New podcast episode: Arctic Safety Centre
In this episode we are joined by Holt Hancock, Siiri Wickström and Stig Andreas Johannessen from the Arctic Safety Centre.
Holt Hancock, Siiri Wickström and Stig Andreas Johannessen guesting The ColdCast. Photo: Maria Philippa Rossi
The natural environment in the Arctic is undergoing rapid changes, and an increased knowledge and expertise is required to conduct field work, travel, and live safely between the mountains.
We will talk about the Arctic Safety Centre and the ARCT-RISK project, a Research Council of Norway funded project focused on management of climate-related risk in Longyearbyen. This project, which employs all three researchers we interviewed, seeks to develop knowledge and tools to manage the effects of climate change on societies using the rapid climatic changes in Longyearbyen as a case-study.
As an example of the collaboration between stakeholders this project encourages, we discuss a snow monitoring project involving cooperation between the municipality, Telenor Svalbard, and the Governor. By using relatively cheap technology, like what you would find in a smart home, the scientists can monitor the snow depth around town, and in real time send the data to avalanche observers and other risk managers. The system works so well that the Arctic Safety Centre has started a cooperation with Honningsvåg to assist them with the same technology and knowledge.
The podcast is produced by technician Simen Salomonsen Hjelle and information adviser Maria Philippa Rossi.