News & Announcements

22 Items

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News

Advising Federal Responses to Rapid Climate Change in Alaska

| Sep. 28, 2023

In May 2023, the Arctic Initiative hosted a workshop in partnership with the Science and Technology Directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The focus was on the challenges posed by the impacts of rapid climate change in Alaska; how DHS and its components— including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)—are addressing them; and what possibilities may exist for DHS to do more and better.

Permafrost forecast and modeling map: change in annual mean ground temperature (1 m depth) from 1930-39 to 2010-19

Center for Geographic Analysis @Harvard University

Announcement

Arctic Data Stories: Learn Data Visualization and Create Maps for Data-driven Policymaking

Arctic Data Stories will give students with non-technical backgrounds the chance to explore geospatial data and policy, guided by experts from the Arctic Initiative, the Woodwell Climate Research Center, and Esri. The workshop covers topics in data visualization, policy, and ArcGIS software and culminates with student presentations on Arctic-specific policy challenges. Sessions will be held on Fridays from 12–2 p.m. from February 11 to March 11, 2022, on Zoom. We will host a final workshop at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, MA on March 26 and 27. Participants must commit to attending all sessions when applying. Students wishing to participate should fill out the form HERE.

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

Arctic Initiative Contributes to Arctic Circle Assembly 2021

Arctic residents, students, policymakers, academics, and business leaders convened in Reykjavík, Iceland, for the 2021 Arctic Circle Assembly from Thursday, October 14 to Saturday, October 17. The Arctic Initiative organized two sessions at this year’s Assembly: 1) Arctic Innovation Lab: 10 Ideas for a Better Arctic, and 2) Policy and Action on Plastic in the Arctic: Innovations to Tackle Plastic Pollution with The Wilson Center’s Polar Institute. 

Map Showing warming as elevation

Woodwell Climate Research Center/Greg Fiske

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

Arctic Data Stories: Learn Data Visualization and Create Maps for Data-driven Policymaking

| Dec. 08, 2020

Arctic Data Stories will give students with non-technical backgrounds the chance to explore geospatial data and policy, guided by experts from the Arctic Initiative, the Woodwell Climate Research Center, and Esri. The workshop covers topics in data visualization, policy, and ArcGIS software and culminates with student presentations on Arctic-specific policy challenges. Sessions will be held virtually on Fridays from 12–2 p.m. ET on February 5–26 & March 5, 2021. Participants must commit to attending all sessions when applying.

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

Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative Takes Students on a Virtual Field Study to Greenland

| May 21, 2020

Over the course of two days, the Greenland Policy Challenge teamed up students from the University Greenland with students from Harvard over Zoom to co-develop recommendations for Greenland's policy strategies in the fields of climate change, education and cultural preservation, foreign affairs and economics and trade. Student groups were paired with expert local Greenlandic mentors who offered guidance along the way.

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.

Wind turbines in Alaska

Flickr/Joseph

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

Arctic Initiative Spring Study Group: Financing Climate Resilience

| Jan. 21, 2020

How can the public and private sectors finance economic growth in the Arctic that serves the people and ecosystems of the Arctic? How does society ensure that these investments build social-ecological resilience in a region that is transforming before our eyes? Join this five-week study group to explore these questions and learn from Arctic experts and finance professionals about how to finance sustainable development in communities impacted by a changing climate. Led by Arctic Initiative Senior Fellow Joel Clement, an Arctic policy leader and former federal climate-change whistleblower, and Graham Sinclair, a subject matter expert on sustainable investment and an Environmental, Social, and Governance architect with decades of experience working with development financing institutions.

The Study Group will consist of five weekly sessions: Tuesdays from 6pm – 7:30pm, February 4 – March 10, 2020, in Belfer-400 (Land Lecture Hall). For more information or to sign-up, please contact brittany_janis@hks.harvard.edu. Space is limited; please register by February 4.

Ane Lone Bagger, Minister of Education, Culture, Church, and Foreign Affairs, Greenland.

Benn Craig/Belfer Center

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

Greenland Foreign Minister Discusses Climate Challenges and Problem-Solving with Arctic Initiative

    Author:
  • Shelby Grebbin
| Sep. 16, 2019

Ane Lone Bagger visited the Belfer Center to discuss how the exchange of knowledge and problem-solving between the Center and Greenlanders can lead to solutions to issues of environmental degradation and change. 

Arctic Circle Assembly Logo

Benn Craig/Belfer Center

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

Apply to Be an Arctic Innovator Delegate

| Aug. 27, 2019

The Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative is selecting a small group of 2–3 Harvard students to present their ideas at the Arctic Innovation Lab in Iceland. The Lab takes place at the world's largest Arctic gathering, the Arctic Circle Assembly, from October 10–13, 2019.  The application deadline is Friday, September 6, 2019.