Lawrence Hislop from GRID-Arenal in Norway travelled to Uummannaq Polar Institute in Greenland to do research. Lawrence Hislops experience can be read below.
I have acquired highly valuable experience furthering my work in collaboration with UArctic partners, in linking researchers with communications experts. I had the opportunity to meet with a new and exciting partner in Greenland, eager to discuss and plan opportunities to link to the UArctic thematic network focusing on communication research.
I traveled to Uummannaq Greenland to discuss a joint partnership between the Uummannaq Polar Institute (UPI) and the UArctic Thematic Network (TN) on Communicating the Arctic Research. The goal was to discuss practical steps in organizing the joint workshops with Greenland in 2015 and for Uummannaq Polar Institute to host these events in their facilities.
The Thematic Network has recently received some new funding for 2014-15, from the Prince Albert Foundation in Monaco, to organize a series of workshops. These will be focusing on documenting environmental change in the Arctic, particularly using tools, such as photography and video production. Uummannaq Polar Institute has strong connections with the Prince Albert Foundation from previous engagements on visually focused projects.
The main purpose of the Uummannaq Polar Institute is to promote educational programmes for young people in Greenland. Here there is the opportunity of working with artists from around the world on a regular basis, is a good way to produce compelling stories on subjects related to changing environmental and social conditions in Greenland. Uummannaq Polar Institute have partnered with GRID-Arendal on a photography project, 'Portraits of Resilience', as well as produced an award winning film, named, 'Inuk'.
The UArctic Thematic Network links professional photographers, information-visualization specialists and art students together with students of science, arctic researchers, holders of traditional knowledge, and scientists, to explore and create photo, video, and map based communication materials that can be used for publishing, scientific research, exhibiting, and web distributing.