Global Connections and Changing Resource Use System in the Arctic

Utah State University, Logan UT

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides support to U.S. researchers participating in a project competitively selected by a 14-country initiative on global change research through the Belmont Forum. The Belmont Forum is a high level group of the world?s major and emerging funders of global environmental change research and international science councils. It aims to accelerate delivery of the international environmental research most urgently needed to remove critical barriers to sustainability by aligning and mobilizing international resources. Each partner country provides funding for their researchers within a consortium to alleviate the need for funds to cross international borders. This approach facilitates effective leveraging of national resources to support excellent research on topics of global relevance best tackled through a multinational approach, recognizing that global challenges need global solutions. Working together in this Collaborative Research Action, the partner agencies have provided support for research projects that utilize existing Arctic observing systems, datasets and models to evaluate key sustainability challenges and opportunities in the Arctic region, to innovate new sustainability science theory and approaches to these challenges and opportunities, and support decision-making towards a sustainable Arctic environment. This award provides support for the U.S. researchers to cooperate in consortia that consist of partners from at least three of the participating countries and that bring together natural scientists, social scientists and end users (e.g., policy makers, regulators, NGOs, communities and industry). Global connections and changing resource use systems in the Arctic (CONNECT) unites the expertise from researchers in Norway, Canada, the US, and Russia to investigate how globally connected systems influence local sustainability, socioeconomic, and ecological practices. In particular, the team investigates the effects of introduced extractive industries, tourism, and communications technologies on community responses, disturbances, and ecosystem changes. The six work packages utilize data sets and research methods developed by the team under previously funded efforts and include community interviews, socioeconomic and policy analyses, land use and vegetation maps, mining development histories, and local perceptions of land use and ecosystem services. These inputs will be used in an integrative fashion to develop model and monitoring indicators of ecological impacts and measure the effects of global connections on resource use systems. The project will continue its collaboration with 28 communities and conduct re-visit workshops during the course of the project to share progress.