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Enhancing International Scientific Cooperation: Arctic Science and Technology Advice with Ministries
From February to March 2022, Arctic Initiative Senior Fellow Fran Ulmer and Research Fellow Nadezhda Filimonova, alongside leaders of international Arctic research organizations and Arctic Indigenous peoples’ organizations, contributed to a three-part webinar series on international scientific cooperation in the Arctic. The dialogues continued despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, underlining the importance of open science as a central interaction among great powers to both promote cooperation and prevent conflict. The webinar series, entitled “Enhancing International Scientific Cooperation: Arctic Science and Technology Advice with Ministries,” was funded by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with logistic support from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). It involved keynote speakers from both Arctic and non-Arctic states, including Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with registered participants from 49 nations. Paul Berkman, Faculty Associate with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and 2021–2022 Fulbright Arctic Chair, served as the webinar series’ Chief Executive Officer. He received planning assistance for all three webinars from Filimonova, as well as Teruaki Fujii, a Master of Public Administration candidate at Harvard Kennedy School. Ulmer delivered a keynote presentation during the third webinar, which examined how existing mechanisms to facilitate international scientific cooperation in the Arctic could be improved and strengthened, including issues of education, scientific data integration and funding schemes. In particular, Ulmer identified a need to include more youth into Arctic research discussions and projects. These dialogues will continue at the Arctic Circle Japan Forum in 2023. The insights from the webinar series were distilled into a Science Diplomacy Action report that will also help guide and inform the planning for the 4th Arctic Science Ministerial, with which Ulmer is involved.
“The International Arctic Science Agreement is intended to bring down barriers to access to the Arctic so that researchers, regardless of where they come from, have the opportunity to do necessary research in the region. It’s about opening up the doors and windows, it’s saying we aren’t going to artificially restrict the ability of the Arctic research community to do collaborative, cross-disciplinary, and cross-border research. That’s different than the Arctic Science Ministerial’s purpose, which is to focus the world’s attention on what Arctic research is being done and where there might be potential synergies so that countries can work together.”
—Fran Ulmer
