ScaliFar – Scalidophora Workshop on the Faroe Islands

Institutions: University of Copenhagen: Natural History Museum Denmark, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Aarhus University, University of the Faroe Islands, BioFar, Faroe Islands National Museum, Institute of Oceanology, Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid

ScaliFar will combine research and teaching to advance understanding of Scalidophora biodiversity around the Faroe Islands. The project will train 10 students in sampling, systematics, ecology, and morphology while generating data for at least five scientific papers. Through its combined research workshop and PhD/MSc course in Tórshavn in the summer 2026, ScaliFar will also produce a taxonomic reference collection and deliver valuable insights into Arctic marine ecosystems.

Crisis Leadership in Arctic Response (CLEAR)

Institutions: University College Copenhagen,Nord University, Lapland University of Applied Science, Mid Sweden University

CLEAR will strengthen Arctic communities’ ability to respond to crises by combining research and practice. Through action-oriented simulations, the project will explore crisis leadership in tourism, maritime events, simulations, and local communities in collaboration with partners across the North. The project highlights the need for effective and context-sensitive crisis leadership in the rapidly changing Arctic.

Rural Education in the North (REN)

Institutions: : Leeds Becket University, University of the Faroe Islands, University of Iceland, University of Prince Edward Island, University of Lapland, University of Alaska Anchorage, Ilisimatusarfik – University of Greenland, UHI Orkney

REN will build on the UArctic Thematic Network for Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity, focusing on rural education across the North. By bringing together small-scale action research projects, the project addresses priorities such as multi-stage classes, Indigenous pedagogy, teacher retention, and linguistic diversity. Findings will be published in an edited book aimed at policymakers, practitioners, and academics working in rural education worldwide.

Heightening Engagement and Action for Arctic Collaborative Resource Management

Institutions: The Nordic Agency for Development and Ecology (NORDECO) Greenland Climate Research Centre, Hokkaido University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Mongolia National University of Education, National Institute of Polar Research of Japan

This project will further develop UArctic’s Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management. By connecting Arctic and Mongolian resource users, managers, researchers, and students, the project will develop best practices for knowledge co-production in natural resource management. Key outcomes include strengthened capacity among managers and researchers, a portfolio of universal good practice steps, and stronger networks for inclusive management of living resources.

Arctic WASH Winter School and Online Course

Institutions: Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Université Laval, University of Alaska Anchorage, SINTEF, York University Toronto

Building on a 2023 summer school in Sisimiut, Greenland, this project will organize an Arctic WASH winter school in Nunavik, Canada. The program will train students, researchers, and practitioners to address water and sanitation challenges in northern and Indigenous communities. Alongside the school, the online Arctic WASH course will be expanded, and the network will co-develop a pan-Arctic review paper on drinking water, highlighting innovative approaches for climate adaptation and community resilience.

Strengthening Arctic Health Networks through Partnerships and Mentorship Program
Institutions: University of Southern Denmark, Ilisimatusarfik – University of Greenland, University of Oulu, Umeå University, Sámi University of Applied Sciences, Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre, University of Alberta, University of Alaska Anchorage, Institute for Circumpolar Health Research, International Union for Circumpolar Health, McMaster University, The Circumpolar Health Research Network, University of Toronto, Montana State University

This project builds on the UArctic-funded initiative Strengthening Circumpolar Network in Arctic Health Research through Mentorship, Education and Research Activities (2023–2025). Continued funding will ensure sustainability of strengthened partnerships and the further development of a mentorship program for early-career researchers. The initiative supports the Thematic Network on Health and Well-being in the Arctic, expanding collaboration and dialogue on how to sustain and promote health in Arctic communities.

Toward Collaborative Resource Management in the Arctic, Nordisk Fond for Miljø og Udvikling (NORDECO) linked to the UArctic Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management

Project partners:  Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland, Hokkaido University, Japan, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA, National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR), Arctic Environment Research Center (AERC), Japan

The project will consolidate and develop the UArctic Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management. This TN is focused on interdisciplinary training in collaborative natural resource management in the Arctic. The project will organize a ‘Master Class’ (action-oriented training course) and a network dialogue meeting to bring the network participants together. The Master Class aims at developing a set of steps to use in practice to connect user-based and scientific knowledge for decisions on management of living resources. The participants will be resource users, managers, researchers and recently graduated students. Thematic focus will be on ‘best practices’ in co-production of knowledge and in connecting the results of user-based and scientific knowledge for improving inclusive resource management. The key milestones are 1) Training participants invited, and 2) a portfolio of good practice steps in Arctic knowledge co-production discussed and developed. The main deliverables are strengthened capacity among 20 public and private resource managers, researchers and students in combining knowledge approaches in practice (Del. 1); a portfolio of good practice steps for knowledge co-production in Arctic natural resource management (Del. 2); and an improved network (Del. 3).

Implications of changes in tundra herbivore diversity - West Greenland in a multiscale circumpolar experiment, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources linked to the UArctic Thematic Network on Herbivory 

Project partners: University of Helsinki, Finland, Agricultural University of Iceland, Iceland, Aarhus University, Denmark, University of Eastern Finland, Finland, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway

Herbivory is a key ecological process modifying arctic ecosystems' response to climate change, and herbivores are extremely important for the livelihoods of most northern communities, including Greenland. The aim of the project is to understand the drivers and consequences of changing vertebrate herbivore diversity across environmental gradients in the tundra biome. We apply for funding to set up an experimental site in West Greenland following the standardized protocols developed by the Tundra Exclosure Network (TExNet) and contribute to a larger research effort implementing a common sampling design at multiple sites across the Arctic. The project will not only deliver local knowledge for direct management advice to the Ministries, it will also improve our understanding of the role of herbivore diversity in tundra ecosystems, while strengthening circumpolar scientific cooperation.

Developing interdisciplinary permafrost higher education in collaboration with a Greenlandic community (EduPermaGR), Technical University of Denmark, linked to the UArctic Thematic Network on Permafrost 

Project partners: University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, Norway, Aalborg University, AAU Arctic, Denmark, Umeå University, Sweden, UiO, Norway, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

Permafrost higher education is very sparse generally in the Arctic. Current permafrost education offers do not match the demand from students and professionals on training and internship opportunities within permafrost science and engineering. Meanwhile understanding of permafrost behaviour and its interactions with climate change and human activities are critical to manage ongoing and future changes competently and sustainably. There is an urgent need for more graduates with thorough understanding of permafrost issues, as well as local population and stakeholders that are informed and competent to understand, co-produce and implement the strategies needed to increase adaptive capacity to Arctic climate change. The EduPermaGR project will develop an interdisciplinary permafrost master course disseminating latest scientific and technological knowledge in active collaboration with a local community. Course components will be finalized in close dialogue with the local stakeholders in Greenland and our geoscientists and engineers project partners to ensure relevance and applicability.

UArctic wishes success to the projects, which will kick off in the fall, and looks forward to hearing more of their work.

Community Art-based Sustainability in the Arctic led by Ilisimatusarfik and linked to the UArctic Thematic Network on Arctic Sustainable Art and Design and the UArctic Thematic Network on Children in the Arctic – Traditional Knowledge and Sustainable Development.

Project partners: Ilisimatusarfik – University of Greenland, University of Lapland, Nord University, Umeå University, The Rights of the Child Advocacy Office

Community Art-based Sustainability in the Arctic is a two-year (2023-2025) development project. Four Arctic universities will participate in the project to make a shared, touring exhibition of art and sustainability in the Arctic, make a film on the project, do research, and disseminate the acquired knowledge through conference papers, university teaching and learning, articles, and a book. The project will build continuous cooperation between the universities, local communities, Indigenous and multi-cultural organizations, and the civil society. Through a website, a digital platform for cooperation, papers and key notes at conferences, university classes, the media, and exhibitions, we will disseminate the artwork and the research results throughout the Arctic. Furthermore, it will expand and sustain the cross-Arctic networking of the UArctic Thematic Networks: Arctic Sustainable Art and Design and Children in the Arctic – Traditional Knowledge and Sustainable Development.

Strengthening circumpolar network in Arctic health research through mentorship, education and research activities led by SDU and linked to Thematic Network on Health and Well-being in the Arctic

Project partners: National Institute for Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Greenland Center for Health Research, Ilisimatusarfik – University of Greenland, University of Oulu, Umeå University, Sámi allaskuvla / Sámi University of Applied Sciences, Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre, University of Alberta, University of Alaska Anchorage, Institute for Circumpolar Health Research, International Union for Circumpolar Health, McMaster University

The Circumpolar Health Research Network Board is a Pan Arctic Board responsible for publishing the International Journal for Circumpolar Health. The UArctic Thematic Network on Health and Well-being in the Arctic (TN) is a strong network with officially 50 members and with annual activities. However, we would like to strengthen the thematic network for Health and Well-being by creating more opportunities for collaboration within the Network. We propose to host yearly networking meetings for TN-members, leading health researchers in Arctic research and relevant non-UArctic partners beginning this Fall. Subsequently the yearly meetings will be held in connection with Arctic conferences with a health component. The meetings will serve as a platform to set overall priorities and strengthen collaboration in Circumpolar health research. Furthermore, we will work to create more opportunities for young researchers and Indigenous scholarship by launching a mentorship program with opportunities for internships, knowledge exchange and collaboration with experienced researchers in Circumpolar health and education. Finally, we would like to support the ongoing work in the Circumpolar Maternal and Child Health group (group within our TN) by ensuring the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge holders in future online activities.

The first thousand days of Inuit children in the Arctic: a collaboration on the study of parenting program and risk assessment in maternal healthcare led by University of Greenland and linked to the Thematic Network on Health and Well-being in the Arctic

Project partners: Ilisimatusarfik – University of Greenland, Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre, University of Southern Denmark, Agency for Social Affairs, Queen Ingrid Hospital, Queen Ingrid Health Center

The first thousand days of a child’s life, from conception until the child is two years old, are critical for the foundation for good health and development for the child later on. This project informs the sustainability and revitalization of values based and culturally informed maternal and child health and well-being programs in circumpolar regions. We aim to build collaboration between Nunavut and Greenland in research and in practice but are also open for other circumpolar regions to join. The collaboration will focus on the first thousand days of Inuit children in the Arctic, where we specifically will compare parenting programs and risk assessment in maternal healthcare. The project is part of the Circumpolar Maternal and Child Health working group under the Thematic Network of Health and Well-being in the Arctic.

Designing and developing permafrost internships in the Arctic led by University of Copenhagen and linked to the UArctic Thematic Network on Permafrost.

Project partners: Aarhus University, Université Laval in Quebec City, University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Stockholm University, University of Oslo, Permafrost Young Researchers Network.

The PermaIntern project will design and develop a first full scale online Permafrost Internship service available to all interested students, university and internship hosts. We aim for the service to cover the full variety of permafrost working life activities from university research to engineering company work. Permafrost is a particular natural topic to start developing internships for as an additional important part of higher education. This, as there are many direct applications in many scientific fields, and due to the ongoing climatic changes very related to permafrost. This combination is clearly making our PermaIntern ambition a very needed, urgent and natural development, which is best developed in UArctic networking collaboration. The project has six deliverables starting with a kick-off workshop, developing and opening the online service, providing stipends for internships, further developing the service based on input from the permafrost community, analyzing the first year of operation and ending with a final launch at the International Conference on Permafrost in 2024 of the final permafrost internship product.

New Genre Art Education in the Arctic (AEA) led by Ilisimatusarfik / University of Greenland and linked to UArctic Thematic Network Arctic Sustainable Arts and Design (ASAD) and UArctic Thematic Network Children of the Arctic.

Project partners: University of Lapland, Nord University, Umeå University, the Office of the Rights of the Child in Greenland.

New Genre Art Education in the Arctic (AEA) is a two-year (2022-2024) development project that seeks to establish a hybrid realization model (digital and onsite) of international seminars and workshops for art teachers, researcher and Ma and PhD art education students at 4 universities (Greenland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), all members of UArctic. Long-term transdisciplinary partnerships between education, arts, humanities, and social sciences will meet the emerging challenges of changes in the North and the Arctic caused by megatrends, like urbanization, globalization and consequences of climate and environmental changes for eco-social and cultural live in the North and the Arctic and put attention to the role of art in the present and future development of the Arctic. Dialogical and participatory methods will be implemented in the workshops and seminars to support the networking, knowledge exchange and creation of new collaborations in Arctic Art Education, supporting sustainability, social justice, and wellbeing for all citizens, including children and young people in local communities.

Multidisciplinary Workshops for Early Career Researchers in Arctic Social Sciences and Engineering led by Technical University of Denmark and linked to UArctic Thematic Network Arctic Engineering and UArctic Thematic Network Health and Well-being in the Arctic.

Project partners: University of Oulu, Nordregio, Sweden, Université Laval, Canada, Aurora College, University of Vienna, Austria.

This project focuses on conducting workshops where Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in Arctic
Social Sciences and Engineering discuss their research with local Arctic communities. The workshops serve as a platform for feedback and discussion with Indigenous and local people,
policy-makers and stakeholders, as well as other scientists. We aim to engage in discussions on the impacts of climate change and permafrost thaw on communities, how to locally manage risk, on adaptation and (equitable) mitigation strategies and how to focus future research initiatives – giving ECRs, senior researchers and communities a possibility to mutually build capacity, and to ensure co-design and co-production of knowledge. The three workshops in high-Arctic communities in Svalbard, Greenland and Canada will be a platform for the ECRs to strengthen their crossdisciplinary networks, to get involved in relevant UArctic TNs, and to discuss the relevance and applicability of their results with communities.

Treatment for addiction of alcohol and other drugs across the Arctic led by Ilisimatusarfik / University of Greenland and linked to UArctic Thematic Network Health and Well-being in the Arctic.

Project partners: Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre, Nunavut Sivuniksavut, Canada, University of Southern Denmark, SANKS – Samisk nasjonal kompetencetjeneste, Norway and UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Ilisimatusarfik / University of Greenland, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, USA and/or Center for Alaska Native Health Research, USA.

We wish to initiate network activities under the Thematic Network for Health and Well-being in the Arctic for practitioners and researchers working with a specific focus to problematic use and addiction to alcohol and other drugs. The goal is to hold two workshops to meet face to face to discuss the local adaptations and context dependent changes to the Western evidence and practice, and how they are combined with traditional knowledge and practices.

Creating Connections in the Arctic Educational Science Community (ConnectED) led by the University of Faroe Islands and linked to Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity.

Project partners: University of Lapland, University of Alaska Anchorage, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, University of Aberdeen, Murmansk Arctic State University, University of Prince Edward Island, University of Iceland.

The project aims to create connections between early career scholars and researchers across the Arctic by organising a series of researcher visits. The visiting teams will include a doctoral student or early career scholar and senior researcher. The visit programmes will consist of e.g. guest lectures, participation to mentoring discussions with the doctoral students of the host university, and visits to local schools or other relevant places. After each visit, the hosting and visiting teams will analyse the visit and their learning results in a blog post. In the end of project, the partners will collect tips and best practice of organising researcher visits, and it will be published in a visual form in the network website. The project milestones are 1) detailed planning of the researcher team visits, 2) implementing the visits, and 3) evaluation and summarising the learning results. The target audiences of the project are doctoral students and early career scientists, senior researchers, partner universities and the Arctic educational science community.

BEfore the FLUXes – a research training network at the frontier of environmental monitoring in the arctic, with a particular focus on greenhouse gas flux studies (BEFLUX) led by Aarhus University and linked to Thematic Network on Arctic Boreal Hub, Herbivory and Communicating Arctic Science.

Project partners: Oulu University, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Oslo University, Copenhagen University, Helsinki University. 

Building on long-term ecosystem monitoring data from Greenland the BEFLUX network and summer schools will provide a platform for research training on the topic of arctic ecosystem functioning in relation to large scale climate variability and change. Focus in practical components will be on greenhouse gas exchanges but a wide range of other ecosystem parameters will be considered as well. A summer school in Oulanka Finland will have focus on hands-on possibilities for learning and applying own measurements in the field and a second course in Greenland with a broader ecosystem focus will include also social aspects and local community perspectives on the ecosystems and their functioning as observed using long term monitoring. The project will include development of an elearning tool and the target audience will be Master and PhD students from throughout the circumpolar North. The deliverables will be the e-learning course component and summer schools. These can be taken individually and when combined with the e-learning module they will be worth 5
ECTS for students each.

Widening the Impact of the Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management led by Nordisk Fond for Miljø og Udvikling (NORDECO) and linked to Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management.

Project partners: Greenland Climate Research Centre, Hokkaido University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR), Arctic Environment Research Center (AERC)

The project will consolidate, and further develop, the UArctic Thematic Network on Collaborative Resource Management. This Thematic Network is focused on interdisciplinary training in collaborative natural resource management and monitoring in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic. Moreover, the project will organize an interdisciplinary, and practice-based, experience-exchange workshop in Greenland for resource users, managers, researchers and recently graduated students and subsequently convene a network dialogue meeting in Alaska that will bring the network participants together. Thematic focus will be on best practices in co-production of knowledge and in connecting the results of user-based and scientific knowledge.

The key milestones are 1) workshop participants invited, 2) a portfolio of good practices in Arctic knowledge co-production and analyses documented and discussed at the workshop and dialogue meeting, and 3) a work and finance plan for the Thematic Network developed and agreed upon at the dialogue meeting. The target audience of the workshop and dialogue meeting are public natural resource managers and Arctic-based students. The main deliverables are strengthened capacity among 25 public resource managers, researchers and students in combining knowledge approaches in practice (Del. 1); guidelines for knowledge co-production in Arctic natural resource management (Del. 2); and an improved network (Del. 3).

Plastics in the marine Arctic – from sources to solutions led by Aarhus University and linked to the UArctic Thematic Network on Arctic Plastic Pollution

Projects partners: GRID-Arendal (GRIDA), Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GNIR), University Centre of the Westfjords (UW), Kola Science Centre, SALT, Norway

Plastics continue to pollute the marine environment around the world, and the North is no exception. In this project we develop an interdisciplinary university course on the issue in an Arctic context. Combining approaches from the natural and social sciences with practical knowledge from community leaders, this course will cover techniques for assessing coastal macro litter sources and quantities in tandem with methods for incorporating local stakeholders both as resources and to raise awareness. Taught at the graduate level, promising undergraduates and experienced local community members are also welcome. Independent preparatory work with online resources will be followed by a five-day field school in Nuuk, Greenland.

Summer schools and online course development on Arctic WASH led by Technical University of Denmark and linked to the Thematic Network on Arctic WASH

Project partners: University Centre in Svalbard, UiT, University of Alberta, Northern State Medical University,  University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Dalhousie, Norwegian University of Life Sciences

There is a severe deficit in water and sanitation services in rural Arctic settlements. This deficit results in significant documented health impacts. The goal of the UArctic TN on Arctic WASH is to increase the awareness and understanding of these conditions and trach and research on technologies available to improve the situation. In this project, we will continue an international summer school series, and upgrade a freely available online course. The courses were developed and run in Norway during 2018-19 and shall now move to other Arctic locations: In 2021 the course is planned to take place in Greenland while in 2022 it will be conducted in North America or Russia to reach out to students and professionals in these regions. In addition, exchange of staff and PhD students among the partner institutions will take place to further develop research collaboration.

Building on community-perspectives on health research and well-being led by Ilisimatusarfik –University of Greenland and linked to the Thematic Network on Health and Wellbeing in the Arctic

Project partners: SAXO Institute, University of Copenhagen, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University,Centre for Public Health in Greenland, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark

Health research in Greenland has increasingly moved towards Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR). In CBPR, partnerships are built with communities and studies are based on communities’ strengths (1). The perspectives of communities are crucial for increasing the wellbeing of the population as well as the individual. The Greenland Centre for Health Research (GCHR) at the Institute for Nursing and Health Sciences, Ilisimatusarfik – University of Greenland, has increased its capacity over the past decade. With this application to fund a network meeting by organizing a seminar and PhD course at the University of Greenland, we aim to further develop research and capacity of the center and university, by setting the agenda for future directions for health research in Greenland and the positioning of GCHR. By financially supporting this networking project, GCHRs and the University of Greenland’s capacity will be increased. Furthermore, it is important for the University to be able to provide locally relevant courses to PhD students, and give them the possibility to network with other fellow students across the circumpolar region. Topics that will be discussed in this networking project are among other indigenous knowledge, ethical and legal guidelines, the Lancet Commission on Arctic Health, lessons-learned from the Corona virus, and implementing research results.

Distance Teaching and Learning in the Arctic Communities (DistARCTIC) led by the University of the Faroe Islands/ and linked to the Thematic Network on Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity

Project partners: Leeds Beckett University, Luleå University of Technology, Memorial University of Newfoundland,  Murmansk Arctic State University, Nord University, Norway, NArFU, Sámi University of Applied Sciences, UiT, University of Aberdeen, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Iceland, University of Oulu, University of Prince Edward Island

The project aims to open discussion on rural education, especially what kind of pedagogical practices could be used in online/distance teaching and learning to secure equal educational possibilities and high-quality education for all, regardless of their location. The overall goal of the project is to draft a book proposal on pedagogical practices in online/distance teaching and learning. The project activities include also writing a desktop study article, applying supportive funding for joint research and workshops in order to work with above mentioned activities. The target audience of the project are young people and children in the North, student teachers, researchers and scientific community, teacher educators and universities, local policymakers and local communities

Enhancing Equity and Inclusion in Education in Circumpolar North (EICN), led by Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland

Project partners: University of Lapland, Copenhagen Business School, University of the Faroe Islands, Leeds Beckett University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Northern Arctic Federal University, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Iceland

The goal of the project is to strengthen collaboration under the auspices of the UArctic Thematic Network on Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity with member institutions from Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark. In addition, the project aims to publish a book focusing on inclusive policies and practices in educational settings.

The UArctic Thematic Network on Teacher Education published a book “Including the North: a Comparative Study of the Policies on Inclusion and Equity in the Circumpolar North” in March 2019. The completion of the network desktop study book highlighted that the Thematic Network had a gap in their circumpolar coverage, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. At the UArctic Congress in 2018, contact was made with two colleagues working in teacher education in Nuuk, Greenland. These colleagues joined the network members for their meeting with the publisher with a view to publish the follow-up on Network book. The network views the inclusion of colleagues from the Faroe Islands and Greenland as a priority in the ongoing activities of the network to facilitate full participation of all voices through expansion of the network to include all.

Additionally, the first book was a desktop study permitting members of the network to write about priorities for educational development for inclusion and indigenous language teaching in their national and regional contexts. The project workshops will also provide an opportunity to now explore commonalities and differences between these separate policy contexts in more depth. The last time that a book was published focusing on transnational circumpolar educational studies was in 1996 and on that occasion Russia was not included in the book; therefore this forthcoming book will fill a gap in knowledge within the discipline in addition to a much-needed update in the field.

Children of the Arctic: local knowledge and sustainable development project, led by Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland

Project partners: North-Eastern Federal University, RAIPON, McGill University, University of Washington

This project will be implemented as part of the project “Children of the Arctic” of the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group. The project “Children of the Arctic: local knowledge and sustainable development” aims to promote the sustainable development of indigenous peoples, their social and economic development while maintaining the connection to their local knowledge and their traditional way of life. The project aims to assess the methods implemented in the field of well-being of children of indigenous peoples of the Arctic.

There is a need for the search of new approaches and the improvement of the situation in the field of children reaching their full potential while preserving local knowledge. In the result of the comparative analysis of Greenland, Russian and Canadian situations with children in the Arctic will make recommendations on the application of best practices in the upbringing of children, taking into account the preservation of their native language and culture. Indigenous peoples living in the traditional environment of remote and isolated areas face the complicated organization of modern administration of various services. Therefore, the implementation of the project will contribute to share communities’ best practices and aspirations regarding giving their children the best possible environment to grow and future, as well as the preservation of the culture and language.

During the start-up phase of the project, the partners will gather and analyse the information about children’s social conditions as well as practices and programs that are implemented in the field of children’s well-being in the Arctic. The information that will be collected during the project will serve as a basis for the creation of materials and the development of a way to share the best practices over the Arctic region. The project will also create a Thematic Network within UArctic which will include lectures by experts, including local indigenous experts, from Greenland, Russia and Canada.

Climate Change effects on Nature and Society in the Arctic, led by Aarhus University, Department of Environmental Science

Project partners: Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Technical University of Denmark, University of Greenland, Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, University of Helsinki, Agricultural University of Iceland, Lund University, University of Oulu, University of Laval, University of Manitoba, Moscow State University, and Zuev Station Tomsk University

The goal of the project is to provide unique educational opportunities for students in the Circumpolar North. To enhance human capacity and expand crucial interdisciplinary knowledge in the North as well as knowledge about the North, they propose to develop and run a summer school on climate change effects on nature and society in the Arctic as a part of the Thematic Network on Arctic Boreal Hub. The Thematic Network consists of research, research infrastructure and education activities aimed at resolving sustainability questions in the circumpolar Arctic ‐ boreal regions.

The summer school will be aimed at graduate level and will in addition to the Arctic boreal region include the Arctic Cryosphere. Besides the Thematic Network, CENSArctic will have a strong connection to the Arctic Science Study Programme (ASSP) master program (https://gcrc.gl/education/assp/) and the new Nordic Master “Environmental Changes at Higher Latitudes” (EnCHiL). Furthermore, the course will be open to students from natural sciences as well as social sciences, thus we will use the approach of horizontal learning. This approach will benefit from the interdisciplinary knowledge of the students and make the students learn from each other, and thus explore the potentials of working together across scientific fields. This approach has been used in a previous course with great success.

The summer school will be a combination of e‐learning and field course enabling students to apply only for an e‐learning module or both. The field courses will this time take place in Iceland and in Greenland and involve excursions to ecosystem sites, cultural landscapes and involving interactions with the local communities to learn about traditional knowledge and their view on climate change.