The Agreement on Enhancing Arctic Scientific Cooperation (https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/1916 ) was signed in May 2017 after which it has been ratified by all Arctic eight countries (USA, Canada, Kingdom of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia). The purpose of the Agreement is to enhance cooperation in Scientific Activities in order to increase effectiveness and efficiency in the development of scientific knowledge about the Arctic. The key element of enhanced cooperation is the better access to research areas, infrastructures, facilities and data including education, training and entries and exits of the persons.
The agreement is now in force and for effective implementation it is important to know what are the needs and potential problems faced by researchers and students in getting access to the Arctic (nationally and internationally). Denmark has the responsibility to collect the feedback from nations. In March 11, 2019 Denmark will organize a meeting on the implementation of the agreement. For that meeting UArctic has agreed to collect and provide information from its members and collaborating partners on the potentials and possible problems they have faced in getting access to Arctic.
For collecting the information UArctic has opened an online survey: https://www.webropolsurveys.com/S/433B7808A96DA1C2.par
This online survey is open to anyone who would like to contribute and its results will be shared in the above mentioned meeting. No personal data will be published or shared (you can also answer anonymously), only the issues provided will be presented. The survey has two parts, first one will focus on the agreement and second part will collect problems you might have had in getting an access to other Arctic country (based on the articles at the agreement).
The survey will be open until February 28th, 2019.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Kirsi Latola: kirsi.latola@uartic.org