90 Items

Aerial view of Fairbanks Alaska skyline

Quintin Soloviev/Wikimedia Commons

News - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Building Urban Resilience to Climate Change: Lessons from the Arctic

| July 26, 2023

An April seminar co-organized by the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative and the Arctic Mayors’ Forum, “Building Climate Resilience in the Urban Arctic,” brought together mayors and climate officials from the municipalities across the Arctic to discuss how climate change was impacting their cities and how their cities were responding to those impacts. The speakers also drew out lessons that other climate-vulnerable cities elsewhere in the world could learn from the Arctic experience.

bald eagles and crows at Juneau dump

Wikimedia Commons/Gillfoto

Analysis & Opinions - New Security Beat

Solving Municipal Solid Waste Management Challenges in Arctic Cities

| June 26, 2023

Unlike industrial and other forms of pollution, the long-standing, pervasive problem of municipal solid waste in Arctic cities receives comparatively little attention. As rapid warming in the region compromises existing waste disposal methods such as landfills, Arctic cities will need to develop comprehensive solid waste management strategies for the health of residents and the environment.

 

Photo of a drop of water falling off an iceberg melting in the Nuup Kangerlua Fjord in southwestern Greenland, Tuesday Aug. 1, 2017.

(AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

News - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Arctic Innovation Lab: Bright Ideas for the Future of the Arctic

| Mar. 14, 2022

What if we could repurpose oil and gas pipelines to supply remote Arctic communities with clean water? What if Arctic entrepreneurs could connect with investors and raise capital over an online crowdfunding platform? These were some of the novel solutions to Arctic challenges proposed by Harvard Kennedy School students during this year’s Arctic Innovation Lab in January.

Video - Arctic Frontiers

Building the Future: 2021 Arctic Frontiers Plenary Keynote

| Feb. 02, 2021

2021 Arctic Frontiers hosted a panel of young Arctic leaders alongside seasoned Arctic influencers who dove deeper into the opportunities and obstacles northern youth face now and in the future. Framed in the context of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, speakers were invited to discuss the pressing issues that they stand to inherit such as climate change, societal pressure, migration of young people to the south, and the question of whether the Arctic is facing its own cultural revolution. This session sought to build bridges between generations, borders, and disciplines to find the best solutions for a resilient Arctic.

Video - The Arctic Council

An Actionable Blueprint: The Arctic Resilience Forum 2020

| Dec. 02, 2020

The second Arctic Resilience Forum was hosted entirely online — and successfully so. The Arctic Council interviewed the two main organizers: Jennifer Spence, the Executive Secretary of the Council's Sustainable Development Working Group, and Joel Clement, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. They spoke about the challenge to move the forum into the virtual realm, the unexpected benefits, and the ambitious next steps for resilience in the Arctic.