The Arctic is undergoing rapid changes. Multiple stressors such as climate change and pollution from local and remote sources affect human life, wildlife and the ecosystems of the Arctic. These are inseparably connected and require a holistic approach to analyses and assessments of pollution issues, and to their solutions. Using this One Health approach, ArcSolution will provide knowledge and mitigating solutions, co-created with the people of the Arctic. The Arctic is home to a variety of Arctic communities. To capture this diversity, ArcSolution will work in four Arctic locations, i.e. Northern Finland, Svalbard, Northern Norway (Tromsø) and Greenland, integrating local and Indigenous knowledge with environmental, health, technical and social science research in a One Health approach. The One Health framework will be instrumental in identifying knowledge and data gaps, and in synthesizing the information generated and collected in ArcSolution. In addition to scientifically relevant priority pollutants (e.g. per-/polyfluorinated alkylated substances, mercury, (micro)plastics and their additives, and key pathogens), ArcSolution will provide room for research and citizen science projects on locally prioritized issues. We will study pollution from local and remote sources in a climate change context, pollutant accumulation in food webs and human exposure. We will also evaluate current and predict future impacts of these pollutants on Arctic ecosystems and human health. Together with the local communities, we will develop solutions in the fields of circular economy, technology and chemicals management. Our results will be used in education programmes at Arctic schools already connected to ArcSolution. They will be communicated to policy-makers, industry and the scientific community. The One Health-based knowledge will strengthen the knowledge base and contribute to sustainable preventive actions for human life, wildlife and the ecosystems in the Arctic.

The rapid changes occurring in the Polar Regions are significantly influencing global climate with consequences for global society. European polar research has contributed critical knowledge to identifying the processes behind these rapid changes but, in contrast to lower latitudes, datasets from the Polar Regions are still insufficient to fully understand and more effectively predict the effects of change on our climate and society. This situation can only be improved by a more holistic integrated scientific approach, a higher degree of coordination of polar research and closer cooperation with all relevant actors on an international level as requested in the Horizon 2020 work programme. The objectives of EU-PolarNet are to establish an ongoing dialogue between policymakers, business and industry leaders, local communities and scientists to increase mutual understanding and identify new ways of working that will deliver economic and societal benefits. The results of this dialogue will be brought together in a plan for an Integrated European Research Programme that will be co-designed with all relevant stakeholders and coordinated with the activities of many other polar research nations beyond Europe, including Canada and the United States, with which consortium partners already have productive links. This consortium brings together well-established, world-class, multi-disciplinary research institutions whose science programmes are internationally recognised for excellence. Alongside these scientific capabilities, the national programmes represented in this proposal possess a unique array of infrastructure and operational expertise to support science in both Polar Regions. The consortium is uniquely well positioned to significantly enhance Europe’s capabilities to undertake state of the art science and cost-efficiently operate infrastructure in the hostile polar environments.

With communities and ecosystems subject to multiple environmental, climatic, cultural and economic stresses, the Polar Regions truly represent the sentinel of climate change. Already now, changes in the Polar Regions are changing the lives of polar residents, and are affecting the well-being of many polar communities. Furthermore, the state of the Polar systems has far reaching effects on atmosphere, ocean and land including the change of weather pattern in Europe. Polar issues have been therefore rising up the political agenda across Europe over the past decade and the European Union and its executive body, the EC, attribute an increasing importance to science and innovation in the high latitudes and are major investors in Polar research. There is therefore an increasing need to further develop the coordination of Polar research actions in Europe to give evidence-based advice to decision makers. This must include a continued involvement of all relevant stake- and right holders to develop transdisciplinary and transnational projects to tackle societally relevant problems connected to the Polar Regions. EU-PolarNet 2 will provide a coordination platform to co-develop strategies to advance the European Polar Research action and its contribution to the policy-making processes. It will operate as such a platform for the 4-years of the project´s lifetime. Once EU-PolarNet 2 ends, the gained experience, the established network and the developed tools to facilitate better coordination and co-design of Polar research actions will be transferred to the European Polar Coordination Office to be sustained. The EU-PolarNet 2 consortium consist of 25 partners representing all European and associated countries with Polar research programmes and activities. This allows EU-PolarNet 2 to significantly improve the coordination and co-design of European Polar research actions but also to provide evidence-based advice on behalf of the whole European Polar community.