Arctic PASSION – Working together towards a better coordinated, integrated, equitable and useful Arctic Observing System: successes, challenges and lessons learnt

The EU-funded Arctic PASSION project is co-creating an observing system that is better tuned to deliver on the needs of Arctic societies, and that enables a more holistic approach to monitoring of environmental changes to support decision making at local, national and international levels. Arctic Indigenous communities and northern communities are engaged in these activities which involve consideration of high quality, science-based Earth observation information, and of consented Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and Local Knowledge (LK).

We will showcase our activities on 

• the co-creation of an Indigenous-led database that documents local bio-cultural events in several Arctic communities, 
• the co-creative establishment of a monitoring system for noise pollution affecting marine mammals with local hunters in Qaanaaq, Greenland, and 
• the initiation of an expert panel of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Arctic people jointly with researchers, and representatives of government agencies and the private sector, to improve coordination of sea ice and related observations by incorporating   Indigenous and Local Knowledge and filling gaps in current monitoring systems to provide shared benefit to Arctic communities, and across regions and sectors . 

In addition we will present our activities to form an Arctic Ocean Regional Alliance (ArORA)  under the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) framework that will enhance collaboration and coordination of actions dedicated to the Arctic Ocean, bringing together coastal communities, scientists and other Arctic actors.