Public workshop: sociocultural aspects of climate change

NORTHGATE workshop 20 May 2016

Sociocultural aspects of climate change in the North Atlantic Gateway to the Arctic

The Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) recently awarded a grant to a new network on the Socio-cultural Aspects of Climate Change in the North Atlantic Gateway to the Arctic or Northgate. The network will enhance understanding of the new challenges of climate, ecosystems and human mobility in the Arctic and strengthen local communities’ resilience in the face of these challenges.

The Centre for Arctic Policy Studies (CAPS) at the University of Iceland will host the project for the next two years, supervised by Kristinn Schram, Assistant Professor at the University of Iceland and director of CAPS. Ilisimatusarfik / University of Greenland will host the first workshop on Friday 20 May 2016 from 09:00 to 13:00 in Room 2-3 at Ilimmarfik.

The preliminary programme includes following presentation:

• Arctic Sea Level Change in a Warming World by Halldór Björnsson, Icelandic Met Office
• Sea Ice, Resource Development and Community-Based Monitoring in Northwest Greenland by Mark Nuttall Ilisimatusarfik/Greenland Climate Research Centre and University of Alberta,
• Climate change and maritime security in the Arctic: Activity levels, risk patterns, emergency preparedness institutions and cooperation between Greenland and Denmark by Birger Poppel and Uffe Jakobsen, Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland and University of Copenhagen
• Tourism and Arctic Socio-Economic development in times of climate change by Edward Hujbens, University of Akureyri
• “We don’t want to become Henningsvær”: The potential of and limits to ‘turistification’ in Lofoten, Norway by Berit Kristoffersen, Arctic University of Norway, Tromsö (UiT)
• Forms and materialities of mobility in Nuuk’s recent past: towards a political economic history of the city by Tone Huse, Arctic University of Norway, Tromsö (UiT)

Participation by interested researchers, students and policy makers are welcomed and free of charge, but please sign up to Uffe Jakobsen, ufja@uni.gl.