Science diplomacy has been instrumental in facilitating cooperation in the Arctic region, yet through the projection of vast hydrocarbon potential in the region, it has also served to undermine the major transformation necessary in Arctic decision-making towards the goals of climate governance. This article surveys the translation of science from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports (i.e. the CARA study and Factsheet 2008-3049) on Arctic oil and gas and its transformation into common knowledge within Arctic discourse through repetition by the agents in between and its subsequent adoption into Arctic policy documents. In this process, we interrogate the production of the science underpinning US science diplomacy and the influence of this science on international Arctic discourse and policy use science diplomacy. This paper contributes to the literature of science diplomacy in the Arctic by examining the contributions of the USGS to Arctic policy discourses and its impact on Arctic governance at the nexus of science diplomacy on climate and energy.

Science diplomacy can be defined as “the use of scientific collaborations between countries to address joint problems and to build constructive international partnerships for delivering effective scientific advice for policy making”. During the last 10 years, the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) has been active in finding ways to solve global Grand Challenges, particularly climate change and poor air quality in polluted megacities, and at the same time, better bridge research to international climate policy and science diplomacy processes. INAR has introduced Pan-Eurasian Experiment programme running since the year 2012 (www.atm.helsinki.fi/peex) to better address the scientific challenge to understand Atmosphere – Earth Surface – Biosphere interactions and feedbacks in the Northern Eurasian context. INAR has also launched a measurement concept called the Global Network of Stations Measuring Earth Surface and Atmosphere Interactions (GlobalSMEAR) and has hosted the European Centre of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences since 2015. Most recently, INAR has coordinated the Arena for the gap analysis of the existing Arctic Science Co-Operations (AASCO), 2020–2021, to promote research with a holistic and integrated approach in understanding feedbacks and interactions globally and locally at the Arctic and outside the Arctic environments.

The article analyses the experience of international scientific cooperation in the Arctic in organising and conducting an academic Swedish–Russian Arc-of-Meridian expedition to the Spitsbergen archipelago in 1898–1901. This was one of the largest projects of its kind in history. The military and naval government agencies of the two countries were extremely interested in measuring the meridian arc near the Geographic North Pole. The fulfilment of this task made it possible to more accurately determine the shape of the Earth as a geoid. This was the significant and fundamental result of testing the hypothesis of the Newton–Huygens spheroid and was of applied importance. Funding for the expeditionary activities was carried out on a parity basis from the budgets of the two nations. The study of archival documents from the collections of the Russian Academy of Sciences Archives enabled an understanding of the unprecedented financial and physical costs of preparing and carrying out expeditionary work. Analysing inter-academic research of the late nineteenth – early twentieth centuries is valuable for understanding the potential interactions between the government and academic structures of international scientific cooperation in the Arctic during the modern era.

When Sir John Franklin’s expedition ships, lost since 1845, were found in the Arctic in 2014 and 2016, respectively, they were referred to several times in the media as ghost ships. However, such a comparison is not new. In 1862, an article linking the disappearance of the Franklin expedition to that of a ghost ship in Antarctic waters appeared in a newly founded German geographic journal aimed at a general audience. The story of the ghost ship Jenny in the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica would probably have been long forgotten had it not appeared again in this journal in English translation a century later. Since then, the story has appeared again and again in publications about mysterious phenomena, without succeeding in answering the question of whether such a ship ever existed at all. Instead of continuing to look for evidence of the actual existence of the ship, the following article not only presents the sources of the 1862 journal article but also examines how the story itself might have originated. In addition to a well-known legend about a ghost ship in the Arctic waters of Greenland, which will also be analysed in greater detail, oral tales and tradition about two almost forgotten voyages into Antarctic waters and a well-known one have probably also been incorporated into the tale of the ghost ship Jenny. All translations from German are by the author.

Scott Base was built in the summer of 1956/7 at Pram Point, Ross Island, initially to provide accommodation for the Ross Sea Support Party of the Commonwealth Transantarctic Expedition (NZ TAE) and for the New Zealand International Geophysical Year Antarctic Expedition (NZ IGY). It has generally been accepted that it was built primarily by and for the Ross Sea Support Party. This is reflected in naming one of the last, conserved, original huts (Hut A) after the NZ TAE and also in ignoring the existence of the other original huts (Hut G and H) still in use. The contribution of the NZ IGY programme to Scott Base (SB) has received little recognition. Furthermore, SB provided a presence in the Ross Dependency to support the New Zealand claimant position. The specifications for the base buildings were developed by a joint committee from both expeditions with final design by the Ministry of Works of the New Zealand Government. The base was constructed and largely paid for by the New Zealand Government. This note briefly reviews what occurred during the conception, design, construction and payment for the base.

As indications of ‘overtourism’ appear in the Arctic, tourism presents both management challenges and ethical dilemmas, applicable to broader discussions about sustainability within Polar tourism. I argue that mapping value relations can contribute to ongoing discussions for positive ways forwards and that the concept of degrowth holds promise in redirecting tourism to better serve the local community. Tourism has become the largest employer and most rapidly growing sector in Svalbard, taking over from coal mining. Longyearbyen is a small urban centre but nevertheless is the central hub where almost all tourism passes through. Indeed, tourism is how the majority of human relations with its lands, seas, human and non-human inhabitants will be enabled. This paper is centred on charting the transition of Longyearbyen to a ‘tourist town’. Drawing on local voices from 2013 to 2016 and 2019, I use a value-based analysis to assess the changes experienced in the context of wider systems of value at work in Svalbard.

Climate change has become significantly pronounced in the Arctic over recent decades. In addition to these climate effects, the environment has experienced severe anthropogenic pressure connected to increased human activities, including the exploitation of natural resources and tourism. The opportunity to exploit some of the natural riches of Svalbard was promptly grasped by the Soviet Union well before the 1940s. In this paper, we present the story of Pyramiden, a mining settlement in central Svalbard. The Soviet town experienced its golden age in the 1970–1980s but fell into decline in the late 1990s which corresponds well with the overall economic and geopolitical situation of the Soviet Union. The impacts of past mining activities and related urban infrastructure development are illustrated with the use of historic aerial photographs. The most pronounced changes in the terrain configuration were connected to adjustments of the river network, construction of roads, water reservoirs, and obviously mining-related activities. The natural processes overwhelmed the city infrastructure rather quickly after the abandonment of the town in 1998, though some traces of human activities may persist for decades or centuries. Nowadays, Russia has been attempting to recover the settlement especially through support of tourism and research activities.

This paper investigates how guides on Svalbard make sense of their relations to the environment whilst working with mass tourism. The Arctic is heating up more rapidly than any other part of the world, and over the last 30 years the effect of climate change has had a large impact on the environment in the Arctic. The guides as such find themselves living a paradox where their work destroys the nature that they care about and depend on. This paper analyses empirical data collected during four months of fieldwork amongst guides in Svalbard. Throughout the paper, two dimensions are explored: the guides’ relation to and understanding of the environment as well as their ways of caring for it. Building on illustrations of the guides’ preconceptions of the environment, it is shown how the guides in their everyday life are engaged in pro-environmental practices. These practices are embedded in the guides’ reciprocal relationship with the environment, where they negotiate between different trade-offs. The guides thus find a way to navigate the complexity of caring for the environment and working in tourism through their intimate relation to the environment.