"The rise and fall of science diplomacy in the Arctic: The “INTERACT” experience" published on Polar Records
The paper "The rise and fall of science diplomacy in the Arctic: The “INTERACT” experience", authored by Associate Prof. Margareta Johansson and Prof. Dr. Terry Callaghan, was just published on Polar Records.
At a time of accelerating environmental changes and geopolitical tensions, the need for international collaboration is increasing. Indeed, today’s ongoing environmental change is posing global challenges that single nations cannot solve themselves. Science diplomacy aims to leverage the engagement and execution of science in support of broader objectives which is beyond science discovery, which has shown particularly useful in the area of environmental change.
Science Diplomacy in the Arctic: Top-down and bottom-up approaches
There are many existing top-down initiatives aimed at increasing collaboration in the Arctic, especially since climate assessments revealed the particular position of the Arctic in climate change, being the region experiencing the fastest changes. Some notable initiatives are the Arctic Council and its working groups, and IASC. However, also bottom-up initiatives have an important role in shaping policy making. One remarkable example is INTERACT (International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic).
Science Diplomacy: Science in Diplomacy, Diplomacy for Science and Science for Diplomacy
Science Diplomacy can be conceived in several ways: diplomacy helping science, science helping diplomacy, and science providing to diplomacy. The paper showcase how INTERACT, as a network of research infrastructures, has contributed to all of these aspects. INTERACT grew from 9 stations in 2001 to 90 stations in 2021 in 18 countries, but has even a longer history. The network started as a spin-off pf the International Biological Program (1964-1974), with the ambition to expand research on tundra to other sites in Scandinavia and North Atlantic for environmental comparative studies. Already at the time, under the Cold war, the initiative allowed USA, European countries and Soviet Union to collaborate for science discovery, and brought research of Russian scientists to the West, as from the West to the East. INTERACT made new connections and collaborations across countries, but also between people, with collaboration with more than 150 organisations and projects, and with a Transnational Access Programme that supported more than 1000 scientists and 500 research projects from 2011 to 2024. INTERACT has also helped informed decision-making, by for instance, presenting to UNFCCC COP Ambassador-level climate negotiators, or providing first predictions of the impact of stratospheric ozone depletion on a natural terrestrial ecosystem (the team was then included in the United Nations Environment Programme Panel on Stratospheric Ozone Depletion Effects that reported to the signatories of the Montreal Protocol and its Amendments).
The impact of Ukraine War on Arctic collaboration and the path forward
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, geopolitical diplomacy has plummeted in the Arctic. This has affected major science initiatives such as the work of the Arctic Council but also bottom-up organisations such as INTERACT. The exclusion of Russian stations in INTERACT resulted from directives from the EU funders (and the inability to transfer funds through sanctions), directives from the operators of some of the stations and personal moral choices that varied among participants. INTERACT continues to contribute to science diplomacy in similar way as it has done during the last decades but representing the decreased geographical area, while there are some concrete examples where the work/collaboration has stopped completely.
To ensure the long-term sustainability of the network and to continue to contribute to all three levels of science diplomacy, INTERACT developed the INTERACT non-profit association (INPA) in August 2020. Although INPA is maintaining as much diplomacy as possible, the greatest challenge is to rebuild “Diplomacy for Science” between East and West.