The Stefansson Arctic Institute (SAI), established in 1998 and located in Akureyri, Iceland, is an independent governmental research institute within the Icelandic Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources, with a long established collaboration agreement with the University of Akureyri. The SAI takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding human- environment relations in the Circumpolar Arctic. Particular emphasis is on research and scientific assessments concerning economic systems and human development, marine-resource governance, political ecology of agricultural systems, development of Arctic specific sustainability indicators, and the impacts of and adaptation to past and present climate change.
The SAI has a long history of international leadership of large-scale circumpolar projects on Arctic living conditions and human wellbeing (e.g. AHDR (2004, 2015), Arctic social indicator research (e.g. ASI (2010, 2015)) and Arctic Youth and Sustainable Futures (2016-2019), and of working closely with stakeholders. SAI is a core partner in the Centre of Excellence (REXSAC) on Resource Extraction and Sustainable Arctic Communities.
The Institute is an active participant and partner in several other international networks of research and educational initiatives, programmes and projects, including e.g. IPCC, ASUS (Arctic Sustainability: A Synthesis of Knowledge), ArcticFrost (Arctic Frontiers of Sustainability: Resources, Societies, Environments and Development in a Changing North), CACCON (Circumpolar Arctic Coastal Communities Observatory Network), Future Earth Coasts, ReSDA (Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic), GREENICE, UArctic, IASSA, NSF, NABO, IASC Social and Human Working Group, and more.
Main tasks in the project
SAI will be co-leading WP9 together with UNIVIE. The institutional profile of SAI matches the WP tasks related to developing Arctic social and bio-physical indicators for the Arctic coastal region; understanding climate change impacts on human society and exploring the options for adaptation and mitigation; working closely with stakeholders. In addition, SAI will contribute to tasks in WP5, 6, and 7.
SAI staff involved in the project
Co-lead in WP9 Prof. Joan Nymand Larsen Stofnun Vilhjálms Stefánssonar Borgum við Norðurslóð 600 Akureyri +354-460 8984
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Researcher in WP9 Dr. Jon Haukur Ingimundarson Stofnun Vilhjálms Stefánssonar Borgum við Norðurslóð 600 Akureyri +354-460 8982 |
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