Polar Scientists

The annual event Polar Researchers’ Day with the theme “Arctic in a global context” got a political twist this year as it had the Kingdom of Denmark - Strategy for the Arctic 2011-2020 as its basis. As the first speaker under the theme “Arctic interests”, the Minister for Research Palle Christiansen opened the day with his thoughts on the strategy seen from a Greenlandic view. Then spoke Deputy Christen Krogh from the Danish Foreign Ministry’s Office for Northern Europe, Greenland, and Arctic, while the Political Counsellor Kim Girtel from the Canadian Embassy spoke on Canadian perspectives on a changing Arctic.

“This opportunity to give the Danish polar scientists Greenland’s visions on the Kingdom of Denmark - Strategy for the Arctic is valuable”, says Minister Palle Christiansen, who, among other things, talked about the importance of communicating research results to the Greenlandic public.

“In a forum like this, it is a good opportunity to create the understanding that the scientists share the responsibility to disseminate their research findings to the general public, so Greenland can use the knowledge in our social development”, Palle Christiansen carries on, “but also that by anchoring their research in Greenland they are helping to strengthen our small research communities”.

The Polar Researchers’ Day also had lectures on the universities’ efforts and initiatives in Arctic research and lectures from several PhD students. The Polar Researchers’ Day, which is a re-occurring event, is organized by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology, and Innovation in Copenhagen.