Welcoming Michelle Calcatelli, our newest resident in Longyearbyen

Artica Svalbard is pleased to welcome Michelle Calcatelli as our newest resident in Longyearbyen.

Calcatelli is an international cooperation professional with over 20 years of experience working across agriculture, innovation, and policy. Specialising in resource mobilisation, proposal development, and strategic programme design, their work has supported organisations to secure funding, shape impactful portfolios, and engage with international policy agendas. Central to their practice is a strong interest in climate resilience, particularly in remote and vulnerable regions.

During the residency at Artica Svalbard, Calcatelli will develop the project Rights, Resilience & Arctic Frontlines, which seeks to reframe the Arctic as a global priority within climate debates. By connecting lived realities in Svalbard with international frameworks of rights, equality, and resilience, the project highlights how challenges faced in the Arctic resonate far beyond the region. Drawing on comparative perspectives from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the residency will explore shared conditions of vulnerability, adaptation, and solidarity across regions.

The project will result in a programme design document outlining practical pathways for large-scale resource mobilisation, complemented by narrative and visual materials developed during the residency. By positioning Svalbard as both a local frontline and a global symbol, Rights, Resilience & Arctic Frontlines underscores that safeguarding the Arctic is inseparable from safeguarding our collective future.

We look forward to sharing insights from Michelle’s time in Svalbard as the residency unfolds.