Background
Mimir is a research outreach program that was created to ensure that there are strong ties between the planning process for Arctic research and Arctic communities. UArctic recognizes that Arctic communities must be able to contribute to the direction and undertaking of research in the North. UArctic is involved in two major international Arctic research events which are occurring now or in the next few years, being the Second International Conference on Arctic Research Planning
(ICARPII) and the International Polar Year
(IPY). Mimir's primary responsibility is to plan and coordinate the outreach portion of UArctic's participation in both ICARPII and IPY.
ICARP II
The goal of
ICARP II is to prepare Arctic research plans to guide international cooperation over the next 10-15 years. ICARPII will bring together senior and young scholars, policy experts, Arctic indigenous and other residents, science and land managers as well as funding agencies to discuss and extend the draft plans taking special note of the problems, priorities and concerns of those who live in or near the Arctic. The outcome of ICARPII will complement ongoing national and international programmes and planned major initiatives, such as IPY, in order to guide international cooperation over the next decade of change in the Arctic. UArctic is heavily involved with the ICARPII Working Group 11 on Arctic Science in the Public Interest, and was instrumental in an Education and Outreach Position Paper produced in 2004.
IPY
(IPY) is an international coordinated campaign of polar research that will initiate a new era in polar science. The process aims to not only be interdisciplinary in terms of the research, but to involve and educate the public, helping to train the next generation of engineers, scientists and leaders. UArctic, as an endorsing body of IPY, is also the lead project in the Education stream. As an already existing international network of cooperating institutions concerned with higher education in the Arctic, UArctic is ideally suited to playing an important role in research outreach with IPY.
(UARCTIC IPY web site)