Calle Österlin

Calle Österlin is a PhD student at the Department of Physical Geography at Stockholm University. He is a geographer and systems thinker with a research interest in landscape change and environmental management. The objective of Calle’s research is to improve land use management through increased understanding of the role multiple pressures in land use, how it contributes to cumulative effects on reindeer husbandry, what effect this has on northern landscapes and how well equipped current planning practices are to manage this.

In order to meet the above-mentioned objectives Calle use northern Sweden as a case study area, investigating the changes in land use pressures on reindeer husbandry, like mining, but also wind power. The research questions are studied using a combination of GIS-analysis of land use change, coupled with a series of workshops and interviews with reindeer herding communities.

In relation to REXSAC the research falls under the aims of Research Task 2 (Multiple pressures on Arctic landscapes and Societies), and is particularly concerned with the consequences on communities from extractive industries. But it is also relevant for the task of identifying what opportunities exist for transitioning toward post-extractive futures.

So far the research has shown that the pressure in the Swedish reindeer husbandry area from mining and wind power is increasing. Additionally, the research has shown that Environmental Impact Assessments for mining projects in Sweden performs poorly when it comes to describing cumulative effects on reindeer husbandry.