Programme Cooperation Agreement 2012 – 2013

arctic work funded from other ( non - mfa ) sources Many Strong Voices (MSV) MSV brings together people and organizations in the SIDS and the Arctic to take collaborative and strategic ac- tions on climate change mitigation and adaptation at the local, national, regional and international levels. Its goal is the well-being, security, and sustainability of communi- ties, and it provides a platform for people in these regions to tell their stories to the world. In September 2012, MSV supported the organisation of a workshop in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. During the event, community leaders from Newtok, Alaska met with residents of the Cateret Islands in Papua New Guinea to discuss climate-induced relocation, a challenge faced by both communities. At the UNFCCC COP 19 in November 2013, MSV held a global consultation entitled the Warsaw Dialogue as part of its project on climate change, human rights and community-based relocation. There is much discus- sion about forced migration in the context of climate change, much of it from a top-down perspective, but little from the bottom up. The consultation brought to- gether 45 participants from affected communities 68 to begin a dialogue on community-based relocation, and share experiences and best practice between regions. Plans were developed for next steps – including how to support the voices of people and communities facing relocation. GRID-Arendal participated in two research field trips to Indian Ocean SIDS during 2013 to explore future MSV op- tions. A trip to the Seychelles in late February, together with colleagues from the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research - Oslo (CICERO), provided the opportunity to plan initiatives on ecosystem-based ad- aptation, forced relocation, and food security. A second research field trip was undertaken to the Maldives in early March. GRID-Arendal took part in partner meetings and initial field visits for the new MSV project ‘Perceptions and un- derstanding of climate change and migration: Conceptu- alising and contextualizing for Lakshadweep and the Mal- dives’. 69 Participation in the September 2013 Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo and Islands & Isolated Communities Congress, in Hawai‘i, enabled MSV to es- 68. Participants included representatives from the Pacific, Caribbean, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and Taiwan 69. Project partners include GRID-Arendal, CICERO, The Energy and Resources Institute from India, the Ministry of Housing and Environment in the Maldives, the Centre for Earth Research and Environment Management, the University of Manchester, and the University of Reading.

tablish new contacts for developing a project on sustain- able energy in the SIDS and Arctic.

Following consultation with MSV’s Advisory Committee, a new three-year funding proposal is currently being devel- oped with University College London and will be finalized in January 2014. A first draft was submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier in 2013. (Note: due to a change in organizational priorities, CICERO will no longer be in- volved in MSV after 2013.) SIGNIFICANT OUTCOME: MSV’s global outreach Many Strong Voices has reached a point where numerous organizations and individuals are asking to participate. In November 2013, MSV was selected by readers of The Guardian newspaper in the UK as one of the most influential awareness raising campaigns in the world. See: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development- professionals-network/2013/nov/15/top-10-climate- change-campaigns European Space Agency (ESA) project The ESA-funded project, ‘Supporting European Arctic Policy-Opportunities for Space-based Systems’, led by GRID-Arendal with the support of the Polar View con- sortium members C-Core and the Tromsø center for Remote Technology, University of Tromsø, provided a coherent perspective on how space-based technolo- gies can support European Arctic policies at national, regional and international levels. In March 2012 a cross- section of Arctic stakeholders including the private sec- tor, indigenous peoples, and scientists were invited to identify priorities and needs for space-based systems. The final project report was submitted to the ESA later that month. GRID-Arendal led a photography workshop 70 in Kuusa- mo, Finland in September 2012 organized by the The- matic Network on Communicating Arctic Research at the Oulanka Research Station. The goal of the new network is to link professional photographers, informa- tion visualization specialists and art students together with science students, Arctic researchers, and holders of traditional knowledge, to create photo, video, and map-based communication materials that can be used for publishing, scientific research, public exhibiting, and web distribution. The project will continue for the next three years with new funding from the Prince Albert Foundation. University of the Arctic Thematic Network on Communi- cating Arctic Research

70. http://www.uarctic.org/SingleArticle.aspx?m=1225&amid=13464

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