With regional inequality emerging as a central theme in this year’s General Election, there is growing recognition of the need to address underperforming regions.
This very welcome paper reasserts the importance of debate, in universities open to both dialogue and to challenging neoliberal certainties. This is important as modern universities occupy the between space of local and global, inquiry and innovation.
Content
The journal aims to promote regional perspectives on topics of interest to Northern communities. It seeks contributions that explore, challenge and question assumptions, and that use a range of methodologies and disciplinary perspectives. Contributions may take a theoretical, pedagogical, policy, practice or applied approach. The authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication, but all work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, meaning that it is free to share and adapt with proper attribution.
As a result, despite its rather formal title, the journal has a strong community flavour. It is an ideal platform for scholars to share their work with a wider audience, and to support each other in the development of their ideas. Its open peer review process reflects this.
One of the most exciting developments in Northern Voices is the growth of emerging scholars. The number of northerners in graduate programs has exploded in recent years, and these scholars are not only well-educated but bring a broad range of conceptual and methodological approaches to their scholarship. These voices have a powerful resonance in the academy and beyond.
Another important voice is that of northern and indigenous people. Those living in the Arctic are facing unprecedented change, and this has a major impact on their lives. It is vital that their voices are heard by global powers.
These changes are not only putting traditional ways of life at risk, but also creating potential opportunities. This is a time when the arctic must be considered as a whole. The journal welcomes submissions from a wide range of scholars and community members, including Inuit, academics, and business people.
In this issue we have several articles from northern communities that address the changing Arctic. We are especially pleased to have a contribution from the Inuit, who are concerned about the increase in shipping activity in their waters. This article is a valuable addition to the debates around this issue, and it highlights the importance of incorporating Inuit knowledge into the decision-making processes for shipping in the Arctic.
Formats
A variety of formats can be used to promote regional perspectives. These include podcasts, video interviews, audio essays and blog posts. These formats can help to connect with local audiences and keep them engaged. They can also create a sense of identity and belonging for local audiences. Using different voices and accents can also help to create a sense of place in your content. For example, a North of England accent could add an extra layer of authenticity to your content. Similarly, a Scottish or Irish accent might be more effective in a specific region.
In the ACNV research project, community research associates and researchers worked closely together throughout all stages of the research process. This collaborative approach is known to produce better research outcomes.
This research revealed a clear information gap in discussions on Arctic shipping and marine corridors. There was a need to bring Inuit and northern knowledge into these conversations, particularly as the Arctic is undergoing unprecedented change. This is a key recommendation from the Arctic Council that has yet to be fully realized.
It is ironic that whilst we encourage active debate in UK Parliament, and a range of other forums around the country, excellence frameworks appear to be shutting these forms of exchange down in schools, further education and universities. At a time of viral crisis it might be appropriate to think about ways to facilitate this kind of gathering, actively facilitated by regional universities.
The messy, postdigital connections between our lives are overlooked in national excellence frameworks, despite revealing crucial issues around regional identity, both within and beyond institutions of higher education. Can the new identities forged in digital regions be reflected, even if only briefly, within a form of open collective debate?
Editorial Board
For example, the ACNV project commissioned local youth as community research associates to engage with communities and document culturally significant marine areas. In this way, the apex of this scholarship was placed firmly within the communities themselves. This was a clear departure from the more arm’s length and aloof scholarship that typifies many Northern studies projects. It was a highly motivated and urgent work.
This paper reflects both a reassertion of old values—a celebration of debate as an essential skill to be taught—and a commitment to explore emergent forms of academic practice. It demonstrates that the Midlands is not only a space below the North, above the South and beyond the global university but also acts as a bridge between these opposing worlds.
The editors of this journal and the editorial board are dedicated to supporting a diverse range of perspectives from Northern voices. This includes scholarly works that promote critical thinking, creative inquiry and ethical scholarship; and works that address regionally relevant issues through an indigenous lens or by incorporating a non-Western perspective.
We are committed to exploring the potential of new technologies, media and platforms to support the development and dissemination of a richer and more inclusive regional discourse around higher education. We also recognize the need to support and develop a stronger regional voice to challenge and question dominant neoliberal narratives in higher education.
Sarah Brown works as a manager of programs and development for the National Screen Institute’s NSI New Indigenous Voices and is part of the management team for CBC’s upcoming Canadian series ‘Northern Stories’. She is a proud member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation in The Pas, Manitoba. Her academic and professional interests include indigenous media, learning and the Internet, videogames and multimodal storytelling. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Technology from the University of Edinburgh. Sarah has extensive experience working with a wide range of indigenous and non-indigenous community members and organizations to produce multimedia content that promotes their work. She has been a presenter at numerous regional and national conferences on Indigenous media and the Internet.
Featured Articles
Despite a global resurgence of interest in the Arctic, local people are still being neglected. Many polar communities are in danger of losing their identity to a tide of industrialization. This is not just a problem for local communities; it’s a challenge for regional universities as well. We look at how these institutions can promote and support the voice of the regions in times of crisis, as they struggle to balance a desire for excellence with a need for face-to-face exchanges.
The irony of a political system that encourages debate in UK Parliament yet appears to deliver excellence frameworks that shut this form of exchange down in schools, Further Education and HE, is not lost on us. But it highlights an essential need to raise the profile of regional academic voices, and for them to be able to connect with local social projects, citizens and industry. himachal news seeks to do just that.
In this episode of Northern Voices we speak to two young refugees based in Halifax, Arsalan and Gul, about the languages, celebrations and cultures they carry with them from their homelands, and how they make sense of life in Yorkshire. They also discuss their experiences in creating theatre with asylum seekers, the challenges of navigating the differences between art and culture, and what it’s like to create work in cities labelled as Northern Powerhouses.
Whether you’re a Northern Minnesota native or just curious about its people, this podcast is for you. Each week, host Leah Lemm explores the northland with a curiosity and generosity that makes the region seem instantly familiar.
Hundreds of tedious jokes about people from the North can finally be nailed down with the help of this massive compilation of authentic northern speech. This new archive – the largest ever compiled – was created as part of the NSI New Northern Voices program, and was overseen by director mentor Sturla Gunnarsson (After the Axe). It’s a resource that will help us better understand how we communicate in our varied northern environments. And it may even save a few of you from making an embarrassing mistake in the future!