Annual Report 2025
Editor
Anne Raja-Hanhela
Layout & Design
Reetta Linna
Cover photo
Matti Kantola
Printed by
The 7th Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit conference was organized in early May with around 250 international participants. Main theme of the conference this year was the elements of Arctic security.
photo marko junttila
Events and Seminars
Our long-term service advisor Pertti Leinonen who has been the heart and soul of the Arctic Centre for over fifteen years was sent off to well-deserved retirement with emotional festivities in November.
photo sampo sanaksenaho
The Forum for Research into Ice Shelf Processes (FRISP) coordinates the community engaged in research on the glaciological, oceanic and atmospheric processes governing the behaviour of ice shelves that are key to the ice sheet contribution to sea level change. FRISP annual workshop was organized at the Arctic Centre in June.
photo anne raja - hanhela
Arctic Centre’s community day was held at the Apukka Resort on the first day of April The programme included both development workshops and outdoor activities in the beautiful spring weather. For some visiting members of our work community ice fishing and snowshoeing were completely new experiences! photo anne raja - hanhela
From the Director
photo santeri happonen
A year of sailing in strong winds
In 2025 the Arctic Centre sailed in strong winds – but steadily. We faced rapid changes, and changes seem to be a permanent feature of life nowadays. It causes elevated needs to adapt in our private lives, but also in the business we do. Arctic Centre’s business is to focus on the changes in the North with a holistic approach.
As the Director, I could not be prouder of our staff tackling all the challenges they face. Not only have we received notable research funding, but we have been active and visible in multiple fora. We organised the 6th Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit Conference in May. We were vital partners in the EU Arctic Forum in Levi in June. Our opening towards the rising global south, research co-operation with the Third Pole region got into full swing in September, with the Arctic Centre as a co-organiser of the Second Inter-Polar Conference held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
young talents to our excellent Arctic Centre team.
This constant project flow enables us to employ our talented scientists and even recruit more young talents to our excellent Arctic Centre team.
Our efforts for the new Science Centre exhibition “Arctic Opposites” (opened Dec 6, 2024) have borne fruit. The number of visitors to the Arktikum House and our exhibition is steadily rising, with 172 661 visitors in 2025. This is another clear sign that there is a great demand for science-based information and communication about the Arctic. In the heart of all we do is our science communications team, awarded as the Science communicator of the Year 2025 in Finland by the Finnish Association of Science Journalists. Congratulations! Due to space limitations, several other significant achievements cannot be listed here but many highlights of our year 2025 are included on the pages of this annual report.
As some major projects such as EU Horizon2020 funded CHARTER have finished, new ones have started. This constant project flow enables us to employ our talented scientists and even recruit more
I am truly grateful for all the staff of the Arctic Centre and all our partners. Together we can sail safely and steadily even through the strongest winds of change, thus leading the way to a secure and sustainable future in the Arctic.
Johanna
Visiting personnel 53 researchers
• from 14 countries • with average 8,5 months stay
trainees • from 6 countries • with average 3 months stay
The Arctic Centre science communications unit was granted the Science Communication Award by the Finnish Association of Science Editors and Journalists. The award was conferred for pioneering and exceptionally wide-ranging work in Finland and internationally.
not include costs of premises and other general expenses
photo eeli eskola
Scientific publications
More information: research.ulapland.fi/en/organisations/arktinen-keskus
Blogs
Kaikuja Arktikselta – Arctic Echoes www.arcticcentre.org/kaikuja
Arctic Anthropology arcticanthropology.org
Critical Arctic Studies www.criticalarcticstudies.com
The Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law celebrated its 40th anniversary with a half-day seminar in September. For decades at the forefront of research on the complex interplay between law, the environment, and the rights of minorities and Indigenous peoples in the Arctic is a great accomplishment!
photo sampo sanaksenaho
Arktikum
In addition to international tourists, the renovated permanent exhibition “Arctic Opposites” at the Arktikum Science Centre has also attracted many local residents and school groups. In November on Children’s Day at Work the children of the Arctic Centre staff members visited the office and exhibition. photo santeri happonen
Science Centre Exhibitions
Permanent exhibition:
▪ ARCTIC OPPOSITES
Temporary exhibitions:
▪ MAPPED BEAUTY Exhibition of old maps | 1.2.2024–28.2.2025
▪ NATURE PHOTOS OF THE YEAR | 25.3.–1.6.2025
▪ BEAUTY AND THE BOG Photo exhibition of the of the endangered moss species | 15.7.–31.8.2025
▪ WE MAKE THE FUTURE! Comic strip exhibition on utopias of a climate-responsible world 2035 | 11.8.–20.10.2025
▪ TALKING NORTH Landline telephone in Lapland | 19.9.2025–31.5.2026
▪ THROUGH THE EYES OF THE GYRFALCON Photo Exhibition on the effects of climate change in the North | 2.12.2025–29.3.2026
In 2025 Arktikum welcomed a total of 172,661 visitors which is again a new record. Increase to previous year was over 20,000 customers. In just over ten years, the annual number of visitors has increased by 100,000. Sixty-five percent of customers are international. photo marko junttila
The exhibition “Talking North” told the history of landline telephones in Lapland. The exhibition was part of a research project funded by the Kone Foundation “Telecommunications infrastructure, time, community, and the Arctic environment”. photo anne raja - hanhela
“We make the future! Utopias of a climate-responsible world 2035 – Arctic snapshots” comic strip exhibition was on display during the Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit Conference in May and later again in autumn at the Arktikum corridor. Using the Arctic region as a case, the exhibition represented three alternative climate-responsible visions for global politics and economy up to 2035. photo
marko junttila
Events and Seminars
▪ ARCTIC PATHWAYS TO THE FUTURE CHARTER-project seminar in Helsinki | 8.1.2025
▪ DOCUMENTARY SCREENING “BAD PRESS”
Organized in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, City of Rovaniemi and the American Film Showcase | 27.1.2025
Science Slam is a playful competition where researchers of the University of Lapland compete against each other in popularizing science. Winner of 2025 Science Slam organized in October was Tanja Joona together with her Just Green Transition research team. photo ville rinne
Premiere of the short documentary” About Ice” took place in November. It is part of Planetocene2025 research project and explores the role and agency of ice in shaping Arctic futures by following a sailboat journey through the Northwest Passage. The film is created by Sohvi Kangasluoma, Juho Karhu and Mikko-Pekka Karlin. photo sampo sanaksenaho
▪ ARCTIC CAFÉ: SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITION | 11.2.2025
▪ ROVANIEMI ARCTIC SPIRIT
The sixth Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit Conference with theme “Elements of Arctic Security” | 5.–7.5.2025
▪ OPEN DOORS IN ARKTIKUM
Open house and activities for exhibition visitors
17.5. and 6.9.2025
▪ FAIR AND RESPONSIBLE DECISION-MAKING IN LAPLAND Project kick off seminar | 26.5.2025
▪ FORUM FOR RESEARCH INTO ICE SHELF PROCESSES (FRISP)
International research seminar | 16.–18.6.2025
▪ THE EU ARCTIC FORUM
REBOUND-project co-organized the high-level Arctic dialogue in Levi, Kittilä | 26.–27.6.2025
▪ THE SECOND INTER-POLAR CONFERENCE
Conference explored the shared challenges of a rapidly changing cryosphere in the Arctic and the Third Pole in Kathmandu, Nepal | 3.–5.9.2025
Schools from Rovaniemi area participated again actively to the Science Week in September. Workshops were organized on topics such as autumn colors, space and planets, lego robots ang penguins. photo anne raja - hanhela
▪ SCIENCE WEEK
Science workshops for school children organized in cooperation with several partners | 10.–19.9.2025
▪ ENVIRONMENTAL AND MINORITY LAW IN THE ARCTIC: PROBLEMS AND PROCESSES
The 40th Anniversary Seminar of the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law | 18.9.2025
▪ CRITICAL ARCTIC STUDIES SYMPOSIUM
Caring for Life in the Arctic | 7.–9.10.2025
▪ THE NORDIC TIPPING WEEK
Seminar on the effects of sudden changes in Atlantic Ocean currents | 23.–24.10.2025
▪ DOCUMENTARY SCREENING “ABOUT ICE”
Premiere of a short documentary which is part of the Planetocene2025 research project | 8.1.2025
▪ ARKTINEN KESKUS KYLÄSSÄ
Research of the Arctic Centre was presented in the library of Sodankylä | 20.11.2025
The second Inter-Polar Conference was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, 3rd to 5th September. Conference attracted close to one hundred participants from various countries in the Himalayan region and from many Arctic research institutes. photo jitendra raj bajracharya / icimod
Climate researchers gathered at the Nordic Tipping Week in October. The first part of the event in Helsinki focused on multidisciplinary research into sudden changes in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and at the second part in Arctic Centre, Rovaniemi up-to-date information was provided on what the weakening of the AMOC could mean for northern Finland. photo
sampo sanaksenaho
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
Pohjoisranta 4, 96200 Rovaniemi
arcticcentre@ulapland.fi
www.arcticcentre.org
@arcticcentre
Arctic Centre
@arctic.centre
@arktikumofficial