The COVID-19 pandemic was a global phenomenon, but its impacts in the Arctic, and the experiences of Arctic communities, were distinct. Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative and Arctic Yearbook will hold 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’s co-editors and select authors will reflect on insights and advice presented in the volume that may inform pandemic preparedness and management and contribute to resilience in the Arctic.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has canceled all oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in a move designed to protect the region and reduce fossil fuel production. “With today’s action, no one will have rights to drill in one of the most sensitive landscapes on Earth,” Haaland said in an online news conference Wednesday. “Climate change is the crisis of our lifetime. And we cannot ignore the disproportionate impacts being felt in the Arctic. We must do everything within our control to meet the highest standards of care to protect this fragile ecosystem.”

In a pattern reminiscent of the Cold War, a Russian research vessel is shadowing the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker USCGC Healy in the Arctic, AIS data shows. Healy got under way from the U.S. Coast Guard base at Kodiak Island on August 26 and headed up through the Bering Strait, data provided by Pole Star shows. She entered the Chukchi Sea on August 30 and kept heading north, well into the Arctic Ocean, before turning westwards into waters north of the Russian Arctic coastline. 

“Our primary focus of these first months was on finding a way forward that would allow the working groups to resume their important work,” Morten Høglund said in an interview posted Thursday on the Arctic Council website. “As I mentioned in May: without functioning Working Groups, we don’t have a Council. This task was therefore quintessential for restarting the engine and taking a course forward.”

Gabriel Prout worked four seasons on his father's crab boat, the Silver Spray, before joining his two brothers in 2020 to buy a half-interest plus access rights for a snow crab fishery that's typically the largest and richest in the Bering Sea. Then in 2021, disaster: an annual survey found crabs crashing to an all-time low. The red king crab fishery was closed; the snow crab fishery cut to a tenth of the previous year's take.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed the federal government's management of Arctic efforts, with a particular focus on the Department of State’s (State) current structures for Arctic diplomacy. The review was informed by interviews with over 30 stakeholders. The resulting report discusses several factors pertaining to broad USG management and State-specific management of Arctic priorities. Stakeholders also discussed their perspectives on the creation of the new Ambassador-at-Large for the Arctic Region position and elements State and the new Ambassador should consider to successfully manage U.S. Arctic priorities.

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? Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative, the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, the Center for Ocean Governance at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, and the Wilson Center's Polar Institute will host a hybrid seminar with a panel of international experts to unpack the Arctic's intricate challenges and their global ramifications, from international politics to climate impacts.

The Atlantic Council—in partnership with the Idaho National Laboratory and the University of Alaska Business Enterprise Institute— hosts the Frontiers Project meeting. The Frontiers Project is expanding to Alaska to grow the conversation about the economic and energy security imperatives of establishing US leadership in meeting global demand for low-emissions production and manufacturing.

Arctic Circle is an international conference on dialogue and cooperation on the future of the Arctic and our planet. It is an open democratic platform with participation from governments, organizations, corporations, universities, think tanks, environmental associations, indigenous communities, concerned citizens, and others. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan.

Conference hosts invite researchers, research managers and stakeholders to the fourth Svalbard Science Conference. The conference will focus on achieving excellent science through cooperation; enhancing cooperation and quality within Svalbard research, building and strengthening interdisciplinary and international networks and consolidating Svalbard as an attractive platform for Arctic research. The conference is hosted by The Research Council of Norway, The Norwegian Polar Institute, Norwegian Institute for Air Research, The Norwegian Meteorological Institute and Svalbard Science Forum.

Sitka WhaleFest is a festival to celebrate marine life through science education, community and storytelling! Sitka WhaleFest raises awareness, educates, and creates enthusiasm for the marine environment. The goal is to bring a deeper understanding of the marine environment to a diverse and inclusive audience in a way that all participants feel welcome and engaged.

The 6th biennial "Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit" Conference will be held on 14-15 November 2023 in Rovaniemi, Finland, the birthplace of official Arctic cooperation. This international conference, organized by the City of Rovaniemi and the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland, gathers policymakers, academics, and other stakeholders for Arctic discussions. Due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, changes in Arctic cooperation will be prominently featured in the conference agenda, and will be explored from the point of view of national and international security, and from a regional perspective, including the Barents region.

For more than 100 years AGU has been opening science—opening pathways to discovery, opening greater awareness to address climate change, opening greater collaborations to lead to solutions and opening the fields and professions of science to a whole new age of justice equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. This year, as AGU convenes >25,000 attendees from 100+ countries in San Francisco for AGU23, the theme is: Wide. Open. Science.

The Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS), has been bringing together scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public for thirty 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.

Abstract submissions are open through October 6, 2023.

The Arctic Frontiers annual conference aims to connect different expertise and perspectives from areas such as policy, science, and business. It is an arena for networking and knowledge exchange.

Arctic360’s Annual Event brings together Northern and Indigenous governments, institutions, and corporations; global finance; state leaders; mining, innovation, and other industry leaders; and Arctic experts from Canada and around the circumpolar North to advance the conversation and foster action for building a sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous Arctic region.

The 52nd International Arctic Workshop will be held at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The International Arctic Workshop is a friendly, informal, and relaxed conference open to all students and professionals interested in the Arctic. Originally started at INSTAAR at the University of Colorado - Boulder, the Arctic Workshop alternates between INSTAAR and an international host. This year, University of Massachusetts with the department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences & Climate System Research center will be hosting. The event website will be available in August.

Abstract deadline: February 15, 2024

The 7th biennial AOS as part of Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2024. The AOS draws a wide range of participants from across the spectrum of Arctic observing – Indigenous experts, operational agency representatives, scientists, and others – from around the world. Much of the summit is organized around discussions led by working groups on particular themes (Regional to global observing, Data sharing, System implementation/SAON ROADS, Observing System Benefits). In addition to plenary and working group sessions, this year we will include additional breakout sessions. 

As the largest Arctic policy and business conference in North America, with partners and convenings worldwide, the Arctic Encounter continues to gather leading voices from around the world. The Arctic Encounter is eager to welcome 1,000+ participants to Alaska for a world-class arts and cultural experience, including policy debates, dialogue with international leaders, business executives, Indigenous peoples, scientists, students, defense leaders, diplomats, policymakers, and more.

Nordland Research Institute and NORD University host this event. The congress includes high-level plenary sessions, several parallel sessions, network activities, and social and cultural events. Researchers, policymakers, businesses, and students exchange knowledge and connect across the Arctic. IASSA and UArctic will also hold their General Assemblies.

The 12^th International Conference on Permafrost will consider “Integrating Perspectives of Permafrost Thaw, Change, and Adaptation.” Event partners include the Canadian Permafrost Association, IPA, and Yukon University.

In lead up to its 35th anniversary in 2025, the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is coordinating a multi-year planning process for the Fourth International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP IV) that will engage Arctic researchers, policymakers, residents, and stakeholders from around the world to collegially discuss the state of Arctic science, the place the Arctic occupies in global affairs and systems, to consider the most urgent knowledge gaps and research priorities that lie before us and to explore avenues to address these research needs. This event is hosted by a consortium of US institutions, including the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Northern Iowa, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Alaska Pacific University. ICARP I, II, and III focused the attention of the world’s researchers toward the value of strategic international coordination in accelerating progress in addressing critical challenges. ICARP IV will build upon this concept by striving to achieve consensus and build collaborations among the leading scientific, academic, environmental, Indigenous and political organizations currently concerned with Arctic issues.