terms of scientific understanding of the Arctic and
Arctic Peoples
in terms of making the public aware of the changing
The involvement of Arctic peoples was increas-
Arctic.
ingly talked about, and explicitly mentioned in the
communiqué from the Gorbachev-Reagan Summit
This governmental cooperation had, in turn, an im-
Meeting (Reykjavik 1988). Scientists associated
pact on IASC, as tasks initially intended for the IASC
with IASSA were undertaking some studies, where-
Regional Board were assumed by national govern-
as IASC increased the number of human and social
mental agencies working cooperatively under the
science projects, including the involvement of indig-
AEPS and later the Arctic Council. This caused a
enous peoples. This involvement developed further
separation between scientific and environmental
in IASC initiatives such as ASSW, ICARP II and ICARP
research but it also, though IASC, engaged Arctic
III, SAON etc. IASC´s cooperation with the Sustain-
scientists in the work of the Arctic Council.
able Development WG (SDWG) of the Arctic Council
and its contribution to the AHDR I and II and the
Arctic versus non-Arctic countries
ARR should also be mentioned in this context. Later,
From the very beginning, the IASC planning group
the formation of the IASC Social and Human Scienc-
had invited all potentially qualified participants
es WG and partnerships with IASSA and UArctic re-
to join, but at the same time it needed to find an
sulted in even more interactions with Arctic peoples.
agreeable organizational structure as well as criteria for qualification. Some non-Arctic countries have
A similar development occurred in the pan-Arctic
a much longer research tradition in the Arctic than
governmental cooperation during AEPS and its suc-
Arctic countries and have large collections of sci-
cessor, the Arctic Council.
entific data and information stored in archives and
databases. The research foci for Arctic and non-Arctic countries may differ but they overlap, especially
on global science (such as global warming), which
by O r a n Yo u n g
then offers excellent opportunities for cooperative
projects and programs. At the first IASC Council
Meeting (1991), five non-Arctic countries became
IASC members; today, 14 non-Arctic countries are
members.
There is a difference in the research agendas of
the two categories of countries, however. Arctic
countries have direct needs for data and information to manage their Arctic areas (ecosystem management, human health, resources, etc.), whereas
non-Arctic countries focus their Arctic research on
global issues (although scientists from Arctic countries do so as well). Both agendas reflect the interest of the societies they come from and that fund
them. It should be mentioned that some non-Arctic
countries have larger Arctic research programs than
some of the Arctic countries. IASC brings in the science from all countries and thus provides additional
benefit to the work of the Arctic Council.
106 Appendices
00 06 The IASC Evolution and Lessons Learned
Building strong and enduring partnerships
«If you want a lasting contribution to a particular
area of research and especially if doing so involves
field research on an ongoing or multiyear basis, it
is hel