Destination Lapland

The University of Lapland has stepped on to the world stage as an institution to be reckoned with in the field of circumpolar research. I conducted an email interview on April 7 with Canadian Scott Forrest who has been living, studying and working in Rovaniemi since the fall of 1997.

How did you end up in Finland? What influenced your choice to study at the University of Lapland rather than somewhere else?
I was studying International Studies at the University of Northern BC, in Prince George, doing my Masters on Arctic issues. I had become interested in the circumpolar region while I was doing my undergrad at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC. I specifically chose to head north to Prince George because of the expertise there in northern issues. I had actually thought about coming already to the Arctic Centre and University of Lapland to do my Masters even at that point. During year of grad courses at UNBC I heard about a new exchange program, called the North Consortium student exchange. UNBC and the University of Lapland were two of the participating universities. I was accepted, and after a summer of fieldwork in Baffin Island, NWT (now Nunavut), I headed to Rovaniemi in the fall of 1997. It was really an easy decision for me, as a student of the circumpolar region. Rovaniemi may seem like the periphery to those in Helsinki, but in the realm of international relations in the circumpolar North, Rovaniemi is the centre of the universe. So many major Arctic conferences and initiatives have taken place here. I really wanted to be part of that scene.

Have you had the chance to travel around Finland? What is your opinion?
Interestingly, I had lived in Finland for almost two years before I ever visited Helsinki—other than the airport. I think that's the opposite of most visitors, who only see Helsinki when they come to Finland.  Especially in my first year here I got to travel around Lapland quite a bit, which was great. Everyone had told me before I came that the Finns are hard to get to know. That may be true in the South, but in Lapland everyone was really interested in what I was doing, and why I had decided to come to Finland—and Rovaniemi no less. Of course, it's easy to make comparisons between Finnish and Canadian landscapes—and the importance of nature and the North to our societies. Although everyone is speaking a different language, I've never really felt like that much of a foreigner here.

Are you homesick for Canada? Tell me what you miss!
Of course I've had my ups and downs, especially at the start. But I felt so at home here from the beginning, I just committed myself to staying—almost right away, even though I was only supposed to stay for four months. That was over four years ago! Most of the things I missed at the start were foods, bagels, Snapple, sushi, and Thai food. I've managed to become a pretty good Thai and sushi chef, but the bagels still elude me. Naturally I left a lot of friends and family in Vancouver. It's a long way to go, and I don't get to go home as often as I'd like. But you make adjustments, and I've made lots of new friends here. Rovaniemi is a pretty friendly place for foreigners with the University and tourism.

How do you view relationships between Canada and Finland?
I think Canadians and Finns have so much in common. At the heart it all boils down to a modest kind of insecurity we share—"pikkuvelikompleksi". Canada has always lived in the shadow of bigger powers—first Britain as a colony, and then the USA as our big brawny neighbour. Finland has similarly lived in the shadow of Sweden and Russia. You can see this in the quiet pride Finns and Canadians take when one of their own is recognized internationally. Okay, maybe our celebrations after the hockey gold in Salt Lake weren't so quiet.

During the time you have been teaching—what stands out in your memory as one of the best moments you have had? Any good memories?
Actually, I haven't been teaching here. While I was finishing my Master's thesis, I was told about a new project being developed called the University of the Arctic. It developed from the recognition among northern colleges and universities around the world that they needed to work together to address the obstacles that limit northerners' access to higher education. The different regions of the Arctic share many of the same challenges—economic, environmental, cultural, etc. Education is central to addressing these challenges and northerners need the foundations to face these challenges themselves. I started working for the project on the side, doing some work on the Web pages and helping draft documents, for example. This allowed me to stay in Rovaniemi after my initial study period was over.  In 1998, the Circumpolar Coordination Office for the University of the Arctic opened at the Arctic Centre, and I was given the position of Information Manager. We've come a long way in the past four years, and lots of changes along the way.

How is it that the University of Lapland seems to attract so many international students?
There are a few reasons why the University of Lapland attracts so many exchange students. Some are obvious. A location like Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle offers kinds of experiences that wouldn't be available at any other university a student from Spain, Japan, or Canada might choose to go. It's something truly unique. But the real reason, I believe, is because of a fundamental decision by the administration to begin an internationalization process, over ten years ago. This applies to every area of the University of Lapland, not just international students. A small university in the periphery cannot compete head-to-head with larger research institutions in the South, so it has to offer something different, something special. The international environment at the University of Lapland, and the Arctic Centre offer its students, faculty, researchers, and staff opportunities you wouldn't expect in a small university in a small city in Lapland.

How do you see the role of the University of Lapland in the international academic community?
The international activities of the University of Lapland and the Arctic Centre—especially cooperation in the circumpolar region—has really put it, and Rovaniemi, on the map. Leading cooperation initiatives like the Circumpolar Universities Association, and now the University of the Arctic, showed other small northern schools in other parts of the world that international cooperation enabled them to be "bigger" than they really are. Together, the cooperation between northern colleges and universities can provide a broad range of opportunities and resources for students that no single one of them would be able to afford themselves, especially in these days of tightening budgets. The leadership that the University of Lapland showed in this area, has led to others following its example. Yukon College and the University of Northern BC in Canada, and the University of Akureyri in Iceland are good examples of small "peripheral" schools that are far more active internationally, relatively speaking, than their counterparts in Vancouver or Reykjavik.

How have you and your colleagues worked to advance the field you are working in?
I think for a small office, the Circumpolar Coordination Office of the University of the Arctic, has done a great job in supporting the work of the University of the Arctic. It is not always easy when your colleagues are scattered across 24 time zones in the circumpolar region. The people working on the project are small in number, but all committed and creative. It's a pretty good analogy for the circumpolar region generally: a small number of people, separated by vast distances, but dedicated to the region they live in. Already we are piloting the first course of the Bachelor of Circumpolar Studies, which is being delivered through our online portal, the Arctic Learning Environment. This fall, we expect the first students to participate in the first truly circumpolar student exchange program, north2north. I guess I've come full circle now. I'm working to give another student of the North the chance to have a similar kind of exchange experience as the one that brought me to Finland. Some might even stay, as I have.

By Carmen Boudreau-Kiviaho