Arctic Congress Bodø 2024, 29 May - 3 June 2024, is a unique event that combines the International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS) XI, UArctic Congress 2024, and High North Dialogue 2024.

ARCUS is involved in the event including presenting and convening sessions at the scientific meeting and representing ARCUS at the University of the Arctic Assembly. Below is a list of ARCUS activities:




Session: Building Active and Inclusive Participation of Arctic Youth and Communities through Community and Citizen Science

Conveners: Janet Warburton, Roben Itchoak, Katie Spellman
Date: 30 May 2024
Time: 4pm-5:30pm
Location: Quality Hotel Ramsalt - Room: Ramsalt 3
Description: This session will explore the role of youth and communities in Arctic-focused research with a particular focus on how to equitably include and support them through community and citizen science research projects in the Arctic. With the Arctic facing unprecedented changes due to climate change and other human activities, community, and citizen science offer an opportunity for Arctic communities to actively participate in and lead research, to better understand the scope of changes happening in their environment, and to develop solutions based on Indigenous Knowledge and local expertise. Youth involvement is a crucial aspect of community and citizen science as a means to care for and protect their community, protect their environment, and nurture their leadership skills.

The session will feature presenters from a variety of perspectives who have implemented community and citizen science projects throughout the Arctic with a specific focus on including youth and communities. Presentations will cover the benefits of community and citizen science, challenges and opportunities, and best practices for equitable inclusion of youth and communities. Throughout the session, participants will learn about the power of community and citizen science in sharing knowledge, addressing locally relevant issues, fostering community leadership in research and data sovereignty, and contributing to scientific knowledge and policy.

Session Presentations:

Session: Beyond Arctic Horizons: Building & Sustaining Support for the U.S. Arctic Social Science Community

Conveners: Brit Myers, Julie Raymond-Yakoubian, Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon
Date: 1 June 2024
Time: 9am-10:30am
Location: Quality Hotel Ramsalt - Room: Hundholmen
Description: In 2018, a report was released on a series of five workshops held across the United States to discuss the future of Arctic social science research. The planning process, known as the Arctic Horizons project, was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Arctic Social Sciences Program and brought together members of the U.S. Arctic social science and Indigenous communities to reassess the goals, potentials, and needs of these diverse communities within the context of a rapidly changing circumpolar North. In the years that have followed the report’s release, however, both the global pandemic and war in Ukraine have caused disruptions within the international Arctic research community. Additionally, few national convenings specifically focused on U.S. interdisciplinary Arctic social sciences have occurred. As a result, the international ICASS XI/Arctic Congress 2024 represents an important opportunity to bring together members of the U.S-focused Arctic social science community. This session invites presentations from U.S. social scientists, as well as international researchers working in the U.S. Arctic, as a way to connect individuals and projects working in this region, explore how the needs of the U.S. Arctic social science community may have changed since the Arctic Horizons report release, and to discuss new avenues for building and sustaining support for the U.S. Arctic social science community in the coming years.

Session Presentations:

Session: Building & Sustaining Strategic Linkages for Network-to-Network Arctic Research Collaboration

Conveners: Brit Myers, Diane Hirshberg, Sheila Downer, Liz Weinberg
Date: 1 June 2024
Time: 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Location: Quality Hotel Ramsalt - Room: Hundholmen
Description: Arctic research has a long tradition of being undertaken through collaborations that span disciplines, knowledge systems, institutions, and nationalities. However, the international Arctic research community of today is rapidly growing in size, complexity, and diversity. This evolution has both increased the need for establishing new strategic linkages to address wider community challenges while simultaneously intensifying the difficulties associated with bringing together the expanding number of people and programs involved in Arctic research.
In this session, we invite presentations from individuals and institutions involved with large Arctic research networks to highlight the collective work of these communities, explore network-to-network linkages, and to identify and discuss mechanisms to enable and sustain cross-network Arctic research coordination, exchange, and innovation.
As both national and international planning processes move forward to identify and address Arctic research priorities and needs, this session also invites presenters to consider what changes to current cross-network engagement processes or new types of partnerships might be useful in promoting wider Arctic research participation and inclusivity.

Session Presentations: