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The theme of the second Forum for the Arctic and Antarctic was “Raising the ambition of Swedish polar research”, and it attracted more than 100 participants, including researchers, representatives of governmental agencies, and stakeholders.

The Forum is an annual event of the Swedish Centre for the Arctic and Antarctic (SCAA), which is an initiative aimed at establishing a collaborative centre for Arctic and Antarctic research in Sweden, involving research environments at Swedish universities engaged in polar research. SCAA was established in 2024 as a collaboration between the Arctic Centre at Umeå University and the Centre for the Arctic and Antarctic at Luleå University of Technology, with the Forum as an annual event held in partnership with the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. In 2025, the Bolin Centre for Climate Research at Stockholm University joined the initiative and hosted the second forum in Stockholm.

“The ambition is to establish this as an annual event, hosted in rotation by Swedish universities and research institutes. Each year, the forum will address common polar issues and showcase the research of the hosting institution, as this year with Stockholm University,” says Ulf Jonsell, Head of Department of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.

Professors Keith Larson and Dag Avango at the Forum for the Arctic and Antarctic 2025.

Image Monica Börlin

The SCAA welcomes Stockholm University

For the second year of the Forum, the organising group of the Swedish Centre for the Arctic and Antarctic also welcomes Stockholm University as a part of the university alliance network, and looks forward to elevating collaboration within polar research in Sweden and beyond the borders.

“We are very pleased to welcome Stockholm University into this collaboration. It will strengthen our work towards gathering and coordinating polar research throughout the country,” says Dag Avango, Professor and Director of the Centre for the Arctic and Antarctic at Luleå University of Technology.

Days of collaboration and visions for the future

The forum days opened with a welcoming speech from State Secretary Maria Nilsson. She highlighted that the polar research is gaining momentum, not by chance, but through years of collaboration. Polar communities combine science, infrastructure and people across land, sea, ice and society to work towards a resilient future.

Wordcloud describing the role of early-career researchers in future polar research.

Image Monica Börlin

The first day focused on the next generation of researchers, as well as Swedish funding opportunities for polar research. After an introduction and workshop with SCAA, representatives from APECS Sweden, Bolin Centre Early Career Researchers Network, The International Arctic Science Committee  (IASC), and Swedish Polar Research Secretariat all presented opportunities for early career researchers, such as fellowship programs, networks, events, and support opportunities. They also invited the audience to share their ideas on how to best collaborate between early and senior career researchers, as well as with society.

“It is a great opportunity to share what we do, and to encourage the forum participants to interact and think about what future in polar research we can create together. We hope that this can work as a springboard for network-building and new horizons for research collaborations across generations,” says Felicia Söderqvist, PhD Candidate at Luleå University of Technology, and board member of APECS Sweden.

The second day focused on polar research as a concept, from the early days of risky expeditions to the North Pole, to where we are in our research, where we are going, and what the future might hold. Some of the key points included how globalisation and issues like climate change are directing the course of research, as well as how polar research no longer limited to the fields of natural sciences, but rather within all research fields, making it an interdisciplinary field of research. Professor Peder Roberts from the University of Oslo emphasised that people and environments in the polar regions have rights, and that it is essential for both material and non-material cultures to have a voice in future polar research.

The polar regions have never been as high on the agenda as they are now. We must act to create a future that is sustainable and just for the polar regions and the peoples of the Arctic.

Polar research has never been more critical

Certain events in the world are inevitably making the situation dire for the polar regions, which in turn makes polar research more important than ever before. Current research shows that ice is melting and sea levels are rising, and political issues are dividing the points of interest for the polar regions, challenging their future purpose and scope of application. The last session discussed future ambitions, and highlighted how the 5th International Polar Year (IPY5), International Conference on Arctic Research Planning  (ICARP) IV, and the UN Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences are all global initiatives working towards coordinating and prioritising polar research to address these issues and work towards a sustainable and resilient future.

“These initiatives are crucial. The polar regions have never been as high on the agenda as they are now. We must act to create a future that is sustainable and just for the polar regions and the peoples of the Arctic,” says Keith Larson, Director of the Arctic Centre at Umeå University.

Even though our present times are unstable and the future is heading towards terrains of uncertainty, the Forum for the Arctic and Antarctic demonstrates that Swedish polar researchers are eager to come together and collaborate across their research fields to tackle the triple planetary crisis, climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainability for a better future for all.