News & Announcements

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.

Since 2014, the Arctic Innovation Lab has brought together students, politicians, and leaders from across the globe to discuss innovative solutions to Arctic challenges. The Lab’s goal is to build a global community of innovators, that can help contribute to solutions in this fast-changing place on our planet.

Since its founding the event has brought together hundreds of people from around the circumpolar Arctic and beyond for the annual pitch competition, usually held at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Iceland. This year the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the Arctic Circle Assembly from convening, but it couldn’t stop the Arctic Innovation Lab from going forward. 

Convened by the Arctic Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, this year’s event brought together 17 students from seven universities to share their innovative ideas for a better Arctic. 

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.

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.

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.

With 2019 on pace as one of the warmest years on record, a major new study from the University of California, Davis, reveals how rapidly the Arctic is warming and examines global consequences of continued polar warming.

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. 

Fran Ulmer has joined the Belfer Center as Senior Fellow in residence. She will work with the Arctic Initiative, a joint effort of the Center's programs on Environment and Natural Resources and Science, Technology, and Public Policy.

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.