(Photo: Hjalti Þ. Hreinsson) Permafrost research Break – Out Session: Politics, northern communities and outreach at PYRW during EUCOP 4

Last week (18.06 – 21.06.2014) the European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOP4) was held in Évora, Portugal. Over 400 participants from all over the world came to this event to present their newest studies in permafrost research, exchange experiences and enjoying the fabulous weather and the excellent food!

One day before the official conferences started, young scientists had the opportunity to participate in the 'Permafrost Young Researcher Workshop' organized by the Association of Polar Earlier Career Scientists (APECS), the EU-project PAGE21 (Changing Permafrost in the Arctic and its Global Effects in the 21st Century), PYRN (Permafrost Young Researchers Network) and the Canadian project ADAPT (Arctic Development and Adaptation to Permafrost in Transition), sponsored by the International Permafrost Association (IPA)

(Photo: Hjalti Þ. Hreinsson) Permafrost research The workshop was composed of lectures in the early morning and break-out sessions during the rest of the day. The day was finished by a vital discussion in the 'world café' about ICARP III activities.

The break-out session covered a wide range of different subjects, not directly related to permafrost research itself, but to a good and successful career as a scientist. In small groups the young researchers could learn something about modelling, about work-life balance, and about many more.

 

Together with Gerlis Fugmann (APECS) and Kenji Yoshikawa (University of Fairbanks, Alaska), I was invited as a guest speaker to the session called 'Politics, northern communities and outreach' led by Ylva Sjöberg and Julie Lepage.

 

About 30 participants came to attend in the early afternoon to hear something about our experience in outreach and education and the work with indigenous people in the North. Gerlis – as a human geographer – started the session with a short overview about northern communities in the Canadian Arctic.

 

She gave a comprehensive overview about the history of these villages and motivated everybody to get in closer contact with the inhabitants of the North and involve them in the research work conducted in and around their communities. Afterwards Kenji and I continued by giving concrete examples of outreach.

 

(Photo: Hjalti Þ. Hreinsson) Permafrost research I started with an example from Umiujaq in Northern Quebec. Umiujaq is a very small village with about 300 inhabitants: During my PhD I went there almost 10 times for field work and hence got in touch with the Inuit, especially the kids. I realized their interest in my devices and work and decided in 2010 to do a little workshop with them at their school.

 

After I got in contact with the teachers and talked to them about potential activities, I planned some inside and some outside exercises for the pupils. One of my colleagues from INRS (Canada) helped me during the day. The workshop was a great success and the kids as well as we learned a lot and had a lot of fun.

Kenji talked about his project and introduced the famous 'tunnelman' to the audience. The participants of the workshop all seemed to be really interested and a good discussion during the last 20 minutes concluded the session.