Iulie Aslaksen

ECONOR - the Economy of the North
A research project supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nordic Council of Ministers publishes a new version of the ECONOR report The Economy of the North, based on contributions from a national and international network of researchers and statisticians. The purpose of the ECONOR project is to strengthen the social science and economic perspective in Arctic research, in connection with interdisciplinary research on climate change impacts and sustainable development.

Sustainable development and the precautionary principle
The research contributes to further development of the indicators for sustainable development compiled by Statistics Norway. The goal is to develop precautionary strategies in the context of sustainable development, in situations with uncertain and potentially irreversible environmental impacts. New indicators should include "early warnings", pointing to the need for immediate action. The project includes social evaluation of environmental risk, use of quantitative measures of biodiversity, environmental ethics and corporate social responsibility. The project contributes to development of the research field of ecological economics.