Arcadia, 2013, no. 1

Foundation of the Oekonomische Gesellschaft Bern

by
Martin Stuber

A classic proponent of the trans-European Economic Enlightenment, the Oekonomische Gesellschaft Bern, founded in 1759, strove to optimize the use of the region’s resources in order to protect the sovereignty of the state of Bern. Its significance should not be measured according to its immediate practical effects, but rather in view of how its ideas for new forms of scientifically based natural resource usage unfolded over the long term.
Arcadia, 2012, no. 20

The Nuclear Disaster of Kyshtym 1957 and the Politics of the Cold War

by
Thomas Rabl

In 1957 the third most severe nuclear accident in history happened in the Southern Urals, at the Soviet nuclear site “Mayak” near Kyshtym. For decades, almost no information about this incident reached the Western press—thanks to the CIA’s secrecy.
Arcadia, 2012, no. 18

Burning Cultivation of Peatlands in Finland

by
Jan Kunnas

Burning cultivation of peatlands was by far the greatest source of carbon dioxide in Finland during the whole of nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Arcadia, 2012, no. 15

The Ecovillage of Sieben Linden

by
Marcus Andreas

Founded in 1997 and located in the Altmark region of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany, Sieben Linden is considered a classical example of an ecovillage as it tries to present a special "Culture of Sustainability" whose inhabitants aim to maintain an ecologically sustainable lifestyle without reducing their own quality of life.
Arcadia, 2012, no. 12

Nordenskiöld, an Early Pioneer of Nordic Conservation

by
Seija A. Niemi

The Finnish-Swedish explorer and scientist Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901) became in 1878—1879 the first European explorer to sail the Northeast Passage. He was also one of the pioneers of the Nordic conservation movement, proposing the creation of national parks and the protection of endangered species.
Arcadia, 2012, no. 11

Nordenskiöld, an Explorer and Scientist from the North

by
Seija A. Niemi

The Finnish-Swedish scientist Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901) conducted ten Arctic expeditions over the course of 25 years, from 1858 to 1883. He covered a considerably vast area: from Greenland and Spitsbergen to the Bering Strait. It is quite exceptional that a scientist of his time participated in such a number of Arctic expeditions in such a large area. His reports on the explorations, written in several languages, considerably expanded knowledge of the polar regions.
Arcadia, 2012, no. 10

Only One Earth: Stockholm and the Beginning of Modern Environmental Diplomacy

by
Andreas Grieger

The 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm marked a watershed in the evolution of humanity's relationship with the earth and global concern about the environment. While most of the conference’s accomplishments were mainly rhetorical, its ultimate success was that environmental policy became a universal concern within international diplomacy. Sweden, as the host country, played no minor role in achieving this outcome.