New report: How research can address a changing Arctic
NEWS
How can research contribute to a sustainable Arctic in an era of climate change and heightened geopolitical tensions? An international panel of researchers is now presenting three research perspectives designed to strengthen the link between science, Indigenous knowledge, and local needs.
“Being able to participate in and contribute to the discussions as a representative of Umeå University and our long tradition of Arctic research—and as a researcher in the field of speculative fiction—was both important and rewarding,” says Maria Lindgren Leavenworth, professor of English literature at the Department of Language Studies and one of 14 researchers on the panel. “The goal was to develop a research program that could combine academic research with the lived experiences of Arctic communities.”
Three research perspectives are presented
The Arctic is facing rapid changes due to climate, geopolitics, and growing economic interests. Billions are being invested in the region, and since the 1990s, the number of scientific publications on the region has doubled—about 11,000 studies focused on the Arctic are now published each year. At the same time, the Arctic and Subarctic are places where people live and exercise self-governance, so important knowledge is also generated from within. In the report The CIFAR Panel on the Future of the Arctic, an international panel of researchers argues that future research needs to be grounded to a greater extent in the perspectives of Indigenous peoples and local communities.
The report, initiated by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), highlights three research perspectives that can contribute to new ways of understanding and studying the Arctic.
Mobility as place
The first perspective, Mobility as Place, views mobility as an integral part of place. Instead of viewing migration and mobility solely as a sign of vulnerability, the researchers emphasise that mobility has long been a natural and important part of life in the region: shifting tree lines, ice and permafrost shifts, and the migration of people and animals are processes that help shape the place.
Arctic ‘kinfrastructures’
The second perspective introduces the concept of “kinfrastructure,” a portmanteau of the words kinship and infrastructure. By viewing kinship and relationships as infrastructures that are just as important as roads and energy systems, we can better understand how people, animals, and the environment relate to one another.
Digital twin
In the third perspective, the researchers propose developing a digital twin of the Arctic that integrates environmental data and global socioeconomic data. The aim is to create better predictions of how the climate, ecosystems, and communities will be affected by both gradual and sudden changes. At the same time, the researchers emphasise that questions regarding who owns and controls access to such knowledge must be carefully addressed.
About the research panel
The panel consisted of researchers from Canada, Iceland, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as representatives of Indigenous nations in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Canada and Russia. The participants represented a broad spectrum of disciplines, including oceanography, geology, anthropology, law, art history, and literature.
“During virtual meetings and two intensive days early this spring, we worked on scenarios for the future of the Arctic,” Maria explains. “Our report identifies tensions, concepts, and approaches that can help researchers ask better questions about change, preparedness, care, mobility, governance, and prosperity in the Arctic.”
