On September 5, nine researchers are gathering on Åland to discuss the Nordic autonomies and peace. This is the kick-off of a project initiated by the Åland Islands Peace Institute and supported by the Nordic Council’s Citizens' and Consumer Committee. The researchers involved in the project are Professor Markku Suksi, fil. dr. Gunilla Herolf, PhD Richard Palmer, LL.M. Sarah Stephan, pol. dr. Maria Ackrén Professor Ágúst Thór Árnason, Professor Gudmundur Alfredsson, pol. dr. Tove Malloy, lecturer and cand. polit. Lise Lyck, jur. dr. Kári á Rógvi and Associate Professor Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark.
The project manager and the project initiator, the director of the Åland Islands Peace Institute Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark says about the project:
– Studies of Nordic autonomies have so far often focused on the autonomies separately and in particular on their institutions. However, there is not much written about how the autonomies affect the central power, their relationship to the outside world and what trends we can see in these similar but different solutions. There is a substatial international interest in the Nordic experiences in this respect.
The Åland Islands Peace Institute has over the years initiated several similar projects and publications where researchers from different disciplines, specializing in self-government, minority or security, have cooperated. Among others; the project Minorities around the Baltic Sea (concluded 2006), the relevance of Åland in peace processes (2011) and minorities and multilingualism in Europe (2013). The Peace Institute’s research program for the years 2014-2017 (forthcoming in English) highlights the importance of research on the role of the Nordic region as a peaceful region in a globalized world.
