Alexandra Middleton

I am a researcher with a focus on sustainable business and economic development in the Arctic. I was born in Murmansk, in the largest city in the Arctic and lived all my life in the High North. I have two Master’s degrees in Financial and Management Accounting and Logistics and Supply Chain Management. For the last ten years, I worked at Oulu Business School, Finland where I defended my PhD thesis in 2010.

My interest in the Arctic lies in the intersection of sustainable use of resources, sustainable consumption, human security and environmentally responsible business in the Arctic. Recently, I have been involved in the Business Index North project that contributes to sustainable development and value creation in the Arctic. The overall project’s goal is to set up a recurring, knowledge-based, systematic information tool for stakeholders. My publications focus on such topics as social sustainability, Arctic-specific Sustainable Development Goals, innovative businesses in the Arctic. Climate change impact is very tangible in the Arctic. I was involved in the European Financial Regulatory Advisory Group project that studied the best practices in climate-related reporting by corporations.

Furthermore, I am interested in the role of science diplomacy in solving international challenges, especially in the Arctic. During my Fellowship at the “Open Doors” Programme as part of the EU funded project S4D4C, I had a chance to immerse myself in the science diplomacy scene and learn valuable science diplomacy tools. I have engaged in science diplomacy with the UK Parliament Environmental Audit Committee by sharing knowledge to their “Changing Arctic” inquiry.

I believe that science shall be open and available to everyone. I frequently write to the High North News newspaper and use social media (especially Twitter). In January 2020, I took part in the TEDxOulu event where I spoke about “Prejudices about the Arctic”. In my TED talk, I discussed popular beliefs and prejudices about the Arctic shaped by global media and geopolitical forces. The talk aimed to highlight the human dimension, challenges and opportunities people face in the Arctic.

Selected publications and engagements:

Middleton, Alexandra, Ossi Pesämaa, Peter Dahlin, Andrey Mineev and Erlend Bullvåg. (2020). ”Innovative Business in the Arctic: Many Ways to Success.” https://businessindexnorth.com/sites/b/businessindexnorth.com/files/innovativebusinessinthearctic_net.pdf

innovative-business-in-the-arctic-many-ways-to-success Download

Middleton, Alexandra. (2019). “Arctic Human Security in the Era of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The case of Sweden, Norway and Finland.” Arctic Yearbook. https://arcticyearbook.com/images/yearbook/2019/Scholarly-Papers/6_AY2019_Middleton.pdf

arctic-human-security-in-the-era-of-sdgs Download

Middleton, Alexandra. (2019). “The Sámi Arctic Strategy to shake up Arctic discourse.” High North News, 7 October. https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/sami-arctic-strategy-shake-arctic-discourse

Middleton, Alexandra. (2019). “Episode 047: Alexandra Middleton, University of Oulu Assistant Professor.” #ThinkArctic Podcast https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/thinkarctic/episode-047-alexandra-HvImYDVy59r/