Arctic Initiative

Climate change is a healthcare emergency.

This seminar will highlight the efforts of physicians from Massachusetts General Hospital’s Division of Space, Ecological, Arctic, and Resource Limited Medicine to create a program of health monitoring with colleagues in the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska to quantify and qualify the impacts of climate change on human health through the lens of emergency medical care. The project, led by Arctic Initiative Faculty Affiliate Dr. N. Stuart Harris and nominated for the prestigious 2023 Frederik Paulsen Arctic Academic Action Award, seeks to inform scientific and policy priorities for protecting the health of Arctic populations in a warming world and to create a scalable model for assessing the health impacts of climate change that could be deployed to healthcare settings nationally and internationally.

Registration: No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis. The seminar will also be streamed via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: The seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page (typically one week later). Those who register for this event will automatically receive a link to the recording as soon as it becomes available.

Accessibility: To request accommodations or for questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Once a symbol of international cooperation and peace, the Arctic now stands at a crossroads between geopolitical tension and diverse opportunities and challenges that require collaboration. Following Russia's actions in Ukraine and subsequent shifts in Arctic governance, how will nations advance significant policy issues, such as climate science and emergency response, without a functioning governance system?

Join the Arctic Initiative and its partners for an engaging discussion with a panel of international experts to unpack the Arctic's intricate challenges and their global ramifications, from international politics to climate impacts. 

Q&A to follow. Boxed lunches will be available to-go following the seminar.

Registration: In-person attendance is limited to current Harvard ID holders. No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: The seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page.

Accessibility: To request accommodations or for questions about access, please contact Elizabeth Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Co-Sponsors: Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), the Center for Ocean Governance at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), and the Wilson Center's Polar Institute.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a global phenomenon, but its impacts in the Arctic, and the experiences of Arctic communities, were distinct.

Join us for the official launch event of the Arctic Yearbook’s Special Volume on Arctic Pandemics: COVID-19 and Other Pandemic Experiences and Lessons Learned. The volume includes 15 peer reviewed articles and ten shorter contributions, and is available open access on the Arctic Yearbook's website.

In this webinar, Arctic Initiative Senior Fellow and co-editor Jennifer Spence will moderate a discussion with select authors from the collection who will reflect on:

1. The unique conditions and characteristics of pandemic management in the Arctic (past, present and future),
2. The impacts and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and public health actions and activities in the Arctic,
3. The experiences and best practices from across the Arctic, with a priority on Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, and experiences and lessons learned at the community level, and
4. The insights and advice presented in the volume that may inform pandemic preparedness and management and contribute to resilience in the Arctic.

Registration: This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP using the link below. 

Recording: The seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page.

Accessibility: To request accommodations or for questions about access, please contact Elizabeth Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Sponsors: Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative, Arctic Yearbook

Contrary to popular perception, the Arctic is not a desolate wilderness: four million people call the Arctic home, two-thirds of whom reside in urban settlements. Like the region as a whole, the rapid pace of climate change is making life in Arctic cities—challenging at the best of times due to winter darkness, remoteness, and cold weather—increasingly difficult. Climate-induced hazards, such as permafrost thaw, sea ice loss, sea level rise, erosion, flooding, and wildfires, pose severe risks to urban infrastructure and the health and livelihoods of urban residents. 

Please join Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative and the Arctic Mayors’ Forum for a virtual seminar that will explore how Arctic cities are addressing the current and future impacts of climate change, as well as the lessons that Arctic cities and other cities elsewhere in the world can learn from each other’s experiences. The panel will feature Ida Maria Pinnerød, Mayor of Bodø, Norway; Annika Myrén, Development Strategist of the City of Umeå, Sweden; and Bryce Ward, Mayor of Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska. Arctic Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellow Nadezhda Filimonova will moderate. Q&A to follow. 

Attendance: This event is open to the public and hosted on Zoom. For those who cannot attend live, the seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page (typically within two weeks). Those who register for this event will automatically receive a link to the recording as soon as it becomes available.

Accessibility: To request a disability accommodation or for questions about access, please contact Elizabeth Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the seminar.

Join us for an Energy Policy Seminar featuring Eyck Freymann, joint Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative and Columbia University. Freymann will give a talk on "Chinese Perspectives on Climate Geopolitics." Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Registration: No RSVP is required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first served basis. The seminar will also be streamed via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: The seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page (typically one week later). Those who register for this event will automatically receive a link to the recording as soon as it becomes available.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Sponsors: The Belfer Center's Environment and Natural Resources Program, the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, the Harvard University Center for the Environment, the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability

Once considered "flyover country at the edge of the world," the Arctic, the Antarctic, and their associated marine environments are emerging as regions for exploration, exploitation, and extraction - as well as active arenas for geopolitical competition between polar and near-polar states. How that competition plays out will have serious ramifications for environmental, political, economic, and human security and stability around the globe. 

Please join the Arctic Initiative for a book talk featuring Douglas Causey, Arctic Initiative Associate and Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and Christian Leuprecht, Class of 1965 Professor in Leadership at the Royal Military College of Canada. Drawing from their new book, Polar Cousins: Comparing Antarctic and Arctic Geostrategic Futures, co-editors Causey and Leuprecht will  discuss the impacts of geopolitics and climate change on national and international security interests in both polar regions, as well as the lessons learned from the Arctic experience for addressing challenges relating to governance, environmental protection, and maritime operations in the Antarctic.

Arctic Initiative Co-Director John P. Holdren will moderate. Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.

Attendance: In-person attendance is limited to Harvard ID holders; no RSVP required. Room capacity is limited and seating will be on a first come, first serve basis. 

Members of the public are welcome to attend virtually via Zoom. Virtual attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Recording: The seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page (typically one week later). Those who register for this event will automatically receive a link to the recording as soon as it becomes available.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Elizabeth Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Please join the Arctic Initiative for a conversation with Halla Logadóttir, who is on site at COP27 representing Iceland as the Director-General of the country's National Energy Authority. Logadóttir will share her insights and impressions of the discussions during the first week of the conference, with a special focus on the energy transition and the Arctic. Arctic Initiative Associate Director Brittany Janis will moderate the virtual session.

Registration: This session is open to all members of the Harvard Kennedy School community. Attendees should register using the button below; upon registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link. 

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

The Bering Strait region is a particularly unique area - one of the Arctic's most productive and sensitive environments but also a region increasingly facing pressure and challenges. Amidst an upheaval in relations between Russia and the other Arctic states exist transboundary risks associated with increased vessel activity, which continue to advance despite these deteriorated conditions.  

Please join the Harvard Kennedy School's Arctic Initiative, the Wilson Center's Polar Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund for a virtual workshop on transboundary risk management in the Bering Strait region.

Registration: This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP using the link below. For those who cannot attend live, the seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page.

Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.

Welcome to the event page for the 2022 Permafrost Pathways Convening, a meeting jointly organized by Harvard Kennedy School's Arctic Initiative, Woodwell Climate Research Center, and the Alaska Institute for Justice.

The meeting will provide an opportunity for the invitees to:

• learn about the Project’s current activities and preliminary plans for the six-year span of the Audacious grant;
• offer their thoughts about the challenges and opportunities at the intersection of permafrost science and policy; and
• consider, with us, the possibilities for communication and collaboration connecting their own Arctic projects and responsibilities with the Permafrost Pathways effort.

The convening will take place at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, MA, over two consecutive days: Monday, September 26 from 9:30am - 8:00pm EST and Tuesday, September 27 from 8:30am - 2:00pm EST.

Additional information will be added to this page as the convening approaches.

Join the Arctic Initiative for a virtual panel Q&A to learn more about the new Permafrost Pathways project from our collaborators at Woodwell Climate Research Center, the Alaska Institute for Justice, and the Alaska Native Science Commission. 

Launched in 2022, Permafrost Pathways brings together leading experts in climate science, policy action, and environmental justice to inform and develop adaptation and mitigation strategies to address permafrost thaw.

Attendance: This event is open to the public and hosted on Zoom. For those who cannot attend live, the seminar will be recorded and available to watch on this page.

Registration: Please RSVP at the link below. Registration will remain open until the event begins.