SUPPORTING COHERENT POLICY AND DECISION-MAKING

Leads: Janet Pawlak, Arctic Monitoring & Assessment Programme and Volker Rachold, German Arctic Office

What we do

Work Package 7 is Arctic PASSION´s main instrument to communicate with policy and decision-makers regarding the needs, strategies and financial sustainability for Arctic observations. We establish suitable and effective communication platforms and fora, enabling a dialogue between the project and our relevant audience(s). We communicate Arctic PASSION outcomes and recommendations to policy and decision-making bodies, and at the same time, we receive and understand policy needs, so that Arctic PASSION can adjust its activities and actions. 

We address policy and decision-makers from local to international levels. Through dialogues, consultation meetings, policy briefs, online surveys, and face-to-face briefings, we interact with 

  • The Arctic Council
  • The European Parliament
  • Regional and local decision-makers, with regional governments and agencies
  • The Arctic Science Funders Forum

German Arctic Dialogue with ministries and authorities (photo: AWI/Heike Midleja) and EU briefing meeting (photo: EPB/Griffith Couser). 

ARCTIC COUNCIL                               

The Arctic Council is the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation between Arctic States, Indigenous Peoples and other Arctic residents regarding sustainable development and environmental protection in the region. AMAP establishes the dialogue with providing reports and organising briefings at Arctic Council meetings, liaising with the agencies coordinating observations in the Arctic countries via the Arctic Council Working Groups and consulting with Indigenous Peoples regarding their needs and the better integration of Indigenous Knowledge into Arctic observations. AMAP specifically wrote a compilation about Arctic PASSION's activities and relevance to the Arctic Council and its Working Groups: Project overview for Arctic Council Working Groups and Permanent Participants.

EU AMAP contribution at Polar Cluster exhibition stand at the Shipbuilding, Machinery and Marine Technology Trade Fair - SMM Hamburg, 6-9 September 2022 (photo: AMAP/Heidi Sevestre). 

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

A sustained contact with the Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission Officials interested in Arctic and EU research programmes has been established and maintained in collaboration with EU Polar Cluster projects. The European Polar Board coordinated this task, organised a policy briefing in January 2024 in Brussels at the European Parliament, has responded to requests for advice or information from policy makers and has tracked European policies and activities that are relevant for Arctic observations systems. See here the publications related to the policy briefing meeting: 

Policy briefing at the European Parliament together with the EU Polar Cluster member OCEAN:ICE in January 2024 (photo: EPB/Griffith Couser). 

REGIONAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND AGENCIES

Structured dialogues with sub-national authorities and agencies have been organised to learn about their needs and questions and identify possible contributions from this level of governance to establishing long-term sustained Arctic observation systems, including community-based observations. Within these dialogues, the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland has identified key questions and needs, responded to these questions by providing concrete ideas for the benefit of sub-national governance levels and discussed the recommendations and paths forward towards sustained sub-national engagement in Arctic observation. Based on several interviews, workshops, conference sessions and an online scoping workshop, a dialogue with local and regional policymakers and agencies was established. Results from these are summarised in 3 thematic policy briefs and one last, summarising policy brief with a set of 6 action items for researchers and decision makers:

Participants of the Arctic PASSION conference sessions at Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit 2023 conference, 15 November 2023 (photo: University of Lapland/Pavel Tkach).

ARCtIC SCIENCE FUNDERS FORUM

The Arctic Science Funders Forum was established in 2020 as an outcome of the 2nd Arctic Science Ministerial Meeting to encourage international collaboration and research funding beyond national capabilities. It is a platform for funding agencies/organisations to exchange priorities and develop joint (inter-) national funding calls. The German Arctic Office at the Alfred Wegener Institute maintains a close dialogue with the members of the Arctic Science Funders Forum, reports on Arctic PASSION activities and discusses recommendations to help national funding agencies develop their funding strategies for future Arctic observations. Beside conference sessions and meetings, an internal workshop was organised for the Forum to present Arctic PASSION’s recommendations towards a sustained Arctic observing network. 

International Arctic Funding session at the Arctic Circle Assembly 2022 in Reykjavik, Iceland (photo: AWI/Lisa Grosfeld). 

News highlights
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04
Jul, 25
Arctic PASSION at the EU Arctic Forum
Some highlights from the EU Arctic Forum, Indigenous Peoples’ Dialogue and Arctic Youth Dialogue Read More
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22
Apr, 25
Wildfires and Air Quality Forecasting - Services Features & Users
Join the webinar on wildfires and air quality pollution, happening May 12th at 15:00 GMT Read More
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06
Dec, 24
Alizée Le Moigne - My Sharing Circle Ambassador Project
An update of my Sharing Circle Ambassador Project Read More
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12
Nov, 24
Arctic PASSION Online Seminar & Dialogue “Reducing the Risk to Arctic Shipping - An Introduction to POLARIS”, 4 December 12 PM GMT
The Arctic Shipping Service aims to improve available information about risk to ships operating in sea ice based on an analysis of historic shipping activity and new sea ice risk … Read More
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28
Oct, 24
Science Diplomacy Through Conferencing at the Arctic Circle Assembly
A summary of the Arctic Circle roundtable discussion on Science piplomacy through conferencing Read More
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21
Oct, 24
Arctic PASSION Online Seminar & Dialogue “The Arctic Communities Event Databases”
A webinar about Arctic PASSION's Arctic Community-Based Monitoring event databases Read More
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23
Sep, 24
Rashmi Ramesh - My Sharing Circle Ambassador Project
An update of my Sharing Circle Ambassador Project Read More
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20
Sep, 24
Fabian Seemann - My Sharing Circle Ambassador project
A firsthand account of the Ambassador project of the Sharing Circle. Read More
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13
Sep, 24
Peyton M. Cavnar - My Sharing Circle Ambassador Project
An update of my Ambassador Project of the Sharing Circle and goals moving forward. Read More
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26
Aug, 24
Arctic PASSION ambassadors published article in the Finnish Climate Bulletin
Read about Jaakko Juvonen and Kaisa Juhanko's newspaper article on a warming Arctic and its impact on ecosystems and livelyhoods. Read More
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23
Aug, 24
Sharing Circle representation at the 12th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP) in Whitehorse, Canada
Read more about Arctic PASSION's Sharing Circle participants who attended the 12th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP) in Whitehorse, Canada. Read More
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30
Jul, 24
Recap of Arctic Circle Berlin
Read about Arctic PASSION's participation at the Arctic Circle Berlin, 7-8 May 2024. Read More
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08
Feb, 24
Local Arctic policy-makers on good practices and challenges for pursuing green transition
Adam Stepien provides insights from the Arctic Spirit Conference in Rovaniemi, November 2023. Read More
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22
Jan, 24
From changing polar regions to policy responses - Strengthening EU and global climate preparedness
Arctic PASSION and OCEAN:Ice jointly hosted a hybrid policy briefing event at the EU Parliament on January 24th. Read More
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29
Jun, 23
The power of Indigenous voices and data supporting the green transitional Decision-making in the Arctic: The power of indigenous voices and data supporting the green transition
A policy brief “Data-driven Subnational Decision-making in the Arctic: The power of Indigenous voices and data supporting the green transition”, developed by the team at the Unive… Read More
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16
May, 23
Knowledge co-creation for policy
Kotryna Markeviciute's advice on partnership for knowledge co-creation for policy, emphasises that arts-based methods could provide the space for dialogue. Read More
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02
Feb, 23
Emerging leaders session at Arctic Frontiers 2023
Arctic PASSION held a session at Arctic Frontiers 2023 for emerging leaders Read More
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22
Dec, 22
Arctic PASSION at SMM
Read Janet Pawlak and Heïdi Sevestre's summary of Arctic PASSION's participation on the leading international maritime trade fair (SMM) earlier this year. Read More
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20
Sep, 22
New Fact Sheet on the EU’s Role in the Arctic
What role does the EU play in the Arctic? The fact sheet on the EU’s role in the Arctic by the Arctic PASSION partner German Arctic Office gives you an insight into it. Read More
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18
Jul, 22
Supporting data-driven decision-making at the local and regional level in the Arctic
Scientists, experts and decision-makers met to identify key issues in linking pan-Arctic observing systems with the needs and responsibilities of authorities and agencies. Read More
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04
May, 22
Scoping Workshop on Data-driven Subnational Decision-making
On June 8th we are hosting an online workshop to bring together local, regional and national decision-makers, experts and researchers to identify key issues between pan-Arctic obs… Read More
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14
Jan, 22
Arctic PASSION scientists featured on EU4Oceans podcast
Arctic PASSION scientists have been actively contributing their expertise on the European Commission’s EU4Ocean podcast called “If oceans could speak”. Read More
Deliverables