This past weekend, we were delighted to host the inaugural annual meeting of the Arctic PIRE: Promoting Urban Sustainability in the Arctic project. Roughly 30 members of our international research network were in attendance, discussing issues including the framework for our Arctic Urban Sustainability Index, the selection appropriate sustainability indicators, and strategies for strengthening the outreach of our important research. We also discussed future research trips to the Arctic, cooperation with media organizations, such as Planet Forward to increase our accessibility to new audiences, and the creation of an educational resource database for Arctic Sustainability issues.
The conference culminated with a Public Panel discussion on Friday, October 21st, where over 50 members of the public visited The George Washington University to attend the event. Attendees included professors and students, as well as representatives of the National Science Foundation, embassies, and think-tanks based here in Washington DC. As our project builds momentum we will continue to look for more opportunities in research cooperation and outreach, in order to maximize the outreach and accessibility of our project. A full meeting report including notes and results will be published soon!
Alaska Indigenous community leaders communicate their priorities to the U.S. delegation to the Arctic Science Ministerial. (Photo Credit: U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Connie Terrell)
For many years, international dialogue about the Arctic has focused primarily on the clichés of stranded polar bears and a romanticized vision of a final frontier. In reality, the Arctic is a region that is incredibly more intricate, with complex and intertwined social, economic, and environmental systems. One goal of this project is to increase awareness of the Arctic as a complex region among policy makers and the public. This week, Washington DC played host to the first White House Arctic Science Ministerial, where representatives of the eight Arctic States, fourteen additional States, the European Union, and Arctic Indigenous communities met to assert the importance of improving collaborative science efforts in the Arctic.[i] This is welcome news to our network, which very much look forward to contributing to this growing, and vitally important, dialogue.
As with any major political event in Washington DC, coverage from the media soon followed. The Washington Post wrote a featured piece covering the warming of the Arctic climate and the growing political attention on the region.[ii] One overarching theme throughout these different press briefings and articles is the focus on international cooperation. With so many different nations and communities represented in the region, it is important to include all these actors when planning for the future.
Another big focus of the White House Ministerial and its press coverage was the need to increase observational capacities in the Arctic. Accordingly, the meeting announced the “release of a new satellite-based dataset that maps elevations across the Arctic at a resolution of 8 meters, with an expected further improvement to 2 meters next year.”[iii] The ministers also highlighted a number of new projects in the region “to record and evaluate the large volume of environmental changes being observed by the Arctic’s indigenous peoples in and around their communities.”[iv] By inviting local populations to share their knowledge of changes and opportunities to adapt, these projects aim to increase the awareness of Arctic issues and help prepare the region to take advantage of the opportunities resulting from the the rapid changes already underway.
This digital elevation model is an example of the imagery that is being made available through increased scientific interest in the Arctic. Remote sensing in the Arctic is hindered by challenges like frequent cloud cover and a lack of sensor coverage. (Photo Credit: Paul Morin, PGC)
The same changes that affect local indigenous communities will certainly affect Arctic urban populations, and as a result will have secondary effects on the social and economic systems of the region. Our project aims to create an index to rate the progress of sustainable development plans initiated in the region. This project will help assess the progress of such developments, focused on integrating locally sourced knowledge from our vast network of international research partners. It is our hope that by building a tool to measure sustainable development plans across the region, we can encourage cooperation and mutual learning.
From October 20th-22nd we will be hosting the inaugural annual meeting of the Arctic PIRE team, here in Washington DC. To culminate this multi-day conference, we are proud to invite you to a panel discussion led by some of our foremost experts in Arctic Sustainability from around the world. Speakers in this panel will address topics including: social sustainability in Arctic conditions, the economic role of cities, Arctic urban planning, and the political framing of sustainability in the Arctic. A reception will follow the panel discussion, providing the public and policy-makers an opportunity to network and forge relationships with our network of international research partners. We would love to see you there!
Welcome to the Arctic PIRE website! We will be using this site to provide updates and information about the progress of our project: Promoting Urban Sustainability in the Arctic.This project will engage an international network of scientists to develop an Arctic Urban Sustainability Index. The Arctic region has also experience urban growth and has been changing at an amazing rate over the past years.Unfortunately, urban growth in the Arctic and globally has had detrimental effects (pollution, encroachment and contribution to climate change) on the landscapes that support them. These concerns have spurred an interest in measuring the state of urban centers, their promotion of sustainability, and the efficacy of such projects. The Arctic is also at the forefront of the battle to mitigate the effects of climate change, as average temperatures rose at almost twice the global rate over the past 100 years.[1] We believe it is imperative to properly assess the challenges these cities will face and track the progress of their sustainability policy. The Arctic PIRE Grant will enable us to study the accelerated pace of change in the Arctic, both environmentally as well as socio-economically, and will yield valuable lessons to serve other cities around the globe as they will inevitably face and need to adapt to the effects of climate-change.
The project officially launches in April 2016 and has been made possible through a generous grant from the National Science Foundation.
This past weekend, we were delighted to host the inaugural annual meeting of the Arctic PIRE: Promoting Urban Sustainability in the Arctic project. Roughly 30 members of our international research network were in attendance, discussing issues including the framework for our Arctic Urban Sustainability Index, the selection appropriate sustainability indicators, and strategies for strengthening the outreach of our important research. We also discussed future research trips to the Arctic, cooperation with media organizations, such as Planet Forward to increase our accessibility to new audiences, and the creation of an educational resource database for Arctic Sustainability issues.
