Developing interdisciplinary permafrost higher education in collaboration with a Greenlandic community

Developing interdisciplinary permafrost higher education in collaboration with a Greenlandic community (EduPermaGR), linked to the UArctic Thematic Network on Permafrost
Project partners: University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, Norway, Aalborg University, AAU Arctic, Denmark, Umeå University, Sweden, UiO, Norway, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
Permafrost higher education is very sparse generally in the Arctic. Current permafrost education offers do not match the demand from students and professionals on training and internship opportunities within permafrost science and engineering. Meanwhile understanding of permafrost behaviour and its interactions with climate change and human activities are critical to manage ongoing and future changes competently and sustainably. There is an urgent need for more graduates with thorough understanding of permafrost issues, as well as local population and stakeholders that are informed and competent to understand, co-produce and implement the strategies needed to increase adaptive capacity to Arctic climate change. The EduPermaGR project will develop an interdisciplinary permafrost master course disseminating latest scientific and technological knowledge in active collaboration with a local community. Course components will be finalized in close dialogue with the local stakeholders in Greenland and our geoscientists and engineers project partners to ensure relevance and applicability.