Programme Cooperation Agreement 2010 – 2011

The Arctic Council’s Senior Arctic Officials meet in Luleå, Sweden, 2011 (photo by Melinda Ballard)

Mapping out the challenges and opportunities for reindeer husbandry in the West Taiga (photo by Lawrence Hislop)

laration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 41 the par- ticipatory approach has helped build a foundation of trust with and among local partners. The project has also elicited positive feedback from other UN agencies and programmes, such as the UNFCCC and UNESCO, which requested GRID-Arendal to provide a case study for its work programme, and content for an upcoming Arctic publication, respectively. In addition, the Arctic Council Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Board has been sensitized and will consider for- mal endorsement at its Board meeting in February 2012. A clear spin-off of the Nomadic Herders Project is a new initiative on reindeer herding and youth that will be imple- mented by the Arctic Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group, where GRID-Arendal is also a partner. The project will apply the latest scientific data, knowledge and experience on land use change – including indigenous knowledge (IK) – to build the capacity of and create a dialogue of understanding between, indigenous reindeer- herding youth and industrial developers. Although the remainder of GRID-Arendal’s polar and cryo- sphere work is funded from outside the Framework Agree- ment, 42 the overall programme has been developed holisti- cally in order to maximize synergies between projects and partnerships. The status of the rest of the programme as of the end of 2011 is summarized below to show the many op- portunities for possible leverage around recurring themes. As UNEP’s Polar Centre GRID-Arendal maintained regular dialogue with the UNEP Polar Team throughout 2011 and continued to assist UNEP with its Polar Strategic Action Plan 2011-2013. Eye on the Arctic, a quarterly newsletter established by the Polar Centre in 2010, proved a useful internal coordination and information-sharing tool, pro-

viding UNEP colleagues with timely updates on GRID- Arendal and wider UNEP-led activities in the polar region. Through GRID-Arendal, UNEP is an official observer at the Arctic Council (AC) where GRID-Arendal also partici- pates in its capacity as UNEP’s designated Polar Centre, working closely with relevant AC working groups. Throughout 2011 GRID-Arendal strengthened its collabo- ration and networking with existing and emerging Arctic stakeholders, such as the European Union, and was pro- active in identifying new opportunities to contribute its specialised expertise in polar and cryosphere initiatives, many of which are relevant to UNEP’s programmatic ar- eas. The selection of 2011 outputs presented below dem- onstrates a diverse, forward-looking project portfolio that effectively integrates GRID-Arendal’s work with interna- tional initiatives: • A film, to be completed in 2012, was commissioned by the AC Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Working Group (CAFF) based on the findings of the Arctic Biodiversity Trends 2010 report; 43 • The Polar programme consulted regularly with part- ners of the International Polar Year (IPY) to support the legacy of this initiative and discuss continuation of existing climate-related projects. 44 • In collaboration with ECORYS Netherlands, GRID- Arendal is coordinating the establishment of a new 41. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/drip.html 42. The Many Strong Voices and Himalaya Climate Change Adaptation Programme (HICAP) are both funded indirectly, via CICERO, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. GRID Arendal will report jointly on these projects through CICERO, as required by MoFA. 43. http://www.arcticbiodiversity.is 44. http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/WIGOS_1_OSD/Reports/ IPD_workshop_final_report.pdf

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