Expressions of Intent for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Circum-Arctic Socio-Environment Assessment for achieving Sustainability: Integrating science, local knowledge, policy and education  (CASEAS)

Outline
CASEAS is an international integrative proposal for IPY and ICARP II, supported by Russian Academy of Sciences and tightly collaborating with multinational project groups of IASC, IGU, programmes of the Arctic Council and several research and education institutes engaged in multidisciplinary issues of achieving social sustainability in the Arctic region. The necessity to achieve larger level of Arctic societal-nature systems sustainability and ways of their adequate response to contemporary changes in climate and biodiversity, as well as social and economic risks, is becoming more and more evident. CASEAS will be carried out from the main objective of achieving social sustainability, meaning higher quality of life (health, education, welfare, good governance) which is impossible without performing better state of the environment (ecology). A special attention in this proposed activity is paid to the Russian Arctic. This region, covering almost half of the Arctic territory with diverse biophysical features of its environment and being in the process of social transformation, offers unique research challenges and opportunities. Moreover, the Russian Arctic in comparison with most other parts of the circumpolar region is highly populated and has started to be intensively developed for oil and gas and timber exploitation, tourism, experiencing severe stresses on its ecosystems, climate and biodiversity. The CASEAS is based on the integration of the multidisciplinary science, with the local/indigenous knowledge and assessments of Arctic residents. Gathered traditional knowledge, observations and perceptions of Arctic residents will be balanced with the interpretations of scientists and decision-makers in the process of the Sustainable Development Plans elaboration through local to national and circumpolar levels. The Arctic Resident’s Network of Socio-Environment Assessment and Education for Sustainable Development (ARN) will be constructed to serve as the realistic instrument of the local/traditional knowledge and science integration in finding ways to illuminate the sources and types of vulnerability. ARN will allow to integrate not only circumpolar scientists from different disciplines, but indigenous peoples interested to share their experience and compare best results in achieving sustainability in communities and local settlements. The involvement of international scientific communities (the IASC project groups, International Geographical Union Commission on Cold Regions Environment, etc.) is of principle importance as professional knowledge and experience exchange of better practices will serve in the elaboration of sustainable development strategy for the Arctic region as a whole. The scientific knowledge of achieving sustainability will be brought to local residents through the education and training, preparation of the manual and outreach materials. The CASEAS approaches are based on several unique social-science methods of obtaining, storing and disseminating of information, communication and their combinations: participatory workshops; educational/training workshops; interviewing; the joint scientific-traditional/local knowledge field experiments (for example community mapping with remote sensing images). These methods will be applied at the identified Local Sustainable Development Assessment and Monitoring Sites (LOSDAMS), situated in different circumpolar regions including the Russian Arctic. The following work packages will be set up, identifying and assessing main indicators and drivers of social vulnerability and ways of adequate responses to them in the process of local sustainable development plans elaboration: 1.Social assessment of climate and UV change 2.Social assessment of biodiversity change 3.Social assessment of land use change 4.Social assessment of ecosystem dynamics (Taiga – Tundra interface) 5.Social assessments of impacts associated with oil and gas exploration, forestry, tourism, reindeer herding and other activities. 6.Social assessment of the economic, legal policy and decision making on natural resources development and conservation.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
CASEAS is expected to give new insight into the important and direct relation between the natural environment (bio-physical) change, resilience and social sustainability at different spatial scales. This approach is regarded as a new frontier in sustainable development planning in a rapidly changing Arctic that will improve adaptive capacities of Arctic residents and their involvement in decision-making process. It will improve our projections of future changes and pro-active adaptive strategies elaboration.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
This project is based on international collaboration in Circum-Arctic, which has been already established or is now in a planning process within ICARP 2 and IPY with the research and arctic residents' communities from: TTI (Taiga-Tundra Interface project of IASC) which is also project of ISIRA. The TTI Arctic boarder IPY proposal; CAT-B (The Circum-Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Research Training Network); ACIA (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment) follow up. The initiative of AMAP, CAFF and IASC); CEON (Circumpolar Environmental Observatories Network) and SCANNET (Scandinavian/North European network of terrestrial field bases). UNEP/Grid Arendal - RAIPON "Local Health and Environmental Reporting of the Indigenous Peoples" project, where NorthSet Programme, Institute of Geography created data-base and acts as an expert on socio-ecological issues; RUCENIP (Russian Climate-Environment Network of the Indigenous Peoples of the North) - representing RAIPON - NorthSEt, IG RAS) ARN (Arctic Residents Network of Socio-Environment Assessment and Education for Sustainable Development) - the new international initiative approved by the Arctic Council (May 2004, Reykjavik, Iceland 2004); UNIVERSITY OF THE ARCTIC (Mobility faculty,Circumpolar education programme);

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Primary locations: The Russian Arctic, Alaska, North-western Canada and Quebec, Scandinavia, Svalbard, Greenland

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 05/2006 - 03/2007 preparation time      03/2007-03/2009 Campaign      
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
LOSDAMS will be selected at locations that are realistic with the respect to the logistic/services given locally. The CASEAS with the help of a specially established Circumpolar Web will serve in the dissemination of relevant local experience in achieving sustainable development to broad group of residents of the Russian Arctic and Circumpolar region. For this purpose requirements for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) should be satisfied.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
Working closely with researchers and arctic residents (including indigenous and non-indigenous peoples), CASEAS will develop protocol with the set of indicators of sustainability (vulnerability). It will make it possible to obtain and store new information in available and useful ways to scientists, governments, students and arctic peoples.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
National agency
Other sources of support

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Several listed below tightly linked IPY proposals have been already endorsed by national IPY committees (Germany, Norway, Canada) and we expect to receive the endorsement for CASEAS and linked IPY proposals by the National IPY Committee of Russian Federation when it will be finally formed and approved by the Russian Government

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Yes
This is a new project, however it builds on the existing and planned activities of international working groups and commissions (IASC, IGU etc) integrating and giving new human dimension value (social sustainability assessment and planning) of the following proposed IPY projects and other initiatives in which NorthSet programme of the Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences is a partner. LUPOG (land use impact on polar and sub-polar geosystems: extent, significance, perspectives. International Geographical Union (IGU), Cold Regions Environment Commission. Principal Investigator (PI) Martin Guda, University of Jena, Germany ARCDIV (Arctic Climate Diversity; Integrating physical and biological observations). PI Jon Borre Orbac, Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway APOC (Arctic Peoples Observation Centre) PI Shari Fox - World Data Centre for Glaciology, Boulder Colorado/Harvard University, USA SUSTAINABILITY AT THE TIMBERLINE: challenges of governance in forestry. PI Monika Tennberg - University of Lapland, Arctic Centre, Finland: ARCTIC BORDER (Present day processes, past changes and spatiotemporal variabililty of tree distribution at the Arctic border: implications and feedbacks to the arctic and global environment) IASC TTI Project, PI Annika Hoffgaard, Norwegian Institute of Nature Research, Norway; A2BIONET (The Arctic Alpine Terrestrial Biodiversity Research Training Network) IASC, CAT-B Project, PI Philip Wookey, University of Stirling, UK

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be formally housed at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography, Northern Socio-Environment Territorial Systems Programme (NorthSets), it will have the international steering committee made up of researchers, politics/decision makers and arctic peoples.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
PhD and Master student programs crosscutting the addressed socio environment assessment Educational/Training workshops with local stakeholders Cooperation with local schools, universities, museums Preparation of the manual on socio-environment assessment Newsletter on the web Result scientific presentations

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document)?
An essential part of the planned project is the construction of the database and the web based information newsletter. The collaboration with proposed Arctic Peoples' Observations Centre (APOC) at World Data Centre for Glaciology will be set up. ICSU World Data Centre will be provided with meta data information as soon as the project is finalised and full data information will be provided afater publication of resultssss, but at the latest three years after completion of project.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
National and international funds (eg EU sources)

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
The CASEAS will submit the project to ICARP II Conference 2005 in order to get its support. Only principle investigators (PI) of initiatives which Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences has supported and are going to take part are named. Many other universities, institutes, research stations as well as indigenous peopless and Arctic residents organisations from Canada, USA, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Russia, Norway, Sweden are foresee to take part in the CASEAS Initiative

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Tatiana Vlassova
Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography NorthSet Programme


Moscow
119333
Russia

Tel: +7 (095) 135 22 02
Mobile:
Fax: +7 (095) 959 00 27
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation

Other Information