Svalbard Researchers Plan the Future

More than 300 Svalbard researchers are now gathering to decide on the course of research and the cooperation ahead. Key words are transparency and interdisciplinary work.

In just a few days, more than 300 researchers and research actors focusing on the Arctic and Svalbard as a joint area of interest for developing further cooperation will convene. And however much praise Svalbard research (at least the Norwegian) has received, there are still things that can be done better.

Transparency and cooperation

The leader of Svalbard Science Forum, Special Advisor Kirsten Broch Mathisen of the Norwegian Research Council, emphasizes that transparency and cooperation are key elements of more or less all Svalbard research.

- It is absolutely my impression that all countries conducting research on and from Svalbard are interested in cooperation, Broch Mathisen says to High North News.

 - It is important for many reasons that we can make use of each other’s knowledge. One significant is the environmental footprint one leaves behind. It is also quite expensive to go to the Arctic and to stay and conduct research there.

Less overlap

The Svalbard Science Conference takes place at Fornebu, just outside Oslo, Norway. The number of participants says something about the extent of research activity that actually goes on at Svalbard.

- Nearly all research is registered in the RiS database (‘Research in Svalbard’), which provides with a good overview over this research. During one year we see approximately 1,000 researchers from 30 different countries and 200 different institutions who have research assignments on the archipelago. That also testifies to the need for cooperation and coordination, Broch Mathisen says.

- The more we know about what other researchers do and have found out, the less overlap there will be. That is advantageous for all parties, she says.

A plethora of research areas

There is extensive research on Svalbard. The unique environment attracts entomologists, glaciologists, meteorologists, medical researchers and of course – researchers in zoology, fauna, marine biology and a series of other areas.

- How is cooperation across what may be geopolitical boundaries? Do for instance Norwegian and  Russian, Chinese and American, Korean and Belgian cooperate equally well with one another?

- Yes, that is my impression. Generally speaking, there is good cooperation in Svalbard, regardless of national politics. It appears to be more dependent on the individual researchers, the individual project.

Interdisciplinary aspects are important

 I believe that we cooperate and communicate well with Russia too, Russia being heavily represented in Barentsburg with its research station.

- What about the interdisciplinary aspect? Research is by many perceived to be professionally rather narrow.

- A whole lot, probably the majority, of research projects on Svalbard are related to environment and climate. That is interdisciplinary work, although we may miss a bit more social science research there.

However, I see that many others also care about cooperation across ‘everything’ – discipline, nation, ideology, institution; everything. Neither Svalbard Science Forum nor the Norwegian Research Council has conditions for which disciplines to apply, only to the quality of research. We also require publishing and sharing of data.

Joint standards

- Is this challenge, or perhaps expectation to share data, respected and followed?

- More or less. Often it is not so much about the will as about the options. We just have to face the fact that the system is not good enough. What does for instance ‘available’ mean? The researchers should as a minimum say what kind of data they have colleted.

It is all a matter of publishing, making available and standardizing. Both Svalbard Science Forum and the Norwegian Research Council work to make data more transparent and available. Most countries do this, even the EU, Kirsten Broch Mathisen emphasizes.