Arctic Energy Summit 2017

GCI Co-Led

The Arctic Energy Summit (AES) will be held September 18-20, 2017 in Helsinki, Finland. The AES is a multi-disciplinary event expected to draw several hundred industry officials, scientists, academics, policy makers, energy professionals and community leaders together to collaborate and share leading approaches on Arctic energy issues. The summit will address energy in the Arctic as it relates to:

• Small and off-grid community energy solutions
• Oil and gas development
• Renewable energy
• Regulation and Financing
• Transportation and transmission

Check out the AES 2017 website at: http://arcticenergysummit.com.

Traditional and Local Knowledge Principles

GCI Co-Led

The inclusion, promotion and use of Traditional Knowledge in the work of the Arctic Council is a collective expression of Arctic Council States in supporting the domestic and international rights, roles, and place of indigenous peoples in the circumpolar Arctic; and will address a collective need to produce information that are of use to Arctic indigenous peoples, decision makers and scientists of all cultures from a community level to international governments. This project developed principles to guide this inclusion of traditional and local knowledge .

OttawaTraditionalKnowledgePrinciples.pdf

Social, Economic, and Cultural Group, Sustainable Development Working Group

GCI Co-Chair

The goal of the Social, Economic, and Cultural Expert Group of the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) of the Arctic Council was to establish an interdisciplinary group to provide from the Arctic region perspective, further insight into the human dimension in the Arctic, as well as strengthen cooperation and collaboration between the SDWG and other Arctic Council Working Groups, observers, and other actors.

Reducing the Incidence of Suicide in Indigenous Groups – Strengths United through Networks (RISING SUN)

GCI Supported

Resulted in a toolkit of common outcomes to be used in evaluating suicide prevention efforts to assess the key correlates associated with suicide prevention interventions across Arctic states. The project generated shared knowledge that will aid health workers in better serving their communities, and help policy-makers measure progress, evaluate interventions, and identify regional and cultural challenges to implementation. Arriving at common outcomes, their measures, and reporting systems is especially important in the Arctic, where the vast geography, high number of remote communities, and breadth of cultural diversity, pose challenges for systematic approaches to suicide prevention.

Arctic Renewable Energy Atlas (AREA)

GCI Co-Led

AREA provides solar, wind, geothermal, marine and hydrokinetic resource maps within an easily accessible website. AREA overlays existing energy generation capabilities to allow easy visualization of localized supply and demand and encourage clean energy prospecting and investment. In an effort to profile and share best practices gleaned from traditional and local knowledge, AREA showcases videos from Arctic community stakeholders discussing successes and challenges found in developing clean energy projects. AREA is available free of charge to the general public, investors, policy makers, researchers, and Arctic public officials to raise awareness on energy efficiency opportunities and renewable energy development potential. By combining multi-layer data visualization and promoting local solutions, AREA expands the capacity of Arctic residents and scientists to manage and respond to future challenges and opportunities.

To access the map and community energy stories, go to: https://arcticrenewableenergy.org.