83 Items

Satellite image of the Bering Strait and Diomede Islands

NASA

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

Bering Strait Navigation and Conservation in Times of Conflict

| November 2022

As climate change and economic activity in the region accelerate in the Bering Strait region, the United States and Russia have a common interest in mitigating these shared environmental risks. A November workshop hosted by Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative, the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) brought together seventeen experts to explore potential actions that the United States and Russia could pursue, jointly or independently, to protect the Bering Strait’s sensitive marine ecosystem and coastal communities. 

Photo of John Holdren walking with Pres. Barack Obama at White House, 2014.

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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

John P. Holdren Receives Arthur M. Bueche Award from National Academy of Engineering 

| Oct. 06, 2021

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has honored John P. Holdren with its prestigious Arthur M. Bueche Award for his “extraordinary impact on the engineering profession” and for his “contributions to technology research, policy, and national and international cooperation.” The presentation was made during the NAE’s annual meeting Oct. 3 in Washington, D.C., where it also presented its Simon Ramo Founders Award to William A. Wulf, University of Virginia Professor Emeritus.  

Press Release

A Global Symposium on Plastics in the Arctic

| Feb. 26, 2021

In 2019, the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative and the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute co-hosted a workshop with the Icelandic Chairmanship of the Arctic Council at Harvard Kennedy School entitled, Policy and Action on Plastic in the Arctic Ocean. This early-convening played a key role in fostering a policy discussion around tackling the problem of plastics in the Arctic Ocean. 

Now in 2021 the first global conference focused on plastic pollution in the Arctic Ocean, the International Symposium on Plastics in the Arctic and the Sub-Arctic Region,  will be hosted virtually in early March. Findings from the 2019 event will be featured as a keynote in the Symposium on Plastics in the Arctic and as part of the final panel on March 9, which is focused on the topic of “Ways Forward”. 

Workshop participants

Belfer Center/Benn Craig

News - The Arctic Council

Action on Plastic: On Track with the Regional Action Plan for the Arctic

Apr. 22, 2020

In October 2019, the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative and the Wilson Center's Polar Institute co-hosted a workshop on Policy and Action on Plastic in the Arctic Ocean with the Icelandic Chairmanship of the Arctic Council. The Arctic Council asked Magnús Jóhannesson, the Council's designated Special Coordinator on Plastics Pollution and Marine Litter, and Gunn-Britt Retter, Head of Arctic and Environmental Unit at the Saami Council — who both participated in the workshop — to comment on some of the points that the report raises.

Sled dogs on melting Greenland ice sheet.

Steffen Olsen

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

Arctic Transformation and Resilience Study Group

| Sep. 24, 2019

The Arctic Transformation and Resilience Study Group, led by Arctic Initiative Senior Fellow Joel Clement, will give students the opportunity to learn about and work on issues of Arctic resilience. Working together to deliver a compilation and brief analysis of existing policies that support or inhibit resilience in the Arctic, students will have the opportunity to meet with top Arctic scientists, policymakers, indigenous knowledge-holders, and finance experts, while developing a report that will be delivered to the Secretariat of the Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group.

This study group will be held on Tuesdays, from 6pm–7:30pm, beginning Oct 29, and including Nov 5, 12, 19, and 26. For more information or to sign-up, please contact brittany_janis@hks.harvard.edu. Space is limited; please register by October 21.

President Barack Obama walks with John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, at the White House in Washington, Friday, March 7, 2014.

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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

John P. Holdren Receives Japan's Order of the Rising Sun

| May 22, 2019

The Government of Japan has announced that its prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star will be awarded to John P. Holdren, Co-Director of the Belfer Center's Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program and former Assistant to the President for Science and Technology during the Obama administration. Holdren will receive the award for his "contributions to strengthening relations between the two countries in science and technology."

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

Belfer Center Convenes Council on the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence

| Jan. 22, 2019

CAMBRIDGE MA – Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has convened the inaugural meeting of The Council on the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a new effort to address critical questions about this far-reaching and rapidly evolving application for data and technology.