A roadmap towards sustained observing in the Arctic

To implement this ambitious roadmap, the active involvement of Indigenous peoples and local communities is essential. Local and Indigenous organizations and networks are able to fill existing observation gaps, especially gaps in winter observations, and to add to our understanding of the Arctic system as a whole. Maybe surprisingly, the current global health crisis, could act as a catalysator to enhance cooperation and co-creating with local stake- and rightsholders.

As the covid-19 outbreak threatens to interrupt Arctic observations and time series, the statement of this year’s Arctic Observing Summit urges for immediate action in order to minimize the loss of important data and the information we can derive from them. One solution is an enhanced emphasis of local observation capacities. As the statement reads: “In light of the current global circumstances AOS 2020 participants call for an international effort that advances and supports the development of partnerships which allow Arctic Indigenous communities to draw on their strengths to sustain both Indigenous- and scientific-observing efforts. The combination of observations that address Indigenous communities’ priorities and operational needs, with those helping maintain critical research time series deserve particular attention.”

SAON has acknowledged this need – long before the health crisis. A guiding principle of the ROADS process is therefore that the roadmap must include funding for Indigenous people’s equitable partnerships and active participation. Furthermore, it should ensure to complement and integrate the planning approaches of already existing regional and global observing efforts.

“We currently face a diffusion of planning, implementation, and data assets across a complex multiplicity of Arctic organizations. It’s like an Arctic alphabet soup and currently we lack the ability to link these together in a meaningful way”, Sandy Starkweather says.

So, where will the ROADS process bring us? Sandy Starkweather outlined three goals in her address at the Arctic Observing Summit:

• Towards a clear set of observing targets with well-defined benefits
• Towards robust, collaborative communities of practice to define & integrate observing system best practices and requirements
• Towards pan-Arctic implementation strategies resulting in integrated, co-designed, sustained observations and accessible data and information streams.

Besides the active participation of local communities and Indigenous peoples, Sandy Starkweather also emphasizes the important role another actor plays in achieving these goals: “The engagement of Arctic Council and its Working Groups in the ROADS process is essential. Each Working Group is entitled to a seat on the SAON Board. They are in a great position to lead on topics that are of high interest for ongoing and future observations in the Arctic, like for example microplastics.”

By the 2022 Arctic Observing Summit (AOS) meeting Tromsø, Norway, SAON plans to have established the first aspects of its Roadmap for Arctic Observing and Data Systems, in collaboration with the AOS. The process will proceed step-wise through 2026, at which point it envisions that all of the major aspects of the needed observing network will be unified into a coherent and holistic strategy in support of societal benefit. On the top of the agenda for the remaining two years is the development of recommendations for future Arctic observational capacities. This includes recommendations for closing gaps or extensions to the integrated Arctic-observing system, as well as engaging potential operators and funding agencies to respond to the gaps and to sustain a well-integrated long-term observing capacity.