News & Announcements

58 Items

Jennifer Spence at Arctic Circle Assembly 2023

Arctic Circle/Flickr

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

Jennifer Spence Named Project Director of Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center

| Mar. 18, 2024

The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School is pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer Spence as Project Director of the Center’s Arctic Initiative. As Project Director, she will steward the Initiative’s scholarship, policy engagement, and youth leadership training on the challenges being created by climate change in the Arctic.

teaser image

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

Sara Olsvig Joins Arctic Initiative’s International Advisory Board

| Jan. 25, 2024

The Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs is pleased to announce the appointment of Sara Olsvig to its International Advisory Board. Olsvig, a prominent Greenlandic politician and Inuit leader, brings to the Arctic Initiative a wealth of policymaking experience and a deep understanding of Arctic governance, human rights, and Indigenous rights. 

teaser image

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.

Flags of the 8 Arctic states and 6 Permanent Participants

Arctic Council/Flickr

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

Charting a Course for Working-Level Cooperation in the Arctic

| Sep. 25, 2023

Since September 2022, the Arctic Initiative - together with collaborators at the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute, the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, and the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Affairs - has hosted a series of workshops with Arctic governance experts and practitioners to explore possible pathways for cooperation through the Arctic Council and the broader network of institutions that support the management of Arctic issues, as well as pathways for eventual engagement with Russia.

Permafrost Pathways panel during CSPC 2022

CSPC

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

Strengthening U.S.-Canadian Collaboration on Permafrost Thaw

| Sep. 25, 2023

In November 2022, members of the Arctic Initiative traveled to the Canadian Science Policy Conference (CSPC) in Ottawa to introduce Permafrost Pathways to the Canadian research and policy communities. Through participation and meetings with key stakeholders, the team used the opportunity to seek guidance on how best to engage with Canadian scientists, decisionmakers, and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) communities as the project moves forward.

Margaret Williams holding baby polar bear

Margaret Williams

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

Margaret Williams Named Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative

| Sep. 25, 2023

Arctic environmentalist and policy expert Margaret Williams has joined the Arctic Initiative as a full-time resident Senior Fellow for the 2023-2024 academic year. Williams will support and expand the Initiative’s portfolio of work on marine governance and sustainable ocean management.

Arctic Pandemics cover

Arctic Yearbook/Amber Webb

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

Journal Launch Highlights Lessons for Future Arctic Pandemic Preparedness

| Sep. 25, 2023

In September 2023, the Arctic Initiative hosted the official launch of “Arctic Pandemics: COVID-19 and Other Pandemic Experiences and Lessons Learned,” a special Arctic Yearbook issue that examines the health, social, cultural, and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Arctic. 

Student-led discussion in a tent in Arendal, Norway

Brittany Janis/Belfer Center

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

Exploring Arctic Sustainability: Enhancing Resilience, Addressing Land Degradation and Permafrost Thaw Through Indigenous Empowerment

| Sep. 13, 2023

The Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative, in collaboration with the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry and the Permafrost Pathways Project, co-organized a week-long workshop for Indigenous youth titled, “Exploring Arctic Sustainability: Enhancing Resilience, Addressing Land Degradation, and Permafrost Thaw Through Indigenous Empowerment.” With support from the United Nations Global Environment Facility (GEF), the program brought together nearly 20 Indigenous youth from Alaska, Canada, Mongolia, Norway, and Sweden for a week of climate leadership training and dialogue on how a rapidly changing Arctic is detrimentally impacting Indigenous identities, livelihoods, and ways of life.