The Overarching problems to be adressed by the project relates to the impact of globalization, privatization and liberalization. The Arctic regions still in most cases are characterized by economic dependence on centres in the South, which dominate trade patterns and capital movements. Hence, the main research question is related to both positive and negative impacts of the global economy

The present project integrates natural and socioeconomic sciences in describing past, natural variability of multi-year-ice (Storis) and its impact on present and future activities in the coastal communities in South and East Greenland. Both regions, but the south Greenland region in particular, is characterized by a complex composition of activities.

The goal of ELOKA is to facilitate the collection, preservation, exchange, and use of local observations and knowledge of the Arctic by providing data management and user support, and to foster collaboration between local and international researchers. Over the last decade, Arctic residents and indigenous peoples have been increasingly involved in, and taking control of, research. Through Local and Traditional Knowledge (LTK) research and community-based monitoring, Arctic communities have made, and continue to make, significant contributions to understanding recent environmental change.

The food-borne parasites Trichinella nativa, Toxoplasma gondii, and Anisakis simplex are significant Arctic human zoonoses; endemic to some regions and directly related to the consumption of country foods. Many Northerners remain reliant on wildlife as a source of food, financial income and cultural identity and are demanding programs which will provide greater security in the safety of country foods and programs that ensure the long-term sustainability of wildlife populations. Changing climatic conditions are predicted to alter wildlife habitat, facilitate the northward migration of wildlife diseases and parasites, and alter contaminant cycling and fate; all of which have the potential to detrimentally affect the health and long term sustainability of wildlife populations and ultimately the source and safety of country foods (ACIA 2004; Boonstra 2004; Derocher et al. 2003; Harvell et al., 2002; Hoberg et al., 2002; Kutz et al. 2004; Lie et al. 2004 & 2005). Adequate baseline data (benchmarks) regarding the current health conditions of wildlife (including zoonotic pathogens) is therefore urgently needed for the assessment and prediction of wildlife health impacts resulting from the cumulative impacts of multiple stressors associated with climate change and exposure to anthropogenic contaminants.

This programme is framed by Arctic peoples’ resiliency, where partnerships are fostered which highlights the strength and aspiration of Arctic residents.

SIKU is one of several IPY 2007–2008 projects aimed at documenting indigenous observations of environmental changes in the polar areas, with its specific focus on sea ice and the use of ice-covered habitats by the residents of the Arctic. Incidentally, the project’s acronym SIKU is also the most common word for sea ice (siku) in all Eskimo/Inuit languages, from Chukotka to Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. As a collaborative international initiative, SIKU brings anthropologists, human geographers, sea ice and climate scientists, marine and ecosystem biologists from the U.S., Canada, Russia, Greenland, and France in partnership with almost two dozen indigenous communities in Alaska, Arctic Canada, the Russian Chukchi Peninsula, and Greenland. SIKU, like many IPY 2007–2008 projects, is organized as a consortium of local or national initiatives with their respective budgets provided by the national funding agencies. Presently, the main operational components of the SIKU initiative are the Inuit Sea Ice Use and Occupancy Project (ISIUOP) in Canada (see summary report on the ISIUOP activities), the Alaska-Chukotkan portion of SIKU made of several local efforts (see field reports by Nicole Stuckenberger and Josh Wisniewski), and the Greenlandic component that is being developed as a part of the continuing SILA-Inuk project administered by the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC)-Greenland office in Nuuk. Recently, a small French team secured its funding to join the SIKU initiative and to conduct sea ice knowledge studies in Greenland.

CAVIAR - Community Adaptation and Vulnerability in the Arctic Regions – is an international research consortium consisting of partners from the eight Arctic nations. The main goal of CAVIAR is to identify how projected changes in climate interact with changes in social and natural conditions, and how such interactions shape vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in Arctic Regions. Comparable case studies across Arctic communities will provide a basis for synthesizing knowledge of vulnerabilities and for exchanging experiences with adaptation.

"Moved by the state" is an international, collaborative research activity addressing state-induced population movements in the circumpolar North in the 20th and 21st centuries. To that end, institutions from Canada, Finland, Greenland, Russia, and the U.S.A. will conduct research in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia from 2006-2010. Extensive anthropological fieldwork and demographic data collection and analysis will be used to track similarities and differences among selected case studies.