Upon invitation from ArcHum, CRAFT Lab joined and sponsored a multidisciplinary outreach tour to three major cities in North Norway, Tromsø, Narvik, and Harstad. The venues included a heritage cinema, a Seamen’s church, and a black box theater, with audiences ranging from toddlers to active senior citizens. Our colleague Lilli Mittner from cultural studies at UiT, along with Jorge Santos, covered a variety of topics, including literature, marine ecology, history, sensory biology, aging and creativity, climate, quantum time, and future visions of life at the coast. Excellent support for these presentations was provided by Vokal Nord, one of Norway’s leading vocal ensembles, now directed by Anna Gallon. Specializing in baroque music and contemporary compositions inspired by Sami traditions, Vokal Nord is now also a world leader in deepwater melodies. (Text: JS; Photo: Cornel Borit)

Estuarize 2.0 is the policy and governance arm of the socio-ecological science project Estuarize 1.0, in which CRAFT Lab was also a partner. This new phase is action-driven and forward-looking: how can we ensure that all key stakeholders in an estuary collaborate, negotiate, and thrive in a stable environment? What formats, facilitation, and science are necessary to achieve this? The case studies now include the Umgeni estuary in Durban, a megacity in South Africa, as well as various estuaries in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya. The project is coordinated by Dr. Cosmas Munga (Technical University of Mombasa, Kenya) in collaboration with research institutions in Durban (Oceanographic Research Institute), Quelimane in Mozambique (Eduardo Mondlane University), Dar es Salaam in Tanzania (University of Dar es Salaam), and CRAFT Lab (UiT The Arctic University of Norway). Funding for the project from 2024 to 2026 comes from SCALABLE, a new funding instrument of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association. (Text: JS; Photo: Photo: Umgeni estuary by NRJ, Wikimedia Commons)

As part of a joint course for exchange students from Japan and Sri Lanka, as well as PhD candidates and postdocs in CRAFT, we participated in a cruise led by Jorge Santos. We set out on the RV Beret Paulsdatter to explore the shallows and depths of the neighboring fjord. Fish and other organisms were sampled using different gear. Emily Venables operated the underwater drones, capturing stunning footage of the steep fjord walls. One of the most exciting sights was the remarkable marine snow in the dark depths, a process that makes fjords some of the most important decarbonization areas in the world. Overall, it was an excellent event for research, learning, and socializing. (Text/Photo: JS)

The Art-Science inter-disciplinary project "Humans and Oceans: A journey along the coast of Sri Lanka" kicked off this July with fieldwork in Sri Lanka. The field team together with local contributors utilised photographing, videographing, sound recording and participant observation in exploring everyday coastal culture along all the five coastal provinces of Sri Lanka. The project team originates at UiT and consists of Prof. Jorge Santos, Prof. Lilli Mittner, Helena Stavland, and Anuradha Gayanath. We aim at producing a Photo Book and possibly an online website, exhibition, and research articles. The project is funded by the NorLanka Blue project and CRAFT Lab. (Text/Photo: JS)

The exhibition that was inaugurated in Sesimbra (see April 2024 of this news briefs and here) made its way to the most famous arts festival in Northern-Norway, the Festspillene in Harstad. We added six new canvases with a Northern and Sami relevance. Combined with the exhibition, we run an age-exchange workshop for children and their grandparents about Harstad 2050. Both initiatives attracted many participants. This was another initiative of CRAFT Lab and ArcHum at UiT and the Sesimbra Maritime Museum, and was greatly facilitated by UiT Harstad. (Text/Photo: JS)

The Center for Coastal Culture project came to an end in the best possible manner. The renovated building was inaugurated with the presence of the local authorities and community, as well as the representative of the EEA Grants. Andreia Conceicão, director of the Sesimbra Maritime Museum, and a large team of the staff were the proud organizers and guides. Within one month the Center will be their main office as well as a museum reserve. It will house galleries, research labs and space for guest researchers, as well as a real grocery store, like in the old days. The project was funded by the municipality and EEA Grants. (Text: JS; Photo: CCC)

The FUTURES4Fish postdoctoral researcher Guri Hjallen Eriksen hosted a legal workshop in Båtsfjord, Finnmark, to provide theoretical and practical input to her research. Three legal scholars from the UIT The Arctic University of Norway and University of Oslo, a legal advisor from Norges Råfisklag, and the Port director of Båtsfjord attended the event. The group discussed topics of fisheries control, regulations about Illegal, Unreported, andUnregulated fishing, and consequences of European Union sanctions on Russia for the Finnmark community. They also visited fish processing facilities and met actors from the fisheries industry.” (Text: GHE)

Technology gives us new possibilities to visit the past. The last week of our Sesimbra rally was dedicated to dry diving. Our target audiences were the people with functional diversity and the elders, but soon more than one hundred 4th graders from Sesimbra schools joined in. The wreck of the battleship Numancia, which run aground in 1916, was an exciting and rich diving spot. Using a video game controller, participants could operate an UiT-owned Blueye inspection-drone into the wreck and learn maritime history and marine ecology. Jorge and Inez Santos were the dive masters. Emily Venables at UiT prepared us and the equipment. The staff of the Sesimbra Maritime Museum helped setting the stage for this memorable experience. (Text/Photo: JS)

Craft Lab and Artful Dementia Research Lab worked closely together with the staff from Sesimbra Maritime Museum to situate an art intervention at the Fortress of Saint James of Sesimbra. The purpose was to co-create art and research together with a group of older people, children, grandparents, grandchildren, museum staff and artists-cum-researchers. The activities were co-creative in the sense of a shared process, shared ownership and a focus on inclusivity, reciprocity and relationality. The artworks are exhibited and will be part of the museum’s collection. The results of the research initative are documented online. (Text/Photo: Lilli Mittner)

After months of thinking and preparation, we launched our first public exhibition. The gallery was the marine parade in Sesimbra, Portugal, which is walked daily by thousands of locals and tourists. The exhibition consisted of large canvas presenting pictures and thought-provoking questions related to the sea and coasts, in colorful design. This is an itinerant exhibition that will now be hosted by Harstad, Norway, prior to several workshops held during the Arctic Arts Festival. Craft Lab and ArcHum at UiT prepared these canvases together with staff of the Sesimbra Maritime Museum and Sesimbra Municipality. The street exhibition and related events can also be visited online here. (Text/Photo: JS)

The FLOW project organised an Experiential Futures Workshop in Oslo, as the 4th in a series of events focusing on different bioregions in Europe, this time having the Arctic area as a focal point. Over two days, young people from five countries traveled from the past to the future, visualizing and articulating hopes, fears, and dreams about human relations with the Arctic waters. In a playful but serious manner, participants interacted with material artifacts, both objects and texts, and through their own sensory experiences and cognitive processing of these experiences, generated ideas and imaginaries with the potential to shape the desired future of the Arctic - because what we can collectively imagine, we can collectively create! It was fascinating to observe how young, engaged people with different backgrounds managed to bridge the past, present, and future, as well as the local and global perspectives! (Text: MO; Photo: Volonteurope)

The AFO-JIGG and FUTURES4Fish members gathered together in a workshop during which they explored a future world in which Autonomous Fishing Operation Systems (AFOS) can be found, i.e. an autonomous fishing vessel collaborating with support devices (Autonomous Aerial Vehicles, Autonomous Surface Vehicles, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles), on-shore operation centre, and other intelligent devices, all interconnected in the Ocean Internet of Things. With each participant using the lenses of own specialization domain, emphasis was put on social, political, economic, cultural, environmental, technological, and legal dimensions of this imagined techno-future of fisheries. You can read more about AFOS here and here. (Text/photo: MB)

On January 22, CRAFT and ENCODE arranged a 1-day exploratory workshop on Large Language Models (LLMs) and chatbots in higher education. The event featured seven talks by scholars from UiT and other Norwegian universities and, among others, covered themes such as student attitudes towards ChatGPT, effects of LLMs on student learning, and implications of the technology for society and politics. Plenary discussions, group works, and a round-table enabled productive scholarly exchange and networking. The workshop served as a kick-off event for the project AI-EDU that is aimed at developing an in-service teacher training course on LLMs-uses at an upper-secondary level and three shorter modules to be integrated in teacher training programmes at UiT. (Text: HP / Photo: Christina Lentz)

Is your research about complex systems? If yes, have you ever thought of combining games and agent-based models in your studies? You can find out how in Timo Szczepnska’s PhD thesis. Timo has successfully defended his PhD degree on the 4th of December. The two external members of his evaluation committee, Christophe Le Page (CIRAD, France) and Brian Castellani (Durham University, UK), were happy to travel to Tromsø for this unique event in the life of a researcher. Also in the picture, Bjørn-Petter Finstad (UiT; internal member of the evaluation committee), Eva-Stina Isabella Edholm (Vice-Leader Education, Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT), and two of his supervisors, Melania Borit (Craft Lab) and Tobias Schröder (Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, Germany). Well done, Timo! (Text: MB; Photo: Cornel Borit)

Hasini and Jorge travelled to Finnsnes, for the Sjømatløftet seminar, as a part of the communication activities for projects AFO-JIGG and FUTURES4Fish. This was also a contribution to the professional development plan for bachelor students developed by the BFE faculty (UiT) and the Blue Competence Centre, a state-industrial partnership. Jorge presented simple examples of the mechanics of AI, some of the applications of digitech in different stages of the fishing and aquaculture value chains, as well as some of the dilemmas CRAFT Lab is disclosing. He also voiced the need to attract Norwegian students to this field. (Text: JS; Photo: HKKL)

In keeping with the tradition during Forskningsdagene / Bestill en forsker, Melania and Jorge are out again meeting pupils and teachers in different schools in the Tromsø area and beyond. The topic is the same, Thinking the Futures, but we are making small tweaks to adapt it to the different age groups, activity levels, team sizes, and time availability in schools. New for 2023 is that we have as starting points for discussion video cuts from different sci-fi movies. These are based on literature and plots written since the 17th Century to recent days. Working with engaged pupils and teachers is rewarding, and they seem to appreciate an experience out of the ordinary. (Text: JS; Photo: MB)

Krisztina, one of the CRAFT-lab members, has co-authored a paper on bioregionalism that has just been published! While it might sound like a new term, bioregionalism has been around for decades as a sustainability movement. The interdisciplinary authors team of this paper were curious to hear what leading bioregional thinkers can share about contemporary bioregionalism. Thus, the paper reflects on insights from interviews made with key bioregional thinkers and explores what it can offer to sustainability challenges. If you want to learn more, take a look at the paper, which can be accessed free of charge here. (Text: KJ)

Lab members Melania, Zoheb, Timo, and our affiliated members Bruce, Loïs, and Tobias ventured to the Social Simulation Conference 2023 in Glasgow, UK. The conference is a highlight of the year for the agent-based modelling community in Europe. For us, the conference was a beautiful experience with fascinating presentations, meetings with friends, and evening dinners where we discussed new project ideas and future cooperations. CRAFT made its mark by hosting two special tracks (Qual2Rule and Sense & Sensibility) and having four presentations. (Text: TS)

Several CRAFT Lab members visited AquaNor in Trondheim, an aquaculture conference and fair. The conference revolved around aquaculture's challenges and possibilities in contributing to the green shift in Norway and globally and its role in global food production. But the color of this shift is not only green; it is also a turquoise revolution and that of seaweed, as Thierry Chopin (University New Brunswick, Canada) talked about its immense potential. The fair showcased hundreds of aquaculture innovations, from cage technologies to automated and remote-control systems, to ensure this emerging industry's environmental and social sustainability. Nevertheless, challenges remain, as Rachel Tiller (SINTEF Ocean, Norway) reminds us: we indeed want more food from the ocean, but not at all cost. One of the CRAFT researchers, Zoheb Mashiur, shared his insights at the conference: https://www.instagram.com/p/CwNwSTWMBUK/ (Text: KJ; Photo: MB)

CRAFT members Hasini, Kriszti, Zoheb, and Èva took part in the Arcos STCW basic safety training for seafarers! They learned to extinguish different types of fires with the appropriate equipment, to save each other at sea, and to be a first aid responder. It was a challenging and physically demanding training which made them work together and strengthened the team spirit. Not forgetting the beautiful weather, they were lucky to have during that week! They are now qualified to go on board fishing vessels for their research. (Text: ECL)

February 2023, Kalkudah. A letter from Johanne Knutsen, a student from the Bachelor program on Fisheries & Aquaculture at UiT, who is doing her research with the Blue Resources Trust. “BRT does research on coral reefs, fisheries, sustainable livelihoods, marine protected areas, and the development of domestic and international marine policy. In these last weeks, I have participated in their survey work on fisheries and sustainable livelihoods on sharks and rays in local landing sites. It’s interesting to see how the fishermen work, and how different the catch is here compared to what I am used to in Norway. I have learned so much during my stay here and this has sparked my interest in international fisheries.” Johanne is partly sponsored by CRAFT Lab at UiT. (News taken from Nor-Lanka Blue.)