Òscar Duran and Alba Abelanet
– Video Journalism & Foreign Reporting, DMJX
As rising temperatures trigger more avalanches and force infrastructure adaptations, the tourism industry creates a paradoxical challenge: bringing income while contributing to greenhouse emissions
Article link: https://resonance.mediajungle.dk/2025/06/10/svalbard-ground-zero-for-global-warmi
Video link: https://youtu.be/EolLq0cAQ6Y?si=5bONobbNjmA0UCT
We are two international students studying Video Journalism and Foreign Reporting at DMJX. For our final semester project, we travelled to Longyearbyen, Svalbard, to produce a written and visual report on how climate change is rapidly transforming life in the Arctic. As melting permafrost and increasing daily risks force residents to adapt in real time, we aim to capture the effects of this global crisis in the Arctic environment and in the community of Longyearbyen in Svalbard. Through interviews with a scientist from the University Centre in Svalbard, an expert from the Norwegian Polar Institute, and members of the local community, such as tourist guides, a journalist and tourism managers, we explore how the arctic is changing, how this affect us all, how local communities are being impacted and what the future might hold for the region.
Initially, our article was meant to focus solely on the effects of climate change in Svalbard and the Arctic as a whole. However, after further reflection and conversations with our sources, we realised that tourism is also playing a significant role in shaping the region’s environmental challenges. As a result, we decided to also focus on the environmental impact of increasing tourism in this region, and how this growing human presence is contributing to climate change and placing additional pressure on local ecosystems and communities. We explore how tourism is paradoxically accelerating the very transformations people come to witness.
The TV Tonic funds were used to cover our transport expenses. We are truly grateful for the support of this grant, as without it, our trip to Svalbard, and therefore the entire project, would not have been possible. This opportunity allowed us to report directly from the Arctic and bring attention to a crucial issue that affects us al