Interest in Greenland research growing apace
When the Viking Erik the Red told his countrymen about Greenland over 1,000 years ago, he sparked interest in a part of the world that continues to this day, albeit for different reasons: instead of new land to settle, people have been seeking answers to a wide variety of scientific questions there for over a century. And in recent years, there has been a huge increase in the number of questions — and the people heading to Greenland to seek answers to them.
Greenland has become a hotspot for research. This is shown by two events that had taken place in the last two weeks and is a fitting expression of this increased interest in the scientific world. The first was the Arctic Hub Connect workshop, which brought together more than 50 Greenlandic and foreign scientists from a wide range of fields to present their work and to network. The second was an agreement between the Nunatsinni Ilisimatusarnermik Siunnersuisoqatigiit / the Greenland Research Council (NIS) and the Swiss Polar Institute (SPI) that pledged increased co-operation and more research partnerships between the two countries, especially on the topics of climate change and natural hazards.
Arctic Hub has held the workshop on several occasions. This year, it was held as an on-line forum that was attended by 51 researchers. Participants presented their work, exchanged experiences and discussed up-coming or already completed field work. “We are delighted that the workshop attracted such great interest,” said Jula Maegaard-Hoffmann, of Arctic Hub. Past meetings have focused on the social sciences and humanities, but this year’s workshop included natural and health sciences. During the workshop, participants created an interactive map that showed where many of the research projects are taking place and provided a description of them. “This reflects the great need for a better overview of research activities on Greenland. Because it’s not just the government and us at Arctic Hub that want to have a better idea of the research being conducted, but also the researchers themselves.” Participants accordingly discussed topics such as communication with local authorities and residents.
Also discussed were ways to prevent “research fatigue” among the people who live in areas that are frequently used as fieldwork sites. The workshop and map will help researchers better co-ordinate their work and inform others about their projects. “Of course, we were far from gathering all the people conducting research in Greenland. Only those who wanted to participate and who had heard about the workshop attended,” Ms Maegaard-Hoffmann said. “But an event like Arctic Hub Connect is an important step toward getting a better overview of all the exciting research going on in the country.” She is confident that next year’s workshop will bring together even more participants.
The other event marking the importance of Greenland in international research was the official signing of the agreement between the NlS and the SPI. Together with Peter Olsen, Greenland’s education minister, and Florence Tinguely Mattli, the Swiss ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, NIS chair Josephine Nymand and Danièle Rod, the SPI executive director, put their signatures on the important document. The agreement reaffirms existing Swiss-Greenlandic collaboration on research into climate change and natural hazards. “Switzerland and Greenland alone cannot stop climate change,” said Ms Tinguely Mattli. “However, as highly impacted regions, we can provide evidence of climate-change impacts and continue to raise international awareness.”
The official signing is the culmination of a long-running series of visits and meetings at various levels between the two countries. Last month, a delegation of high-ranking Greenlandic lawmakers and researchers visited Switzerland to exchanged views with federal representatives on political and scientific aspects of dealing with natural disasters. The topic has become an important one for Greenland as the climate continues to warm. In addition, a number of Swiss projects about the impact of a changing climate, as well as other topics, are being conducted in Greenland. The largest project here is likely to be GreenFjord, led by Julia Schmale, a professor at ETH, a technical university. The multi-year project brings together several branches of research to study the effects of climate change on the environment and people in south-western Greenland, and how they deal with it.
That brings us back to Arctic Hub, as its map shows that much of the research in Greenland is being conducted in the south-west. But Greenland is vast, and it can certainly continue to provide more answers to pressing global questions — making it unlikely this hotspot will cool off anytime soon.
Dr Michael Wenger, PolarJournal
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