Collaborative Research: Co-producing Understanding of Drivers and Consequences of Environmental Arctic Change: Science Support for SEARCH.

北极是原住民和其他居民的家园，他们依靠北极生态系统的生产力来维持生计，狩猎和采集对健康、福祉以及文化、景观和社会联系至关重要。作为地球系统的一部分，北极也是全球气候的重要驱动力。地方、区域、州和国家一级的决策者往往无法持续获得有关北极环境变化的可操作知识，尽管土著人民的科学认识和知识越来越多。应对北极海冰的迅速和前所未有的损失以及其他环境变化需要科学研究和社会，经济和生态系统专业知识的政策。该项目汇集了科学家，土著人民和决策者（来自政府和企业）的复杂合作，以全面了解北极环境变化的过程和后果，并使决策者和更广泛的受众广泛了解这种理解。信息将汇集在科学学科和土著知识系统的共同制作的综合。这有助于NSF的使命，通过增加对北极环境变化的驱动因素以及这些变化在健康，繁荣，福利和国家安全方面的后果的科学理解，使用一种融合的方法，将联合收割机知识系统和跨学科研究相结合。该项目将广泛传播成果，以提高多个科学学科和土著知识持有者与决策者合作产生可操作知识的能力。该项目采用称为“复杂合作”的融合方法，共同产生和分享可操作知识，为北极和低纬度地区的社会生态系统决策提供信息。该项目的目标是：（1）在北极专家（包括科学家、土著居民和决策者）之间建立和维持复杂的合作;（2）共同制定北极系统的概念框架，包括变化的驱动因素;（3）应用该框架确定北极变化在自然、社会、地缘政治和经济环境方面的驱动因素和后果;以及（4）以科学、土著和决策受众可访问和特定的格式分享整体理解。该项目将不同的合作PI，土著人民和合作伙伴组织网络整合为三个联合制作团队，专注于了解和预测北极环境变化的过程以及对人类福祉和地缘政治和经济稳定的整体，可操作的后果。共同编制的北极系统概念框架（目标2）将为确定北极变化的驱动因素和后果（目标3）的综合报告奠定基础。通过综合各种认识论实现的整体理解将在针对特定受众（包括决策者、北极社区成员和科学家）的不同产品中分享（目标4）。该项目以该小组成员过去的工作为基础，通过与其他北极研究人员分享经验教训和增加关于成功共同生产知识的越来越多的文献，加强与土著人民的合作，并推进共同生产知识的方法。该项目将为解决北极地区面临气候变化时的经济可持续性和种族平等的紧迫环境问题提供一个复杂的合作框架。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Arctic is home to Indigenous Peoples and other residents who rely on the productivity of Arctic ecosystems for their livelihood and for subsistence hunting and gathering that is vital to health; wellbeing; and cultural, landscape, and social connections. The Arctic is also an important driver of climate globally as part of the earth system. Decision makers at the local, regional, state, and national level often lack consistent access to actionable knowledge about environmental change in the Arctic, despite the growing body of scientific understanding and the profound knowledge held by Indigenous Peoples. Responding to rapid and unprecedented loss of sea ice and other environmental changes in the Arctic requires policies informed by scientific research and expertise in social, economic, and ecological systems. This project brings together a complex collaboration of scientists, Indigenous Peoples, and decision makers (from government and business) to both create comprehensive understanding of the processes and consequences of Arctic environmental change and to make that understanding broadly accessible to decision makers and wider audiences. Information will be brought together across scientific disciplines and Indigenous Knowledge systems in a co-produced synthesis. This contributes to NSF’s mission by increasing scientific understanding of the drivers of Arctic environmental change and the consequences of these changes in terms of health, prosperity, welfare, and national security using a convergent approach to combine knowledge systems and interdisciplinary research. The project will broadly disseminate the outcomes to further the ability of multiple scientific disciplines and Indigenous Knowledge holders to produce actionable knowledge in collaboration with decision makers.This project uses a convergent approach termed ‘complex collaboration’ to co-produce and share actionable knowledge to inform decisions about socio-ecological systems in the Arctic and lower latitudes. The project goals are to (1) build and sustain complex collaborations among Arctic experts including scientists, Indigenous People, and decision makers; (2) co-produce a conceptual framework of the Arctic system including drivers of change; (3) apply the framework to identify drivers and consequences of Arctic change in terms of natural, social, geopolitical, and economic environments; and (4) share holistic understanding in formats accessible and specific to scientific, Indigenous, and decision-making audiences. The project brings together diverse networks of co-PIs, Indigenous People, and partner organizations into three co-production teams focused on understanding and predicting the processes of Arctic environmental change and the consequences in holistic, actionable terms for human well-being and geopolitical and economic stability. A co-produced conceptual framework of the Arctic system (goal 2) will establish the basis for syntheses that identify drivers and consequences of Arctic change (goal 3). The holistic understanding achieved by synthesizing across epistemologies will be shared in distinct products tailored to specific audiences including policy makers, members of Arctic communities, and scientists (goal 4). The project builds on past work by members of this team to increase collaborations with Indigenous Peoples and advance approaches to co-production of knowledge by sharing lessons learned with other Arctic researchers and by adding to the growing body of literature on successful co-production of knowledge. The project will contribute a framework for complex collaboration on urgent environmental issues that address economic sustainability and racial equity in the face of climate change in the Arctic.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.