Environmental Problems of the Arctic Region: How Do Official Data Correlate to the Population’s Perceptions?

• Published in: Regional research of Russia 2021, Vol.11 (Suppl 1), p.S97-S110
• Main Authors: Volkov, A. D., Tishkov, S. V., Karginova-Gubinova, V. V., Shcherbak, A. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air quality; Arctic zone; Economic development; Economics; Economics and Finance; Environmental impact; Household wastes; Natural Resource Management; Noise levels; Pollution levels; Population; R&D; Regional/Spatial Science; Research & development; Research methodology; Research methods; Slavic studies; Sociology; Statistical analysis; Surface water; Water quality
• ISSN: 2079-9705; 2079-9713
• DOI: 10.1134/S2079970522010105

— The article discusses the current state and ecological and economic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation with a case study one of the Arctic regions of the Russia’s European North: the Karelian Arctic. The objective of the article is to identify the key problems and contradictions of the ecological and economic development of the Karelian Arctic in their perception by the population of the region. In view of the limited statistical information on these issues, the focus is on the use of sociological research methods. The main research methods are dialectical, sociological (questionnaire survey), and statistical analysis. Based on the results of the empirical study, the population of the Karelian Arctic determined the assessments of the state of the environment and its dynamics in the world, Russia, the Arctic, as well as in the region and immediate place of residence of the respondents. A detailed assessment by the population of the state of the environment was obtained for the following components: air quality, surface water quality, noise level, state of forests and parks, pollution level of the territory in terms of household waste. These data were obtained and analyzed broken down by regions, which allows the research results to be used both in the development of differentiated regulatory measures at the regional government level and in the creation of software tools for development of the Karelian Arctic region and implementation of a special economic regime for the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The scientific significance of the results obtained is determined by the uniqueness of the research object. The Karelian Arctic region was formed in July 2020. Earlier, the region had not been studied as a special economic territorial entity. Nor had the region been studied as thoroughly as in the present work. The practical significance of the study lies in the creation of an information base that can be used for the implementation of administrative tasks by federal, regional, and municipal authorities. It can also be used to prepare strategic and program documents for development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and create a special economic regime on the territory of the Russian Arctic.