News & Announcements

On May 24, 2023, the members of the University of the Arctic (UArctic) unanimously voted in favor of accepting Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative into the network. UArctic is a cooperative network of universities, colleges, research institutes, and other organizations concerned with education and research in and about the North. 

Arctic Initiative Faculty Affiliate Stuart Harris has been chosen as a finalist for the 2023 Frederik Paulsen Arctic Academic Action Award, recognizing scientific and academic ideas that are action-oriented and hold potential for addressing the challenges and critical needs posed by climate change in the Arctic region.

Allison Agsten MC/MPA 2021 is director of the new Center for Climate Journalism and Communication at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She recounts for Harvard Kennedy School Magazine how her work with the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative shaped her career direction.

On March 31 at the Arctic Encounter Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska, the government of Norway presented its program for Norway’s upcoming Chairship of the Arctic Council. In response, John Holdren, Co-Director of the Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, issued the following statement of support.

In January, Harvard Kennedy School students Jonny Yau (MPP 2024) and Stirling Haig (MPP 2024) traveled to Tromsø, Norway, for a week-long intensive workshop hosted by the Arctic Academy for Social and Environmental Leadership (ARCADE). As part of the workshop, Yau and Haig joined Arctic Initiative team members at the 2023 Arctic Frontiers Conference, an annual meeting of scientists, policymakers, and business leaders focused on sustainable development in the Arctic.

Riikka Karppinen, a prominent youth leader, environmental activist, and politician from Finnish Lapland, has been appointed to the International Advisory Board of Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative. As a Board member, Karppinen will leverage her substantial expertise in nature conservation, policymaking, activism, and communication to help the Arctic Initiative advance its research and education goals and train the next generation of interdisciplinary Arctic experts and leaders.

In January, two dozen Indigenous youth from across the circumpolar North visited Cambridge for the International Workshop on Indigenous Youth Leadership for the Changing Arctic. They joined Harvard Kennedy School students for the second half of IGA-67M: “Policy and Social Innovation for the Changing Arctic” for an intensive course in developing their own policy and social innovations to address issues in a region warming four times faster than the rest of the world. 

John P. Holdren, Co-Director of the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative and former Science Advisor to President Obama, has been appointed to the National Academies’ Polar Research Board (PRB). The PRB, composed of 19 independent senior experts across a wide range of scientific disciplines, exists to promote excellence in polar science and to provide independent scientific guidance to U.S. federal agencies and the nation on science issues in the Arctic, the Antarctic, and cold regions in general. 

On September 26 and 27, 2022, Permafrost Pathways hosted a policy convening at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Permafrost Pathways team was joined by representatives from federal agencies, Alaska Native communities and organizations, and Arctic science institutions. The meeting was an opportunity for invitees to learn about Permafrost Pathways; offer their thoughts about the challenges and opportunities at the intersection of permafrost science and policy; and identify possibilities for connecting with, leveraging, and collaborating with Permafrost Pathways.

The rapid pace of Arctic thaw demands collaboration with Russia, no matter the political implications. In a seminar hosted by the Arctic Initiative on May 11, 2022, Andrey Todorov and Andreas Østhagen tackled the thorny question of how to proceed with Arctic Ocean governance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and expressed tentative hope for a pragmatic approach to cooperating with Russia on pressing issues such as shipping and fishery management.