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

Abstract

This sixth Synthesis with the Science Diplomacy Action serial is the product of the February-March 2022 webinar series on Enhancing International Scientific Cooperation: Arctic Science and Technology Advice with Ministries, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan to EvREsearch LTD with Science Diplomacy Center™ coordination and logistics provided by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). These inclusive webinars began on 21 February 2022 and continued despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, emphasizing the importance of “open science” with both allies and adversaries for our shared survival as a globally interconnected civilization. The webinar series was designed to address an inevitable question: “What are the relationships and synergies between the Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM) process and the 2017 Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation, both of which involve ministries and science?” The three webinars involved keynote presentations from leaders of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA) and University of the Arctic (UArctic) as well as from ASM1 (2016), ASM2 (2018), ASM3 (2021) and ASM4 (2023 pending). Each webinar was designed further around leading questions with keynote presenters from Arctic and non-Arctic states inclusively, involving: Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and Unites States with registered participants from 49 nations. The first webinar focused on “What is Science” with expert contributions from the perspectives of the natural sciences, social sciences and Indigenous knowledge. The second webinar was convened on 10 March 2022 to address: “How Can Science Transform Data into Evidence for Informed Decisionmaking?” The third webinar was convened on 24 March 2022, focusing on “What International Efforts/Processes Are Needed to Facilitate Progress in Understanding the Arctic System and Its Global Impacts?” These transdisciplinary dialogues demonstrated the importance of international cooperation and common-interest building with science diplomacy, enabling open science with inclusion and continuity despite global geopolitics. The webinar series originated in sight of Science and Technology Advice with Ministries, initially with foreign affairs, science and environment ministries but extending to ministries of defense under current world affairs. Lessons from this holistic (international, interdisciplinary and inclusive) webinar series reinforce strategies with informed decisionmaking to operate across a continuum of urgencies, short-to-long term (pandemic to climate timescales) “for benefit of all on Earth across generations.”