Workshop on social sciences and humanities in Polar regions (18 February, at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle Neuchâtel)

SPI is organizing a workshop on Sciences and Humanities interested in Polar regions. The objectives are to identify and discuss opportunities, needs and structural barriers for Swiss researchers from social sciences and humanities (SSH) interested in Polar regions. This will be a great opportunity better place these fields in the Swiss Polar research landscape and to see if the SPI activities meet there particular needs. We would be very happy to count on your active participation in order to highlight the importance of social sciences and humanities and the Swiss competences in this field, and introduce them in the current SPI planning for the period 2020-2025.

Agenda:
13:30 – 14:00 Welcome coffee

14:00 – 14:45 Introduction by Danièle Rod, Yvon Csonka and Basil Fahrlaender
• Goals and agenda of the afternoon
• The Swiss Polar Institute and its instruments
• Introduction of the participants

14:45 – 15:30 The new role of social sciences and humanities research in Polar research, presentation by Yvon Csonka and discussion
15h30 – 15h45 Social Sciences at Davos: Report from POLAR2018, presentation by Ksenia Tatarchenko and discussion

15:45 – 17:00 How to enhance the field within the Swiss landscape? Discussion led by Yvon Csonka • What are the structural barriers? (Funding, critical mass, junior vs senior,…)
• Research priorities on the international and Swiss levels
• Are the instruments of the SPI adapted to the specific needs of the community?
• Representation of the Swiss community within dedicated international bodies (IASC, Arctic Council Working Groups, APECS, …)
• First step towards the constitution of a network?

17:00 – 17:30 Follow-ups and wrap-up

17:30 – 18:30 Networking Drink

Date and venue: The workshop is scheduled on 18 February, at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle Neuchâtel. If you would like to join the event or need more information, please contact at secretariat.spi@epfl.ch.

Pôles, Feu la glace, la nouvelle création du Muséum propose un voyage dans le Grand Nord et l’Extrême Sud du 9 septembre 2018 au 18 août 2019