Sara Fusco Receives International Award in Japan

Sara Fusco, Adjunct at the Faculty of Law at the University of Akureyri has been awarded the prestigious Aota Masaaki Award 2026 for Best Presentation by a Young Scientist. The award was presented mid February at the 40th International Symposium on the Okhotsk Sea and Polar Ocean in Japan.

Fusco received the award for her presentation, “From Rights on Paper to Arctic Policy in Practice: Indigenous Participation and Energy Transition,” which examined Sámi participation across three Arctic national policy frameworks. Her work highlighted the structural challenges that Indigenous rights continue to face within the green transition.

Reflecting on the recognition, Fusco said she was deeply appreciative: “I am honoured to have received the Aota Masaaki Award 2026 for Best Presentation by a Young Scientist. My presentation examined Sámi participation across Arctic national policies and the structural challenges Indigenous rights face within the green transition.”

She added that presenting this research in a forum traditionally focused on natural sciences made the acknowledgement particularly meaningful: “It is especially meaningful that this recognition came from such a scientifically oriented forum. Bringing Indigenous rights and constitutional questions into these discussions made the moment even more significant.”

At the University of Akureyri, Fusco teaches at the Polar Law Programme ,Comparative Law and Human Rights at the Faculty of Law, where she also completed her master’s degree in Polar Law in 2019. She holds an MA in Comparative Law from the University of Florence and recently completed a Diploma in Human Security and Sustainability from the Institute of International Political Sciences (ISPI). In addition to her academic work, she serves as a Special Editor for the Icelandic EJournal of Nordic and Mediterranean Studies.Journal of Nordic and Mediterranean Studies Journal of Nordic and Mediterranean Studies.

The award represents an important acknowledgement of Fusco’s interdisciplinary approach and her efforts to bring Indigenous rights and constitutional perspectives into the broader conversation on Arctic policy and environmental transitions.