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 United States Air Force Arctic Strategy: Perspectives and Insights, 12:00 pm EDT on October 5, 2020 (virtual). This event is hosted by the Polar Institute of the Wilson Center and the Arctic Domain Awareness Center. The Air Force Arctic Strategy was released in July 2020.  According to the Department of the Air Force, "The strategy outlines the Department's unique regional role and efforts to optimize Air and Space capabilities throughout the region in support of the National Defense Strategy." We are honored to host a group of distinguished military leaders for a facilitated round table discussion regarding the Air Force Arctic Strategy to include contextual perspectives about the new Arctic, the Arctic in context of Great Power Competition, and the role and importance of the Air Force in Alaska and the Arctic.
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(Inuit Circumpolar Council Alaska) Food Sovereignty and Self-Governance: Inuit Role in Managing Arctic Marine Resources (2020). For thousands of years, Inuit have been part of the Arctic ecosystem. Inuit have thrived and built their culture rooted in values that shape the relationships they have held with everything within this ecosystem. Those values-including respect, collaboration, and sharing-all aid in supporting healthy and harmonious relationships and communities. A core element of Inuit culture that incorporates these values is hunting, gathering, and preparing foods. Discussions about food security require an understanding of the far-reaching implications of how issues of food security interact with culture, history, management systems, and world views. The interconnections between all peoples, wildlife, and the environment within the Arctic ecosystem directly influences food security, and food sovereignty is distinctly tied to food security.
(Friends of Europe) After the Ice: The Arctic and European Security (Fall 2020). For most of the three decades since the end of the Cold War, the Arctic has been a zone of low tension, a glacial oasis of multilateral cooperation and a geopolitical backwater. That relative harmony is now under growing strain chiefly because of the resurgence of great power competition worldwide against a backdrop of accelerating global warming which is melting the polar ice cap at a record pace. This threatens disaster for the environment and the indigenous peoples of the Arctic, but also whets appetites for new shipping routes and access to undeveloped oil, gas and mineral resources.
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Media
 Sweden Launches New Arctic Strategy. On Tuesday, the Swedish government submitted an updated Arctic strategy to the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag. The government's report "Strategy for the Arctic region" is a continuation of the country's Arctic strategy from 2011. "The Arctic is an important part of our immediate neighborhood and holding increasing strategic and economic significance. The fast changes taking place in the Arctic mean that Sweden has to relate to this development", Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde says in a statement. High North News
Bangladeshi in the Arctic. Mallik Sezan Mahmud, a PhD candidate at the University of Calgary in Canada recently came back from a four-month-long scientific expedition in the central Arctic. He is one of the first Bangladeshi nationals to take part in such a scientific endeavour in one of the most unexplored parts of the earth. Mahmud shares his experiences during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAIC) expedition and how studying the massively changing Arctic research is vital for the future. New Age Youth
 Sandy Plains in the Arctic. Bunge Land is one of the most unusual places in the Siberian Arctic. Unlike the vegetated tundra and bedrock surfaces of its neighboring islands, Bunge Land (Zemlya Bunge) is a barren sandy plain. It was discovered in the 1800s and later named after the Russian explorer Alexander von Bunge. Because of its remote location and unique geography, this patch of land has been understudied compared to surrounding regions in Siberia. NASA Earth Observatory
Nearly 40% of the Arctic is Greener than in 1986, Study Says. Most people think of lush new plant growth as a sign the land is healthy and thriving. But, greener and greener colours in the Arctic are cause for alarm. there's one place on Earth where greener lands are cause for alarm: The Arctic, which has been getting greener and greener over the past few decades, with catastrophic implications for the future of climate change. A study released last month found almost 40 per cent of the Arctic region showed signs of increased summer greening over the course of two decades, compared to less than 5 per cent that showed the opposite: Less plant growth, or "browning." The Weather Network
 Job Posting: Director of the Secretariat. The Arctic Council seeks a candidate for the position of Director of the Arctic Council Secretariat (ACS). The ACS supports the work of the Arctic Council and is located in Tromsø, Norway. The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum to promote cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic States with the involvement of Arctic Indigenous peoples and other Arctic inhabitants. The Arctic Council Chairmanship rotates every two years among the Arctic States. Iceland is the current Chair of the Council and the Russian Federation will take over the Chairmanship in May 2021. The Arctic Council is comprised of the eight Arctic States: Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States. A unique feature of the Arctic Council is the involvement of six international Indigenous peoples' organizations as Permanent Participants: Aleut International Association; Arctic Athabaskan Council; Inuit Circumpolar Council; Gwich'in Council International; Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North; and the Saami Council. Arctic Council
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Future Events
 Arctic Circle VIRTUAL: Dialogue with US Senator Lisa Murkowski, 1:30 pm EDT on October 6, 2020 (virtual). This event is hosted by Arctic Circle. In this Dialogue, which takes place only four weeks from the Presidential election, Senator Murkowski will discuss the importance of the election for the Arctic. Participants will be able to send in their questions and comments, both before and during the event, to be addressed in the Dialogue. Arctic Circle's own Chairman and former President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson will moderate this event.
Launch Party for 'After the Ice' Film Series, 10 am AKDT on October 7, 2020 (virtual). A virtual launch party will be held for a new mini-documentary series sharing stories of Indigenous communities challenged by sea ice loss in Alaska's Bering Sea. "After the Ice" is a three-part series created through a partnership between the Bering Sea Elders Group and the Study of Environmental Arctic Change program. The premier screening will be followed by a panel discussion with video-journalist Eli Kintisch, Bering Sea Elders Group executive director Mellisa Johnson and climate change educator Bill McKibben.
After the Ice video premier, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EDT on October 7, 2020 (virtual). This virtual launch party is hosted by the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH). Three short videos made by filmmaker Eli Kintisch, the Bering Sea Elders' Group, and SEARCH share stories of Indigenous communities immensely challenged by sea ice loss in in the Bering Sea. A screening of the videos will be followed by discussions with filmmaker, Eli Kintisch; Bering Sea Elder's Group Executive Director, Melissa Johnson; and 350.org co-founder, Bill McKibben. SEARCH scientist, Henry Huntington will moderate.
IARPC Public Webinar Series: MOSAiC Expedition Overview, 2:00 pm EDT/ 10:00 am AKDT on October 8, 2020. The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) will host a public webinar providing an overview of the MOSAiC expedition. Throughout October, IARPC Collaborations will be holding a "MOSAiC Month" focused on the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition. This is the first webinar in that series. All are welcome to attend.
The Arctic Resilience Forum: Food Security, October 14, 2020 (virtual). The Arctic Resilience Forum will be convened every Wednesday from 11:30am - 1:00pm (EST) over a series of ten weeks, beginning October 7, 2020. The online series will engage the broadest audience possible in conversations about how to build the resilience of Arctic communities and ecosystems across a variety of focus areas.
Alaska Federation of Natives 2020 Convention, October 15-16, 2020 (Virtual). The annual convention serves as the principal forum and voice for the Alaska Native community in addressing critical issues of public policy and government. The convention convenes thousands of official delegates and participants from membership organizations across the state. At the Convention, delegates discuss strategic opportunities and challenges, listen to memorable keynote speeches, hear reports from political leaders and presentations from expert panels, and share stories resilience, experiences, strengths, knowledge and hope for the future.
The Arctic Resilience Forum: Renewable Energy, October 21, 2020 (virtual). The Arctic Resilience Forum will be convened every Wednesday from 11:30am - 1:00pm (EST) over a series of ten weeks, beginning October 7, 2020. The online series will engage the broadest audience possible in conversations about how to build the resilience of Arctic communities and ecosystems across a variety of focus areas.
11th Maritime Risk Symposium 2020, October 26-30, 2020 (virtual). The Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI), a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence, will host the 11th Annual Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS 2020) in collaboration with the National Academy of Sciences. The theme of MRS 2020 is "Maritime Resilience." DHS defines resilient infrastructure systems as the "ability of systems, infrastructures, government, business, communities, and individuals to resist, tolerate, absorb, recover from, prepare for, or adapt to an adverse occurrence that causes harm, destruction, or loss of national significance." Through presentations, panels and open forums, the symposium will focus on the attributes of resilience to adversarial events of national significance in the maritime domain, using our experience with COVID-19 as a driver for the discussion. The objective is less about the specific impacts COVID-19 had and is having, and more on how that event informs us on resiliency for future global upsets, in terms of what works, what gaps have been exposed, and what research questions ought to be studied as a first step towards enhancing Maritime Resilience.
The Arctic Resilience Forum: Gender, November 18, 2020 (virtual). The Arctic Resilience Forum will be convened every Wednesday from 11:30am - 1:00pm (EST) over a series of ten weeks, beginning October 7, 2020. The online series will engage the broadest audience possible in conversations about how to build the resilience of Arctic communities and ecosystems across a variety of focus areas.
The Arctic Resilience Forum: Financing Resilience, December 2, 2020 (virtual). The Arctic Resilience Forum will be convened every Wednesday from 11:30am - 1:00pm (EST) over a series of ten weeks, beginning October 7, 2020. The online series will engage the broadest audience possible in conversations about how to build the resilience of Arctic communities and ecosystems across a variety of focus areas.
The Arctic Resilience Forum: Infrastructure, December 9, 2020 (virtual). The Arctic Resilience Forum will be convened every Wednesday from 11:30am - 1:00pm (EST) over a series of ten weeks, beginning October 7, 2020. The online series will engage the broadest audience possible in conversations about how to build the resilience of Arctic communities and ecosystems across a variety of focus areas.
2021 Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 26-28, 2021 (virtual). The Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) has been bringing together scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public for over twenty years to discuss the latest marine research being conducted in Alaskan waters. Over 700 people attend this 4-day long conference held annually during the month of January. Each day of the conference highlights important Alaskan marine ecosystems: Gulf of Alaska (Tuesday), Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands (Wednesday), and the Arctic (Thursday). Research topics discussed range from ocean physics, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, to local traditional knowledge. Since its inception, NPRB has been a proud sponsor and one of the leading organizers of AMSS.
Arctic Frontiers 2021, February 1-4, 2021 (virtual). Arctic Frontiers started out in 2006 assembling the first global scientific conference on economic, societal and environmental sustainable growth in the north. In February 2021, we will arrange the 15th conference with the theme "Building Bridges". The conference has a pan arctic perspective and builds new partnerships across nations, generations and ethnic groups. Arctic Frontiers provides a forum for dialogue and communication between science, government and industry in the Arctic.
Arctic Science Summit Week, March 20-26, 2021 (Lisbon, Portugal). The Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Local Organizing Committee will host the Arctic Science Summit Week 2021. The Conference is organized by FCT, Ciência Viva, AIR Center, the Portuguese Arctic Community and by IASC and partners. Framed by the overarching theme for the Science Conference "The Arctic: Regional Changes, Global Impacts," Lisbon invites International experts on the Arctic and Indigenous Peoples to discuss the "New Arctic" and also its impacts and interactions to and with the lower latitudes.
2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses, May 3-6, 2021 (Hanko, Finland). Organizers announce, that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses has been postponed to 2021. This symposium will bring together molecular microbial ecologists specializing in different organism groups to share our latest results and discuss methodological problems, as well as future prospects in the field, including practical international collaborations. The environmental focus will be on cryospheric environments including sea ice, glaciers, ice sheets, and permafrost, but excellent research in other polar environments is also invited. The methods to be discussed will focus on 'omics' techniques, ranging from single cells to metagenomes, but research using additional methods is encouraged as well.
3rd Arctic Science Ministerial, May 8-9, 2021 (Toyko, Japan). The Japanese and Icelandic organizers of this ministerial continue to plan for an in-person ministerial, in Tokyo, but have moved the dates from November 21-22, 2020 to May 8-9, 2021 because of Covid-19. Since the last Arctic Science Ministerial in 2018, changes in the Arctic ecosystem and the resulting impacts locally and globally have been severely felt. Considering the need for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and repair measures, the relevance of an international Arctic Science Ministerial has never been greater. It is necessary to strengthen scientific cooperation and collaboration among both Arctic and non-Arctic States in order to develop our understanding of the rapid changes impacting the Arctic. The First Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM1) was hosted by the United States in 2016, and two years later, the Second Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM2) was co-hosted by Germany, Finland, and the European Commission. ASM3 will be co-hosted by Iceland and Japan.
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