Call for participations and papers: Calotte Academy 2026

The participants will be guided on an exciting journey through Sápmi, the northernmost parts of
Finland, Norway, and Sweden - through Rovaniemi, Kiruna, Tromsø, Kilpisjärvi, Hetta, Kautokeino,
Karasjok, Inari, and Sodankylä.

The theme “Intelligence” is inspired from the recent resurgence of the term in particular in the context
of the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) or within debates on military intelligence amid increasing
geopolitical tension. Yet, the term intelligence is associated with numerous meanings including
information or knowledge, cognitive ability, military or espionage, computational intelligence and
machine learning, or that of agencies that gather or process secret information.

This year’s theme is intentionally broad, inviting contributions from a wide range of disciplines and
approaches. The multiple meanings of the term as well as their complex relationships and potentially
contradictory effects make it a particularly rich concept for interdisciplinary exploration in and about
the Arctic. The organizers therefore invite researchers, students, and young policymakers working on/from the Arctic in fields as varied as International Relations, International Law, Education, Political/Social
Sciences, Psychology, Neuroscience, Philosophy, History, Geography, Anthropology, Indigenous
Studies, Media Studies, Linguistics, Environmental Humanities, and Data Science.

Registration fee

The registration fee for participation is €475, covering accommodation, transportation, as well as
some meals during the travelling symposium. Early career researchers who are funded by a university
or institute, or who have travel grants for scientific conferences, are invited to check with their
respective funders to confirm whether they can cover this fee.

The fee will be paid in two instalments: the first instalment of €300 one month before the start of the
trip and the second instalment of €175 at the beginning of the journey.

Applications

The deadline for applications is 31 March 2026. An application should include an abstract of
approximately 250–350 words, a short bio/CV including (PhD / MA) study status, and a short list of
publications. Applications must be submitted online at https://calotte-academy.com/apply.

Co-organizers

The Calotte Academy is co-organized by the Northern Policy Society, the Department of Media
Studies at Stockholm University, the ETS Institute at Luleå Technical University, the Faculty of Law
at the University of Lapland, the International Center for Reindeer Herding Husbandry (EALÁT), the
Saami Education Institute (SAKK), and the VERA Centre of Russian and Border Studies at the
University of Eastern Finland, in cooperation with the UArctic TN on Geopolitics and Security.

About the Calotte Academy

The Calotte Academy is an international, annual academic symposium, traveling throughout several
destinations in the European Arctic, designed to promote interdisciplinary research, and implement
the interplay between senior & young researchers in order to educate, mentor and train in Northern /
Arctic and Global Studies. It is also an experimental “School of Dialogue” and participatory by nature,
with the idea to share knowledge and foster academic & policy-oriented dialogue among members of
the research community and a wide range of other local & regional stakeholders, including the Sámi.
The annual travelling symposium, organized since 1991, is a perfect platform for early career
researchers, particularly PhD candidates and post-docs, as well as established researchers, with
different academic & knowledge backgrounds, to actively participate & discuss, and present their
work (see our Final Reports of the previous Calotte Academies on the website: https://calotteacademy.com/final-reports and in the Arctic Yearbook editions: https://arcticyearbook.com/).

For more information

For more information, please contact Prof. Lassi Heininen (lassi.heininen@arcticpolitics.com) of the
Northern Policy Society, Prof. Laura Junka-Aikio (laura.junka-aikio@ulapland.fi) at the University
of Lapland; and the Calotte Academy’s co-coordinators: PhD Candidates Zhanna Anshukova
(anshukovazhanna@gmail.com) and Tom Gabriel Royer (troyer@ulapland.fi) at the University of
Lapland, and M.A. Tatiana Petrova (tatiana.petrova.lpf@gmail.com) of the Northern Policy Society.