Project 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 as a collective 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 importantly 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.
AGORA Early Career Researcher Call
AGORA is pleased to offer ECR travel grants to participate in the Agora initiative workshop during the upcoming Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) conference in Tromsø, Norway (March 16th-April 1st 2022). Each ECR will receive funding of up to €1200 to attend the full ASSW, participate in a working group meeting of their choice (Atmosphere, Cryosphere, Social & Human, Terrestrial), and help lead activities in the AGORA workshop during a full-day meeting.
Each member will also help take notes during the session and participate in the synthesis of an IASC report documenting integrative Arctic research priorities and approaches for developing coupled paleo, contemporary and indigenous methodological approaches for addressing these issues. Read more and apply here.
Date and Location:
Cancelled
IASC Working Groups / Committees funding the Project:
- Atmosphere WG
- Cryosphere WG
- Social & Human WG
- Terrestrial WG
- International Science Initiative in the Russian Arctic (ISIRA)
Project Lead
Year funded by IASC
2021