Co-Creating Linguistic Diversity in Arctic Rural Regions” (CREARU)

Rural Arctic areas face profound demographic shifts: outmigration of youth, an aging population, and new international immigration, resulting in negotiations and potential tensions between newcomers and long-term residents over identity, place, attachment, and language ideologies (Darvin & Norton, 2017). Existing research on economic inte-gration and on quantifiable indicators of language learning overlooks the emotional as-pects of migration (Aure, 2013) and how language, the ‘most sensitive indicator of social change’ (Blommaert & Maly, 2015), reflects belonging and tension. CREARU’s aim is twofold: (1) develop an interdisciplinary, participatory framework for understanding how language mediates emotional and social dimensions of migration in rural Arctic com-munities; (2) generate innovative solutions that strengthen resilience and inclusion.
Residents of rural Arctic areas and local stakeholders will be closely involved in the project's approach, and the research design and methodology will be developed col-laboratively with members of rural Arctic communities (Smith & Wool, 2025). Fieldwork in Karlsøy (Norway) and Húsavík (Iceland) offers a unique “laboratory” for insights appli-cable across the Arctic and global, where rural migration is rising. CREARU addresses this urgent gap through ethnography and participatory methods, answering the research questions:
1. How do residents and newcomers negotiate social change through language?
2. How can creative participatory methods foster inclusion and resilience?