The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) launches an international network to map and assess sustainability challenges in the Arctic region related to outer space development.
A long-term collaboration has been set up between researchers interested in the impacts of space activities and space infrastructure development for the Northern Circumpolar region.
The researchers will address questions of Earth-space sustainability in the Arctic, challenges for local communities, concerns of Indigenous Peoples in the Circumpolar world, and its governance implications. The interdisciplinary network is comprised of social sciences researchers from Norway, Canada, Scotland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Meetings and workshops will be organized to facilitate collaboration, along with a symposium on Arctic space sustainability. Findings from these activities will be reported to the public and to policy makers, allowing the group to build expertise that can be applied to the governance of outer space developments. The findings will also be integrated into teaching programs to cultivate a new generation of experts in this field.
Led and managed by International Relations expert Katharina Glaab, the network will contribute to the growing field of social science research on outer space. “Arctic states have become important players in a new global space race,” says Glaab who also leads NordSpace, a research project that explores the impacts that the development of space infrastructures has on environmental and security politics in the High North. “With this network, we will increase our understanding of sustainability questions around outer space development in the Arctic.”
The initiative is established with funding from the University of the Artic (UArctic), a network of universities (including NMBU), colleges, research institutes, and other organizations concerned with education and research in and about the High North.
Network partners:
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Network Leader Katharina Glaab, John McNeish and Elana Wilson Rowe)
- Stockholm University, Sweden (Ayşem Mert)
- University of Akureyri, Iceland (Adam Fishwick)
- Roskilde University, Denmark (Laura Horn)
- Laval University, Canada (Jean-Frédéric Morin)
- University of Oslo, Norway (Alla Podznakova)
- University of St. Andrews, Scotland (Adam Bower)
- Outer Space Institute, Canada (Michael Byers)
- University of Utrecht, Netherlands (Xiao-Shan Yap)
- Swedish Defense Research Agency (Ola Svenonius)
Contact Katharina Glaab for more information: