenous/non indigenous, permanent/transient) appears as an issue in current public policies
- If public policies are shaped by regional frameworks of cooperation and international agreements and norms
- How Arctic policy making can be seen as an imaginary and symbolic construction.
The abstracts are to be delivered by the 1st of February 2013. Comparative approaches of public policies in the Arctic are particularly welcome. To propose a paper an abstract of approximately 300 word should be sent directly to the chair of the panel, Cécile Pelaudeix (e-mail: ).
Website of the conference.