The new special issue of Nordicum-Mediterraneum 16(3)/2021, coordinated by Tracey Meagher from the University of Southern Maine, is the result of a multidisciplinary research project conducted by a team of graduate students from four universities in Iceland, Norway and the United States. The students worked together over the past year in order to deliver this original and exciting issue, in which the development of the circumpolar region is analysed from the perspectives of different disciplines (law, business, health, environmental sciences, etc) that ultimately connect via the Triple Bottom Line model.

Indeed, the focus of the cohort was to identify and research Arctic-related issues through the lens of the “Triple Bottom Line.” This business-related model seeks to develop practices that fully balance “People, Planet, and Profit” through measuring the social, environmental, and economic impacts of their work and products. Each of the papers below touched on one or more aspects of the Triple Bottom Line.

In “Ecological Feedback Effects Affecting Arctic Biodiversity in Response to Glacial Melt“, Almudena Álvares Fernández presents an overview of the various environmental effects caused by climate change and how they interconnect.

In Caitlyn Madden’s article “Climate Change and Mental Health: A Snapshot of Arctic Indigenous People’s Resiliency and Suffering as the World Transforms” the focus is put on mental health in Indigenous cultures that are affected by climate change and how Indigenous People could benefit from better mental health infrastructure.

Kristian Stausland and Einar Torfi Einarsson Reynis analyse in their article named “Glacial Water Melt in Greenland: Resources for the Future” the potential of large-scale hydropower projects in Greenland. They take examples from Iceland and Norway to further consider what Greenland could do with its hydropower potential.

In “The Legal Protection of Sea Ice Areas and the Triple Botton Line Approach to Mining Management in the Arctic” Pavel Tkach overviews and analyses existing legal protection systems in the Arctic and their potential for development, to then reflect on mining practices through the Triple Bottom Line approach.

Finally, Thelma Sefakor Alubankudi aims to address benefit-sharing in extractive industries and how Indigenous Peoples can participate in community development decisions in her article “Sustainable Development of Arctic Oil and Gas: Indigenous Peoples´ Rights and Benefit-Sharing“.