Enhancing International Scientific Cooperation: Arctic Science and Technology Advice with Ministries

From February to March 2022, Arctic Initiative Senior Fellow Fran Ulmer and Research Fellow Nadezhda Filimonova, alongside leaders of international Arctic research organizations and Arctic Indigenous peoples’ organizations, contributed to a three-part webinar series on international scientific cooperation in the Arctic. The dialogues continued despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, underlining the importance of open science as a central interaction among great powers to both promote cooperation and prevent conflict. 

The webinar series, entitled “Enhancing International Scientific Cooperation: Arctic Science and Technology Advice with Ministries,” was funded by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with logistic support from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). It involved keynote speakers from both Arctic and non-Arctic states, including Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with registered participants from 49 nations.

Paul Berkman, Faculty Associate with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and 2021-2022 Fulbright Arctic Chair, served as the webinar series’ Chief Executive Officer. He received planning assistance for all three webinars from Filimonova, as well as Teruaki Fujii, a Master of Public Administration candidate at Harvard Kennedy School. 

Ulmer delivered a keynote presentation during the third webinar, which examined how existing mechanisms to facilitate international scientific cooperation in the Arctic could be improved and strengthened, including issues of education, scientific data integration and funding schemes. In particular, Ulmer identified a need to include more youth into Arctic research discussions and projects.

The insights from the webinar series were distilled into a Science Diplomacy Action report, which was published by the Science Diplomacy Center. Read the report below.