Drifting as Agency - More-than-human marine spatial planning in the Fram Strait

Current climate change models predict an ice-free Arctic Ocean as early as 2035. This is expected to advance opportunities for increased human activities such as trans-polar marine traffic, sea-bed mining and oil/gas exploration. Meanwhile, there is huge uncertainty on the repercussions for marine ecosystems and its dependence on the remaining sea-ice. In response to potential conflicts and disruptions, this innovative research and speculative design project draws attention to the current and prospective planning and management of the Arctic Ocean. A key question posed in this project asks how this vulnerable marine environment could be managed if commercial infrastructure and extractive industries were not the main organizing agencies. This is addressed through a multi-method approach that incorporates in-situ fieldwork on board a research vessel in the Arctic Ocean, critical cartographic explorations, modelmaking and scenario visualizations. The project culminates with a series of planning strategies that prioritizes more-than-human drifting stakeholders. These stakeholders include drifting ice, migrating fish, birds and mammals, and marine vegetation. The project concludes that a future management plan for the Arctic Ocean must operate on various tempo-spatial logics and one that can adapt to the seasonal and long-term dynamics of a changeable and unpredictable environment. This project demonstrates how landscape architects have a key role to play in the future planning, management and protection of our vulnerable oceans.