Network for community adaptation in the North

The Arctic regions are experiencing rapid environmental and societal changes that represent challenges of unprecedented scale to communities in the North. Recent studies point to several common challenges across the north: Access to resources; outmigratio n; shifting resource bases; and traditional livelihoods under stress. Even though many of these issues require policy solutions at a national or international level, local governments play a key role in adapting to ongoing and projected changes in society and the environment. By facilitating learning between local communities across the circumpolar North, their capacity to deal with current and projected changes will be increased. The International Polar Year 2007-2008 has resulted in a massive research effort on the current and future states of arctic environments and local communities. However, in order to utilize the insights produced, there is an urgent need to compare and synthesize the findings. Furthermore, increased understanding and adaptive ca pacity at the local level could be enhanced by bringing together stakeholders from communities across the Circumpolar North that on a daily basis are confronted with the challenges of a changing Arctic. As a first step to achieve this, a workshop will be held at the FRAM-centre in Tromsø with invited participants from Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Russia. In short, the proposed workshop will facilitate an increased cooperation between researchers and local stakeholders across the circumpola r North.