New strategy to strengthen Danish research and education in the Arctic

The Government wants to strengthen Denmark's efforts within Arctic research, education and innovation. Arctic research helps provide valuable knowledge about global climate change, and what climate change means for people, the environment, animals and plants.

And education in and about the Arctic is crucial to ensuring there are well-educated young people with significant knowledge about Arctic conditions, and who can play an important role in the sustainable development of the Arctic.

For this reason, the Minister for Higher Education and Science Ulla Tørnæs is launching a new strategy today to build a framework for how the Ministry of Higher Education and Science will work within the Arctic area in the coming years.

- We need to place Denmark on the map as one of the world's leading countries for Arctic research and education. Together with Greenland and the Faroe Islands, we have a strong interest in helping  to ensure a sustainable development in the Arctic. Efforts in the Arctic affect the whole world, for example in the form of climate change. Denmark considers it key that there is more knowledge about the Arctic and more well-educated young people in the Arctic region, says Minister for Higher Education and Science Ulla Tørnæs.

The strategy is based on a number of dialogue meetings held with relevant stakeholders and contains many different initiatives. For example, in conjunction with the Government of Greenland, it will be examined if there is potential for establishing an international research hub in Greenland which could strengthen research environments in the Arctic.

Another initiative will implement a pilot project to help equip Greenlandic students pursuing studies in Denmark. The initiative will tackle the challenges faced by many Greenlandic students starting their studies in Denmark, such as language, accommodation and cultural understanding, thereby improving their opportunities for completing their education in Denmark.

The strategy paves the way for cooperation within the Danish Realm on the initiatives to help solve concrete challenges. The strategy however, is Danish and is part of the implementation of the Kingdom of Denmark Strategy for the Arctic 2011-2020. It is therefore not a strategy for the whole Realm, as research, education and innovation fall under the scope of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

- It is important to stress that cooperation within the Realm should stem from common interests and in a close and equal dialogue, says Ulla Tørnæs, who acknowledges the existing good cooperation Denmark has with Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

The strategy is being launched today at the Technical University of Denmark where the ministry's annual Polar Research conference is taking place. The conference gathers together many of the central stakeholders within Arctic research and in addition to the presentation of the Arctic strategy, there will also be presentations of the Arctic elements of the national space and drone strategies which were publicised by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science earlier this year.

• Read the new strategy (in Danish)
• Cutting Edge Research in the Arctic - a Presentation of Danish Polar Research

For further information please contact:

Special adviser Frej Sorento Dichmann, Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, tel. +45 7231 8245, fdi@fi.dk
Press secretary Kristina Mie Hansen, Ministry of Higher Education and Science, tel. +45 7231 8012, kmh@ufm.dk