Understanding the causes and consequences of current Arctic change is an urgent and immense task for humankind. The AGORA initiative (A collaborative Arctic research community assessment of interactions between global change drivers, societies and subsystems through space and time) represents a common ground to bring together Arctic scientists, indigenous researchers, and community stakeholders as a collective to discuss the core problems faced by the Arctic in the 21st Century. This workshop will focus on how these issues may be better understood by providing a firm historical context that extends beyond our currently limited instrumental monitoring. We aim to assess the impacts of main factors associated with global change (e.g., climate, ice thaw, environmental pollution and wildlife abundance and diversity) on the Arctic and its human inhabitants using Panarctic lake sediment core records and indigenous knowledge extending back ~1000 years. Looking at the past provides the opportunity to document the complex relationships between climate, ecosystems and human societies, providing a deeper understanding of how they will respond to future changes.
To help lead this effort, we are pleased to offer travel grants for one indigenous representative and two early career researchers (ECRs) to participate in the Agora initiative workshop during the upcoming Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) conference in Vienna, Austria (February 17th- February 24th, 2023). Each participant will receive funding (covering economy class flights, hotel, and conference fees) up to 1700/1800 € to attend the full ASSW, participate in an IASC working group (WG) meeting (ECRs with research falling into Atmospheric -AWG- or Social & Human -SHWG working group priorities with the indigenous representative participating in any IASC WG of their choice), and help lead activities in the AGORA workshop during a full-day meeting. Each participant, including those previously granted from cryosphere (CWG) and terrestrial (TWG) working groups, will also help take notes during the session and participate in synthesizing an IASC report documenting integrative Arctic research priorities and approaches for developing coupled paleo, contemporary and indigenous methodological approaches for addressing these issues. All participants will also contribute to the production of a synthesis paper.
Who is eligible
Awards will be made for one indigenous representative and two ECRs (<5 years post PhD) who work in any discipline relevant to one of the two IASC working groups supporting this initiative (priority on Atmosphere and Social & Human working groups). One ECR will be selected for each group.
Dead-line: 12-December-2022 at 24:00 CET
Selection criteria
ECRs should submit a short CV (maximum four pages) and cover letter (1-2 pages max) detailing their contributions to Arctic science in their field of choice, cross-disciplinary research experience, and experience working with indigenous knowledge holders/research methodologies. Prior experience in paleoenvironmental methods is not required, as we are especially interested in coupling paleo work with contemporary and predictive modelling efforts, but this research letter should highlight how your expertise could help to support the historical and Panarctic nature of AGORA. The indigenous representative is welcome to submit these materials as well or may choose to reach out directly to the workshop organizers to discuss their interest in participating in our initiative. Awards will be based on these materials and additional criteria designed to maximize:
- The geographical and intellectual diversity of the initiative
- Gender and cultural diversity
- Indigenous people’s participation
All application materials and/or questions about this call should be submitted via email to the workshop organizers:
Sergi Pla-Rabés: sergiplarabes@gmail.com s.pla@creaf.uab.cat
Clay Prater: prater.clay@gmail.com
Terms of the Grant
Upon acceptance of the award, recipients acknowledge that they should provide feedback about the Agora workshop development. This feedback (maximum 1000 words) should emphasise the relevance of extending back to time and increasing the spatial extent of the available dataset and the importance of establishing linkages across arctic research disciplines and indigenous knowledge to mitigate and adapt the effects of current arctic change in arctic societies and ecosystems.
Project (workshop) Summary
Understanding the causes and consequences of current Arctic change is an urgent and immense task for humankind. The AGORA initiative represents a common ground to bring together researchers, indigenous researchers, and community stakeholders to discuss the core problems faced by the Arctic in the 21st Century. This workshop focuses on how these issues may be better understood by providing a firm historical context that extends beyond our currently limited instrumental monitoring. We aim to assess the impacts of main factors associated with global change (e.g., climate, ice thaw, environmental pollution and wildlife abundance and diversity) on the Arctic and its human inhabitants using current knowledge and lake sediment core records extending back ~1000 years. The AGORA project will include scientists, early career researchers, indigenous researchers and community members from diverse backgrounds to examine the effects of these changes on biophysical components (land, air, ocean, ice and freshwater), socio-economic and cultural systems, and their interactions. Looking at the past provides the opportunity to document the complex relationships between climate, ecosystems and human societies, which may provide a deeper understanding of how they will respond to ongoing changes in the future. The workshop aims to produce a synthesis paper on how looking at the past could improve our understanding of current Arctic change.
Contact
Sergi Pla-Rabés: sergiplarabes@gmail.com
Clay Prater: prater.clay@gmail.com