30 Years of Innovation and Excellence: GRID-Arendal Annual Report 2019

Bringing environmental knowledge to the public in Norway

In August, GRID-Arendal was an enthusiastic participant in Arendalsuka, Norway’s national political festival, which takes place in our hometown. We co-hosted an event with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on policy in the Northern Territories, which includes parts of northern Norway that are home to indigenous Sami populations. We organized and participated in panels on a wide range of topics, including environmental crime, climate change in Svalbard, marine plastic pollution, the Arctic Council, the Norwegian economy in the Arctic, and youth and schooling in northern Norway. And we hosted a boat tour of nearby Raet National Park, which taught attendees about the area’s unique geology and ecosystems.

In January, at the annual Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø in northern Norway, GRID-Arendal co-hosted a side event on how to address the challenge of marine plastic pollution in the Arctic. GRID-Arendal staff designed and taught a new course at the University of Agder in southern Norway, “Coastal Ecology and Global Change in the Anthropocene”, part of a new MSc degree program in coastal ecology. Ten staff members lectured or led discussions and activities on topics ranging from marine spatial planning to blue carbon to ecosystem services. We also organized a day of fieldwork for the students at Raet National Park.

A drone’s eye view of University of Agder students doing fieldwork at Raet National Park under the direction of GRID-Arendal staff.

GRID-Arendal’s Christian Neumann on a boat tour celebrating the launch of our 2019 report on Raet National Park.

GRID-Arendal Chief Scientist Miles Macmillan-Lawler speaks at the Ocean Summit at Arendalsuka.

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