Hi everyone!
Wow, it’s been a while since this has been updated. Alright, I’m probably going to do 2-3 posts in a row, because there’s a lot that happened.
So, all the way back in mid-February, we actually had quite
a few really interesting classes. One of them was with Tavis Potts (formerly
from SAMS!), who thought us in our environmental management course. His
lectures were about international law, and how it is developed. Of course, that
can sound boring if you hear it put like that, but Tavis added an interactive
element to his teaching that made it much more interesting: a roleplay!
In this activity, we had to come up with a plan for the development
of the Barents Sea – should it continue to be developed as a new oil and gas
production area? Should the fisheries be closed? Should it become a protected
area due to its ecological significance?
We were put into groups of 2 or 3, and had to roleplay as
one of the interested actors in this decision (Norway, Russia, some
environmental NGOs, oil and gas companies, indigenous people, etc.). In the one
day of workshop, we had opening statements, where everyone stated their desired
intent, a coffee break (the time where everyone had to pass deals with everyone
else) and finally the writing session, where we all contributed to writing the
plan – and possibly broke some deals we had come up with in the coffee break!
Solène and I were representing Norway with a friend of ours.
At first, we wanted to represent the oil and gas companies because it sounded
interesting to finally be on the other side of the issue, and advocating for
these companies. But when our turn came to choose, only the Norwegian
government was still free. Actually, representing Norway was fascinating. As a
country in which :
1) Oil & gas production and fisheries are a
major part of the economy,
2) It is in the constitution to preserve the
environment for future generations,
3) A lot of the power to legally decide what
happens in the Barents Sea resides
You can imagine that Norway’s position is very delicate. But it’s kind of sad that
many officials think that the way to advance the economy is to open new oil
exploration areas, and not to focus on development of green, renewable energy
sources – especially in a country where so much of the youth seems against oil
drilling (or maybe that’s just the impression I’m getting because of the type
of people who would want to come to Svalbard?). I think, in the end, we
decided, with Russia, that new oil fields would have to be opened in the
Barents Sea (while simultaneously promising to the environmental NGOs that we
would open some protected areas… although we didn’t say anything about size,
hehehe…).
Anyway, this was a very interesting two days about
international law. Seeing the complexity of coming up with an international
agreement on just the Barents Sea, it really gives perspective and respect for
all the negotiators in international agreements. I mean, the fact that they
actually managed to come up with a Paris Agreement is baffling, considering the
number of actors involved.
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| Here's a picture of everyone getting ready for the opening statements. Picture from our professor, Mads Forchhammer. |
That same week, in our other course (Marine Biology), we
also dissected some fish! Mostly, it was Atlantic cod, but we also got to do a
flatfish. In the dissection, the aim was to get all the organs out as untouched
as possible, so we could weigh some of them (stomach and liver, for example).
We also had a look at some zooplanktonic organisms, like amphipods and
copepods. But I won’t go into the details: I think here, the pictures tell a
better story (all of these were taken by Solène).
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| Here's the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) after we had dissected it and separated all its organs into nice compartments. We cut it's head off in order to reach the otholiths, little bones in the head that have growth rings like trees, and can give an idea of the age of the fish. |
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| Starting the dissection on a flatfish. |
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| Showing the cod some love and kisses before we got started. |
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| A krill that we looked at under the microscope. |
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| Here's a few other animals we looked at: the long, whiteish transparent ones are arrow worms, the curved brown one is an amphipod. |
That's all for now, More posts coming about other subject :) Ivan |
