Mar 20–28, 2025: InfraNorth at the Arctic Science Summit Week 2025
InfraNorth researchers Peter Schweitzer, Olga Povoroznyuk, Alexandra Meyer, Ria-Maria Adams, and Susanna Gartler will participate in the Arctic Science Summit Week 2025 (ASSW) from 20 to 28 March 2025 at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA. This year’s summit, themed “Arctic Research Planning for the Next Decade,” will include the 4th International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP IV) Summit.
The Challenges of Arctic Infrastructure
One of the key InfraNorth-related events at ASSW 2025 will be Session 3.17: The Challenges of Arctic Infrastructure, which will take place on Wednesday, 26 March, from 13:30 to 18:00 MDT (UTC -7) in Room 247, second floor, University Memorial Center, and online. Co-chaired by Peter Schweitzer, Olga Povoroznyuk, Alexandra Meyer, and Vera Kuklina (George Washington University), this interdisciplinary session will delve into the unique challenges and possibilities of Arctic infrastructure, shaped by extreme climate, permafrost, and remoteness. While ambitious development plans exist, projects often face logistical difficulties and limited community involvement. From a societal perspective, different stakeholders can see infrastructural development as a blessing or a curse, depending on the type of entanglement with a particular infrastructure and the opportunity to participate in governance processes.
Building on the IASC research initiative RATIC (Rapid Arctic Transitions due to Infrastructure and Climate), this session seeks to foster innovative approaches and collaborative processes to envision sustainable infrastructural futures. It will feature the following InfraNorth-related presentations:
– Ria-Maria Adams: “The Case of Rovaniemi Airport: Navigating Military Expansion and Tourism Growth”
– Susanna Gartler: “Permafrost Thaw and the Perceptions of the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway”
– Peter Schweitzer: “Arctic Transport Infrastructures: Between Global Drivers and Community Needs”
– Olga Povoroznyuk: “Reconfiguring Infrastructures, Revisioning Futures: The InfraNorth Scenario Workshops in Kirkenes”
Planning Arctic Infrastructure Research
Another highlight is the workshop Planning for the Next Decade in Arctic Infrastructure Research: A Contribution to ICARP IV co-chaired by Olga Povoroznyuk, Vera Kuklina (George Washington University), and Howard Epstein (University of Virginia). It will take place on Monday, 24 March, from 08:30 to 12:00 MDT (UTC -7) in Room 212, Glen Miller Ballroom, University Memorial Center, and online.
Facilitated by interdisciplinary contributions from the IASC research initiative RATIC, this workshop seeks to summarize progress from the past decade and identify research priorities and directions for the next 10 years related to Arctic infrastructure and the natural and social systems that impact it and are impacted by it. Among others, InfraNorth-related presentations include:
– Peter Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk: “Social Science Perspectives on Arctic Infrastructure”
– Annett Barsch and Alexandra Meyer: “Mapping the Visible, Understanding the Invisible: Remote Sensing and Qualitative Methods in Arctic Infrastructure Studies”
Urban Development and Local Communities in the Arctic
Additionally, in Session 3.6: Challenges of Urban Development in the Arctic, Alexandra Meyer and Ria-Maria Adams will present the paper “Accessing the ‘Inaccessible’: The Role of Airports for Arctic Local Communities”, which they co-authored with Sophie Elixhauser. The paper examines the role airports play (or are expected to play) in daily life and community development in three remote Arctic communities: Longyearbyen, Rovaniemi, and Tasiilaq. It also examines the local effects, promises, and fears associated with the increased accessibility that existing and planned airports bring to the communities.
The session will run on Tuesday, 25 March, from 13:30 to 18:00 MDT (UTC -7) in Room 208, Glen Miller Ballroom, University Memorial Center. Chaired by Robert Orttung (George Washington University), James Powell (University of Alaska Southeast), and Meghan Holtan (University at Buffalo), the session will address urban development challenges in northern regions. Topics include the built urban environment, housing, the transition from fossil fuels, and other infrastructure-related issues.
Other Highlights
On Thursday, March 20, Peter Schweitzer, Olga Povoroznyuk, and Alexandra Meyer will participate in the community meeting Research Priorities on Infrastructure Futures from Community Perspectives from 09:00 to 12:00 MDT (UTC -7) in Room 417, fourth floor, University Memorial Center. This session is an initiative of the CRAFT project (Co-creating Research for Just Arctic Future Infrastructure Transformations, Resilience, and Adaptation).
On Friday, 21 March 2025, Olga Povoroznyuk and Alexandra Meyer will participate in the IASC Social and Human Working Group meeting from 09:00 to 18:00 MDT (UTC -7) in Room 212, Glen Miller Ballroom, University Memorial Center, and online.
From 22 to 24 March 2025, Ria-Maria Adams and Alexandra Meyer will also take part in the Polar Early Career World Summit, co-organized by the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) and the Polar Science Early Career Community Office (PSECCO).
