The Arctic faces critical policy challenges on many issues including climate change response, public health and health care infrastructure, energy, environmental protection, sustainable management of the Arctic Ocean, infrastructure, Indigenous rights, and governance. These challenges require international cooperation and policy decisions that are grounded in Indigenous and local knowledge and western science and informed by Arctic residents. The Fulbright Program, with its 73-year history of creating connections in a complex and changing world, formed the Fulbright Arctic Initiative to support interdisciplinary policy-relevant research important to residents and stakeholders vested in the future of the Arctic.
This Symposium reports on research findings and selected policy recommendations from the Fulbright Arctic Initiative thematic research teams, who during 18-months of collaborative work focused on 1) supporting health and well-being to ensure that Arctic communities develop pathways to thrive and, 2) addressing scales of risk from local to global to enhance economic sustainability in the Arctic. The discussion to follow will focus on possible research priorities and opportunities for the next round of scholars in the Fulbright Arctic Initiative, 2020-21.