In Inari, we have thought about what the municipality would be like in 2035. There are three alternatives: the Strömsö of dreams, climate hell, or the Inari of realists that resembles the present. We present the scenarios in this article.
In Inari, a future workshop consisting of municipal residents has gathered, which was faced with tough challenges and goals. The dreams, threats and opportunities of the municipal survey had to be turned for a longer time to support concrete work for the future.
Kasurinen called for concrete measures.
– Based on these, we need to think about the measures that will be taken if things start to go in the direction of a certain scenario.
According to Kasurinen, all future pictures are unlikely to come true as they are, but rather they are like amoebas with their shapes and edges.
– It is important that these scenarios are considered realistically and with the help of the best experts, we try to find out what is most likely to happen.
In his opinion, the work done now will be of great benefit at different levels in the work of the municipality.
Three different future Inaris
The workshop ended up with three different future paths. The most hopeful of them was based on the idea that everything would go as it did in Yle’s famous feel-good program Strömsö, and that the dark clouds of the future would not reach all the way to Inari.
The second scenario focuses on the fact that almost everything goes wrong, the problems pile up and external factors and actors take a dominant position in the affairs of the region.
– After all, it’s clear that more thoughts come out of many heads than from one. People from many fields participated and the researchers got a lot of new ideas to base their work on, says Jääskö.
In the third vision, an effort has been made to anticipate the future as realistically as possible. The forecast is based on the fact that the development of the Inari region has required adaptation as a result of the challenges brought by climate change.
– I believe that we are still doing well here in Inari. Such signs are in the air. Regarding respect for the rights of the Sámi people, I would still like to see improvement and an open dialogue based on factual information, says Ljetoff.
The future work will continue in the fall, when a separate workshop for young people will be organized and put together according to their message. In the final seminar, which is international, the results of all future workshops in the Arctic region will be reviewed.