Mathieu Landriault

Russian media coverage of Arctic issues has substantially changed since February 2022: it is now more inward-looking, referring less frequently to other countries. More importantly, the region is now predominantly framed as embroiled in both a race and a struggle, with other nations vying to steal Russian Arctic territories and access. This change occurred while Russian press agencies also operated a shift in coverage on Svalbard, by rarely referring to Norwegian presence or control over the territory. These three changes mark departures from Russian media coverage of the Arctic before the mass invasion of Ukraine.

Susan B. Vanek, Zachary M. Labe, Olga Lauter, Kevin Shionalyn, Mohammad Afzal Shadab, Elena Adasheva, Annika Margevich, Meghan N. Schaberg, Lavanya Ashokkumar & Jonathan N. Naoukin

Navigating the multitude of organizations and institutions involved in Arctic research can be daunting for those just beginning their careers, from outside traditional academic circles, or from historically excluded communities. These difficulties are exacerbated by the rapid changes unfolding across the Arctic environment, highlighting the interconnectedness of the region and the need for evermore cooperative research that transcends geopolitical and disciplinary boundaries. It is the goal of the United States Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (USAPECS) to foster such connections and encourage the inclusion of underrepresented groups within the broader Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine research community while advancing the principles of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA). Led by a board composed of volunteers, USAPECS has engaged in a variety of collaborative activities and partnerships with U.S. and international institutions over its 10 years of operation in order to bring together early career researchers from across disciplines, regions, and from historically underrepresented groups and to support and showcase their work. This has included collaborations with Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee, Polar Science Early Career Community Office, Association of Polar Early Career Scientists International, and Arctic Research Consortium of the United States and the production of an annual blog series, online webinars and roundtables, conference presentations and events, and the international Polar Film Festival. Drawing on feedback from past and current members, participants, and partners, this briefing note provides an overview of the past and current work of USAPECS and its collaborative activities. It focuses on the challenges faced and lessons learned over USAPECS’s decade of existence as a means to highlight the value of such volunteer organizations.

Manish Kumar Singh

Rashtriya Raksha University, an institution of national importance under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, took a significant step towards fostering global partnerships and sustainable approaches by hosting India’s first International Workshop on “India’s Polar Region Policy Towards Building Partnership with Sustainable Approach” on March 12th – 13th, 2024. This event was a collaborative effort with the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), and the University of the Arctic (UArctic) Network. The workshop was a testament to India’s commitment to engaging with polar region policies, focusing on sustainable approaches and global partnerships, all under the theme “Our Planet, Our Responsibility.”

Zhanna Anshukova, Tom Gabriel Royer, and Adam Kočí

A field report from the first phase of the Calotte Academy in the European Arctic and Sápmi, 11—17 November 2024

Introduction (Lassi Heininen and Tom Gabriel Royer)

The Calotte Academy, an international travelling symposium and school of Arctic dialogue, took place in the European Arctic and Sápmi from 11 to 17 November 2024. The participants of the 2024 Academy, with sessions and excursions in Rovaniemi, Luleå, Hetta, Kautokeino, Inari and Sodankylä, included 20 early career researchers and 7 professors from 13 countries. The theme of the event, “Environmental Security vs. Military Security”, is inspired by the world (dis)order of growing multi-crises, with dual, controversial realities reflecting their impact in the Arctic: Major challenges of the ‘Anthropocene’ (pollution, global warming, loss of biodiversity), accelerated by the mass use of resources and the political inability to manage the ecological catastrophe; and great power rivalries with growing arms races, lack of arms control, new East-West tit-for-tat, and hot wars in Africa, the Middle East, Ukraine. Finally, ‘securitisation’ as an overarching trend everywhere points to an apparent antagonism between militarisation & environmentalisation of societies, politics, transnational relations and media.

Rasmus Leander Nielsen & Jeppe Strandsbjerg

In February 2024, Greenland published a strategy on foreign, security, and defense policy. The strategy had been eagerly awaited for several years. The novel strategy aims to secure a stable foreign policy direction for Greenland for a decade and signal intents to multiple audiences. The Kingdom of Denmark had to delay their common strategy (or, policy) for the entire realm until the Greenlandic strategy was published, while other Arctic states have been curious on the priorities of the strategy. In this briefing note, we outline the historical and (geo)political context of the strategy. We then move on to discuss some of the main items of the strategy by emphasizing the relative of weight of certain areas over others (US and North American Arctic over EU and Denmark), security and defense policy, and climate policy, and, thirdly, sketch out the implications of these priorities for Greenland’s (geo)political aspirations and diplomatic relations.

P. Whitney Lackenbauer

The most urgent and important task we face is asserting Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic and northern regions, where the changing physical and geopolitical landscapes have created new threats and vulnerabilities to Canada and Canadians. … Defending the Arctic is asserting Canadian sovereignty. To do so, we must take a new approach that improves and modernizes our defences in the region. This means establishing greater presence, reach, mobility, and responsiveness in the Arctic and North to deal with disasters, threats, and challenges to our sovereignty.

Department of National Defence, Our North, Strong and Free (April 2024)


Designed & hosted by Arctic Portal