Characterizing collaborative networks for different arctic issues based on complex network analysis

Abstract

International collaboration is widely accepted as an effective way to address Arctic-related issues, and these collaborative events have been frequently reported in recent years. To obtain the potential regular pattern hidden behind these events, a comprehensive methodology is proposed in this study. A database containing all the international collaborative events in terms of Arctic issues reported in the last decade was first developed, and these events were categorized into six aspects. Correspondingly, six subnetworks are developed, in which the nodes are represented by collaborative states, while the edges are denoted by collaborative relationships. These subnetworks are then characterized and compared by quantitative network parameters of total connections, network density, average path length, network transitivity, degree centrality, closeness centrality, and clustering coefficients. Finally, the performance of the individual states in each subnetwork is quantitatively analysed. The results show that Arctic science and research are the top priorities for international collaboration, and many uncertainties are involved in collaboration for Arctic resource utilization. In addition, the challenges faced by the non-Arctic states participating in Arctic issues are explained, and suggestions to promote international collaboration in terms of Arctic issues are proposed.