HOW CRITICAL GEOGRAPHY CAN CONTRIBUTE TO CURRICULUM
DEVELOPMENT ON MOBILITY ISSUES IN THE ‘HIGH NORTH’
Suzanne HUOT, Ruth Kjærsti RAANAAS, Ann BOSSERS, Debbie Laliberte
RUDMAN, Jan POLGAR & Megan YANG
University of Western Ontario, Canada, shuot2@uwo.ca
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway, ruth.raanaas@nmbu.no
This paper will outline a curriculum development project funded through the
Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education’s High North
Programme. It is being conducted in partnership between the School of Occupational
Therapy at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, the Department of
Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning at the Norwegian University of Life
Sciences, and the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences in
Norway. The project team is currently developing curriculum content related to public
health challenges in circumpolar regions connected to issues of mobility. While the
Arctic countries are among the most highly developed in the world there are large
disparities between different groups within the region (Chatwood, Bjerregaard, &
Young, 2012). Vulnerable groups, such as Indigenous children and elders, and less
resourced people such as immigrants and people with disabilities, may experience
the greatest challenges related to participation in health promoting activities and
occupations. Mobility is a broad theme that intersects many of the challenges faced
by these populations. Following a brief discussion of the curriculum design project,
this paper will focus on the contributions that a critical geographic perspective can
make to understanding mobility challenges in circumpolar regions.