Science related events
ARCTIC ENVIRONMENT FORUM
Monday 23.01: 15:00 – 18:00 UIT, Auditorium 1
Organisers: Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, WWF Norway, Arctic Frontiers
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE002
Climate change, ocean acidification and sea level rise are threatening marine and coastal ecosystem, economies,
and food security worldwide, but also create new opportunities in some regions, including the Arctic.
At the same time, stronger climate policies will affect the ocean economy through mitigation measures and
impact on markets. What are the risks to our oceans, and what difference will emission cuts make? What
are the proper management responses? How should we manage other stressors to limit cumulative impacts?
How will the ocean economy change as we move towards a low carbon future? How could the blue sector
contribute to the new climate economy, and what role will green technology and innovation play? Looking
at planet ocean from the north, Arctic Frontiers presents Arctic Environment Forum.
ARCTIC FRONTIERS PLUS – THE ARCTIC COUNCIL’S WORK ON OCEANS
Monday 23.01: 15:00 – 17:00 UiT, Auditorium 3
Organisers: Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Arctic Frontiers
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE004
This year’s Arctic Frontiers Plus is dedicated to the Arctic Council’s work on oceans. Global and regional
frameworks exist for many of the concerns regarding oceans. The Law of the Sea provides the legal framework for all uses of the oceans. Globally, a new regime for conserving and using biodiversity and marine
genetic resources beyond national jurisdiction is emerging, and the IMO has adopted a Polar Code for
shipping. The Arctic Council has a number of working groups that contribute to the stewardship of the
maritime areas in the high north. Several assessments have been carried out, such as the Arctic Climate
Impact Assessment, the Arctic Shipping Assessment and the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment. Also, two legally
binding agreements, on search and rescue and oil spill preparedness respectively, have been negotiated
under the auspices of the Arctic Council. A new agreement on scientific cooperation is expected to be
signed in May.
ESA SPACE & ARCTIC TASK FORCE (by invitation only)
Monday 23.01: UiT – 15:00 – 17:00
Organisers: ESA Space and Arctic Task Force
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=AM020
The Arctic has become an issue of particular strategic relevance for a large number of Member States of the
European Space Agency (ESA) and many projects and programs are already addressing it. Recent discussions
in the frame of the 2016 ESA Council at Ministerial level have led to the request by several Member States
for ESA to take the lead in order to proceed further, make concrete progress and meet Member States’
expectations in this area.
MOSAIC - AN INTERNATIONAL PROJECT ON ICE MOVEMENT OVER
THE POLAR OCEAN WITH RV POLARSTERN
Tuesday 24.01 10:00 – 13:00, UiT room 1307
Organiser: Norwegian Polar Institute
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE019
The Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) is a key international
flagship initiative under the auspices of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). The main aim
of MOSAiC is to improve our understanding of the functioning of the Arctic coupled system with a complex
interplay between processes in the atmosphere, ocean, sea ice, and ecosystem coupled through biogeochemical
interactions. The main objective of MOSAiC is to develop a better understanding of these important coupledsystem processes so they can be more accurately represented in regional- and global-scale weather- and
climate models. Observations covering a full annual cycle over the Arctic Ocean of many critical parameters
such as cloud properties, surface energy fluxes, atmospheric aerosols, small-scale sea-ice and oceanic processes,
biological feedbacks with the sea-ice ice and ocean, and others have never been made in the central Arctic
in all seasons, and certainly not in a coupled system fashion.
SVALBARD SYMPOSIUM
Tuesday 24.01 13:00 – 17:00, UiT, Auditorium UB
Organisers: Research Council of Norway, Norwegian Polar Institute, Arctic Frontiers
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE010
The aim of the Svalbard Symposium is to provide a platform for scientists, science managers and funders
to present and discuss new ideas, means for collaboration and network with those working on and around
Svalbard, as well as to put this knowledge into a regional and global perspective. This year’s Symposium
will focus on the marine realm around Svalbard and how this is connected to the rest of the Arctic Ocean.
We welcome presentations within the fields of oceanography, sea ice, biogeochemistry, ecosystems, and
related or interdisciplinary studies.
BLUE GROWTH: POSSIBILITIES, CONSTRAINTS AND TRADE-OFFS: HOW
TO MOVE FORWARD IN THE ARCTIC
Tuesday 24.01 17:00 – 19:00, Clarion Hotel The Edge, Prostneset 1 & 2
Organisers: GreenMAR network (Green Growth Based on Marine Resources: Ecological and Socio-Economic Constraints)
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE011
International governance of marine resource use is increasingly facilitated around a novel term and concept
- ‘blue growth’. An international and interdisciplinary team of researchers is currently exploring various
perspectives linked to this concept and this session will bring together a series of talks that all focus on better
understanding the definition, dynamics, and mechanisms of blue growth in the context of the Arctic.
THE OFFSHORE ARCTIC UNDER LOWER OIL PRICES
- GLOBAL AND REGIONAL DIALOGUE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF
THE IEA GOT COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMME
Wednesday 25.01 13:30 – 18:00 and Thursday 26.01 09:00 – 17:00, Clarion Hotel The Edge, Margarinfabrikken 3
Organisers: International Energy Agency Gas, Oil Technology Collaboration Program Global Dialogue on Arctic Energy
and Norwegian Ministry of Oil and Energy
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE020
The world needs massive amount of energy to fuel a rapidly growing global population. Oil and gas resources
in the Arctic represent long term opportunities for global energy supply. However, these resources are
remote and investments in them have to be safe, environmentally benign and competitive under lower oil
prices. This side event will explore challenges and solutions of unlocking the offshore Arctic from three
perspectives: government, oil company and R & D- technology. Presentations will build on insights from
key actors and countries worldwide.
ADAPTIVE LONG-TERM RESEARCH IN THE FACE OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE
Thursday 26.01 12:15 – 12:45, UiT
Organiser: Fram Centre
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE028
The Arctic Tundra is predicted to be more challenged by climate change than any other terrestrial biome.
The rapid shift to new climate regimes is likely to give rise to new ecosystems with unknown properties,
making science unable to accurately predict the consequences. These realizations have led to international
calls for action. COAT (Climate ecological Observatory for Arctic Tundra) is the response of the Fram Centre
to these calls. Get insight from professor Rolf A. Ims, The Arctic University of Norway/The Fram Centre.
PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE ARCTIC - WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW?
Thursday 26.01 12:15 – 15:00, UiT, room 1.343
Organisers: Akvaplan-niva, NILU
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE034
The expert meeting on marine plastic pollution in the Arctic offers an interdisciplinary discussion platform
to review recent research results and identify the most important knowledge gaps currently preventing
accurate estimates of plastic input, pathways and impacts in arctic ecosystems. The main aim is the preparation
of a science session at Arctic Frontiers in 2018/19 to facilitate dissemination and interaction among scientists
and stakeholders.
ARCTIC - HINDU-KUSH HIMALAYAN SCIENCE POLICY DIALOGUE
Thursday 26.01 12:15 – 14:15, UiT
Organisers: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE035
The Arctic and HKH regions are both climate change hotspots facing similar challenges related to high
latitude/altitude ecosystems, cryosphere change, natural resources, pollution, mountain communities and
indigenous people. In both regions, there is a strong need for sustainable development and environmental
protection that can be only maintained by successful collaboration between the regional countries. Arctic
countries have a long tradition of formalized regional collaboration through the Arctic Council that serves
as a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the
indigenous people of the Arctic. In the HKH region, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development (ICIMOD) is an intergovernmental organization serving the countries in the region as a
regional knowledge development and learning centre. Inspired by the success of the Arctic Monitoring and
Assessment Programme (AMAP), one of the working groups of the Arctic Council, ICIMOD is currently
coordinating the Comprehensive Assessment of the HKH Region, conducted as part of the larger HinduKush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme (HIMAP). HIMAP brings together hundreds of
scientists and policy experts to create an evidence-based, comprehensive assessment, which will greatly
assist in addressing threats, acting on opportunities, and scaling cutting edge approaches.
EXPERT MEETING ON GOOD GOVERNANCE FOR THE CONSERVATION OF
THE ARCTIC ECOSYSTEM
Thursday 26.01 13:00 – 15:00, UiT room 1.329
Organiers: K.G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea, The Arctic University of Norway
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE029
The Expert Meeting on Good Governance and the Arctic offers an interdisciplinary overview of the good
governance tools applied to the Arctic with a specific focus on the role of indigenous peoples’ participation
in environmental decisions. Keynote speakers will be international scholars in the fields of law, humanities
and social sciences. The initiative is part of a postdoctoral project funded by the Jebsen Centre for the Law
of the Sea, whose focus area covers, among others, the protection of the marine Arctic environment.
THE MARGINAL ICE ZONE. CROSS-CUTTING CHALLENGES WHICH
REQUIRE INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH, MANAGEMENT AND POLICY
Thursday 26.01 14:00 – 16:00, Auditorium UB
Organisers: Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, the Norwegian
Polar Institute, the NORD University, the University of Oslo and the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing
Center
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE030
In recent years, we have witnessed significant changes and reductions in Arctic sea ice distribution and
volume and a decrease of the Arctic sea ice extent. Seized as an opportunity, plans are being made for more
economic activities such as shipping, fisheries, petroleum extraction and deep sea mining. This new situation
represent challenges for scientists, managers and policy makers and for the private sector. More and better
communication between different parts is required, and the best way forward needs to be developed for sound
management and for sustainable use of the Arctic oceans’ vast renewable and non-renewable resources.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND RESOURCE EXTRACTION IN THE ARCTIC
- EVALUATING ETHICAL GUIDELINES
Thursday 26.01 15:00 – 17:00, UiT SVHUM room B1005
Organisers: Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, University of Lappland, ECWEnergy, London and
UiT the Arctic University of Norway
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE032
Would you like to know more about the current relationship between indigenous peoples and the extractive
industries in the Arctic? You can attend a side-event on the issue at the Arctic Frontier 2017. Árran Lule
Sami Centre presents results from the tree year project “Indigenous Peoples and Resource Extraction in the
Arctic- Evaluating Ethical Guidelines”, financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This project
brings together a team of international specialists to analyse and evaluate international ethical guidelines
for extractive industries in the High North in territories inhabited by indigenous peoples. The study focuses
on Norway and Russia, and includes oil, gas and mining. It seeks to identify ways in which indigenous
peoples and resource extraction companies may find common ground, for example through jobs, education,
healthcare, and a share of profits, if sufficient attention is paid to prevention, due diligence, and risk assessment.
We look beyond documents as such towards their interpretation and implementation, and towards opportunities for compromise and benefit sharing, as these can be worked out in collaboration with indigenous
peoples themselves. Innovative features of the project include taking international guidelines to the field
for critical evaluation by reindeer herders and other indigenous stakeholders; and a ranking of 92 resourceextraction companies in terms of their public commitment, formalised procedures and institutional arrangements
for handling indigenous rights in the Arctic.
OPEN ARCTIC: KONSEKVENSUTREDNING LOVESE (NO)
Thursday 26.01 20:00 – 21:15, Kystens Hus
Organizers: Nordlys, Arctic Frontiers
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=AOA008
Diskusjonen om oljeboring utenfor Lofoten, Vesterålen og Senja har pågått i flere tiår. Nå som oljenæringen
sliter blir LoVeSe-debatten igjen løftet opp på dagsorden. Vil åpning for oljeleting i disse områdene være
viktig for nasjonal verdiskapning? Tar vi våre klima- og miljøforpliktelser på alvor dersom vi sier ja til en
konsekvensutredning? Vil et ja til en slik utredning være et steg mot åpning for petroleumsvirksomhet? Vi
løfter temaet opp på dagsorden og inviterer politikere, næringsliv og miljøaktivister til å ta del i debatten.
PECHA KUCHA
REIBO PHOTO: PETER LEOPOLD
Friday 27.01 19:00 – 22:00, Driv Studenthus, Isbjørn
Organizers: Riddu Riddu, Arctic Frontiers, Driv
More info: www.arcticfrontiers.com/program/session/?id=ASE024
12 talented researchers will showcase their exciting work focusing on the Arctic. The presentations will
be fun and fast paced - each presenter speaks for 6 minutes and 40 seconds - 20 slides for 20 seconds each.
PechaKucha Nights are happening in over 900 cities around the world. The presentation format is simple:
each presenter shows 20 images, and talks along to the images. The format is informal and fun. The core of
the concept is to gather creative people and let them share their ideas, works, thoughts or groundbreaking
research in the PechaKucha 20x20 format.