Arctic Social Sciences: Opportunities in Arctic Research

Arctic Social Sciences: Opportunities in Arctic Research  was published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) for the National Science Foundation Arctic Social Sciences Program. In 1990, the National Science Foundation (NSF) created the Arctic Social Sciences Program in response to the broad federal agency recommendations made in Arctic Social Science: An Agenda for Action, prepared in 1989 by an interdisciplinary committee established by the Polar Research Board. The NSF program, initiated to support Arctic social sciences research within the NSF scope, was guided by the three themes articulated in Agenda for Action: human-environment interactions, community viability, and rapid social change.

Arctic Social Sciences: Opportunities in Arctic Research was developed through a dedicated workshop, sponsored by NSF and organized by ARCUS, in October 1997. Workshop participants and others subsequently reviewed the draft document in the arctic social science community. This report is intended to build on the Agenda for Action, to stimulate creative thinking and interaction about a variety of research areas, and to expand and augment the work done so far under the Arctic Social Sciences Program.