The project is part of activities of the UArctic Thematic Network “Health and Well-Being in the Arctic” and its sub-group on Healthy Ageing. The project is coordinated by the Thule Institute, University of Oulu. The aim of this project is to investigate how older people perceive their lived urban and rural mobility space and the impact of environmental conditions commonly found in the Nordic Arctic settlements in the wintertime.
The meeting and project have been funded by the Nordic Arctic Co-operation Program NAPA, starting on August 1, 2023. The participants come from the University of Oulu (Arja Rautio, Anastasia Emelyanova), Luleå University of Technology (Agneta Larsson), University of Iceland (Steinunn Arnars Ólafsdóttir), with invited experts from Center for Public Health in Greenland at National Institute of Public Health in Copenhagen, University of Southern Denmark (Kamilla Nørtoft) and UiT the Arctic University of Norway (Bodil H. Blix). Two-day program concentrated on the progress work with:
1. Survey: the team conducted postal survey in the spring of 2024 among 2000 older adults 70 years and older in Iceland and northern Finland and Sweden and received over 800 responses. Preliminary results were introduced and data analysis planned.
2. Focus group interviews with older people in the Nordic Arctic: second part of data collection is ahead in spring 2025.
3. Other matters related to methodology, dissemination and communication of results, collaboration with external partners and stakeholders.
We will report the final findings of the project in various ways of publications and materials and also during the final workshop and open session to be suggested for the scientific program of the UArctic Congress at the University of the Faroe Islands in May 2026.
Project coordinator: Dr. Anastasia Emelyanova anastasia.emelyanova@oulu.fi