Workshop on social sciences and humanities in Polar regions

SPI is organising a workshop on social sciences and humanities (SSH) interested in polar regions. The objectives are to identify and discuss opportunities, needs and structural barriers for Swiss researchers from (SSH) interested in polar regions. This will be a great opportunity to better understand the place of these fields in the Swiss polar research landscape and to see if the SPI activities meet their particular needs.

We look forward to your active participation in order to highlight the importance of social sciences and humanities, and the Swiss competences in this field in order to ensure their inclusion in SPI planning for the period 2020-2025.

Programme:

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 funding 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

15:30 – 15:45      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 at the international and Swiss levels
• Are the funding 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 creation of a network?

17:00 – 17:30      Follow-ups and wrap-up

17:30 – 18:30      Networking drink