Mistra Arctic Futures Annual Report 2011 (pdf)

Breaking the ice
The aim of the Mistra programme
Arctic Futures in a Global Context is to
stimulate research that contributes to
sustainable development in the Arctic.
Although the Arctic is attracting a
great deal of attention, Arctic research
in Sweden has traditionally had a
bias toward the natural sciences. This programme is focused
on the socioeconomic and political aspects of the Arctic and
its global linkages. The vision is to stimulate Arctic research
in the social sciences and humanities, thereby creating strong
research environments and attracting a new generation of
scholars, as well as linking Swedish science in this field to wider
international research networks.
In contrast to most Mistra programmes “Arctic Futures in a
Global Context” is comprised of five separate projects. These
are coordinated by a Programme Director hosted at the Swedish
Polar Research Secretariat, providing important value-adding
support services such as data handling and outreach activities.
Researchers from a variety of disciplines are involved in the
programme, covering a broad spectrum of scientific methods,
traditions and research cultures. This diversity is reflected in the
ways the research is presented in this report, and how results
are achieved. The project reports collected here were written
for a midterm review; final outcomes are not expected until late
2013. Nevertheless, these reports will play an essential role in
defining a possible next phase of a Mistra Arctic programme,
to commence in 2014. The potential for a more comprehensive
approach will then be explored.
Anders Karlqvist
Chairman of the board
Mistra Arctic Futures in a Global Context
Beginning of things to come
The Mistra programme Arctic
Futures in a Global Context is
halfway through its first phase,
and an evaluation in May 2012 lies
ahead. The projects included in the
programme are already fruitful in
their own rights, and are delivering
according to plan.
The process leading up to the start of this programme
in 2011 was long. Cecilia Dahlberg was the Programme
Director until the beginning of 2012. She developed
a model for collaborating across the projects that the
programme will continue to use, and laid the foundation
for an activity plan that embraces joint meetings and
outreach activities for different stakeholder groups.
The Arctic is an emerging issue on global political
and social agendas – even if it has always been a quiet
place – and Sweden needs to be a part of that movement,
preferably through national expertise with international
commitments and outlook. I look forward to leading
and coordinating the activities in this timely research
programme. We anticipate that the wide range of issues
covered by the research projects in this programme will
result in many interesting opportunities for linkages
between the projects; implementing joint outreach
activities is one way of unifying them.
The research programme was represented at the
ICASS VII conference in June 2011, as well as at the
meeting for Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic Council,
in Luleå in November 2011. Researchers from several of
the projects presented their work at the IPY conference
From Knowledge to Action in April 2012 in Montreal. The
website arcticfutures.se is one of the foremost channels
of communication for the programme. A folder about the
programme was produced in 2011, and an updated version
was printed for the programme symposium Arctic Futures:
Increasing Knowledge in Social Sciences and the Humanities
held during the Stockholm Polar Week in March 2012 at the
Canadian Embassy in Stockholm.
Reaching out and interacting with fellow researchers,
stakeholders and policymakers will be important for the
rest of this first programme phase. Swedish researchers
in the social sciences and humanities that are interested
in Arctic and Antarctic issues will be coming together and
join ranks in attempt to develop a better position and a
common approach for reaching out to research funding
sources, the international science community and other
target groups for their work. I believe that the Arctic
Futures in a Global Context programme can benefit from,
and provide benefits to, such efforts.
Sofia Rickberg
Programme Director
Mistra Arctic Futures in a Global Context
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