Thule Institute

The Thule Institute is a Finnish partner in the EU-PolarNet 2 project and is leading the WP2 - Stakeholder Involvement. EU-PolarNet 2 is the world’s largest consortium of polar research expertise and infrastructures, composed by 25 partners representing all European Member States and Associated Countries which have well-established Polar Programmes.

The ambition of EU-PolarNet 2 is to establish a sustainable and inclusive platform to co-develop and advance European Polar research actions and to give evidence-based advice to policymaking processes. This platform will allow to further develop the coordination of Polar research actions in Europe and with overseas partners. By involving all relevant stake- and rightholders it will support the development of transdisciplinary and transnational Polar research actions of high societal relevance. To ensure that such an important platform is sustained after the end of EU-PolarNet 2, the project will work towards creating a permanent European Polar Coordination Office.

Kirsi Latola is the leader of the WP2 - Stakeholder Involvement.

For more information about the work package 2 and its tasks see the EU-Polarnet 2 website.

Thule Institute is a partner in INTERACT -The International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic.

INTERACT is a pan-arctic network of research infrastructures, consisting of 89 terrestrial field stations in northern Europe, Russia, US, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, the Faroe Islands and Scotland, as well as stations in northern alpine regions.

Thule Institute manages the largest work package “Giving Access to the Arctic” (WP3) in the EU-H2020 funded consortium. The work package focuses on coordination and provision of Transnational Access. Transnational Access (TA) means free access for scientists to conduct their studies at the research stations, including travel and logistic costs as well as facilities and accommodations at the station. TA is offered to 53 research stations for altogether 5827 person-days during the four-year funding period from 2020 to 2023.

Transnational Access also includes two other modalities of access. Remote Access (RA) is a form of Transnational Access, where the scientists do not physically visit the station, but instead the station staff collects the samples for the scientists according to their research plan. Thirty-three (33) stations are offering 668 person-days of RA. There is a call for both TA and RA projects annually in the INTERACCESS on-line application system. The TA/RA call is competitive, and the applications undergo scientific evaluation by international INTERACT TA Selection Board.

The third form of access is called Virtual Access, meaning free and open access to station's monitoring and observation data. Virtual Access is offered by 29 stations, and can be accessed through the INTERACT Virtual Access data portal that is freely available on-line.

The coordination and management of TA takes place at Thule Institute. The TA coordination office, consisting of two persons, arranges the annual TA/RA calls and related scientific evaluations, takes care of communication with the applicants, selected TA projects and the stations, prepares various reports and deliverables, and arranges multiple events and meetings within the TA User Community.

The main coordination of INTERACT (WP1) is located at Lund University in Sweden. Other INTERACT work packages include the Station Managers' Forum (WP2), Unpredictable Arctic -extreme weather effects (WP4), Connecting the Arctic -transport and communication (WP5), and Climate Action -making data widely available (WP6), Preparing for a future world -improving education and awareness at all societal levels (WP7), Cleaner Arctic, cleaner world -documenting and reducing pollution (WP8), and The Arctic Resort -increasing benefits and reducing impacts from developing Arctic tourism (WP9).

Stemming from the previous population ageing focused projects, such as Nordic Council of Ministers funded “Indigenous and non-indigenous residents of the Nordic-Russian region: Best practices for equity in healthy ageing (NORRUS-AGE, 2020-2022)” Northern Dimension Institute Think Tank Action (NDI ThinkTank, 2018-2022), Aging, gender and ethnicity (AGE-Arctic, 2020-2023) and a number of others, we have continued this work with the new NAPA three-year project “Arctic Healthy Aging communities: Safe and inclusive outdoor environment and public spaces (The Nordic AHA-Communities, 2023-2026)”. The new project is coordinated by Thule Institute, University of Oulu in collaboration with Faculty of Medicine, and involves partners from Luleå University of Technology, and University of Iceland.

The Nordic AHA-Communities project group is a positive and enthusiastic group of academics and researchers to examine the barriers for older people to access and enjoy outdoor environment. Our aim is to make outdoor environment in the northern communities of Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and overall Nordic Arctic area to be inclusive and safe to the residents. The project supports the actions within UArctic Thematic Network on Health and well-being in the Arctic. Contact person – Dr. Anastasia Emelyanova, anastasia.emelyanova@oulu.fi

A new EU research infrastructure project POLARIN in the polar regions, coordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, has started in the beginning of March. University of Oulu is a major partner in POLARIN with Thule Institute leading the Transnational Access management work package and Oulanka Research Station offering Transnational Access.

From now on, a network of 50 partner institutes will provide access to polar research infrastructures. Over the next five years, the European Union will provide 14.6 million euros on funding for the new POLARIN project (Polar Research Infrastructure Network). The project will promote interdisciplinary research that addresses the scientific challenges in both polar regions.

Read more about POLARIN from this news article.

The Thule Institute at the University of Oulu and the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland are the Finnish representatives of the European Polar Board (EPB, established in 1995).

The Secretariat is hosted by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, from January 2025 the Secretariat will be hosted by the Arctic Center of the Umeå University. EPB members are research institutes, funding agencies, scientific academies, and polar operators from across Europe. It is an independent entity that focuses on major strategic priorities of research in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions and provides strategic advice on Arctic and Antarctic issues. The mission of the EPB is to improve European coordination in the Arctic and Antarctic research by optimizing the use of European research infrastructure. EPB promotes multilateral collaboration between its members and provides a single contact point for the global polar research community.

The Finnish National Committee of Arctic and Antarctic Research works to advance Finnish polar research and it is the national committee for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and International Arctic Science Committee (IASC).

The most significant institutions conducting Arctic or Antarctic research in Finland are represented in the national committee. The activities of the Finnish National Committee of Arctic and Antarctic Research is coordinated and supported by the Council of Finnish Academies. The Council allocates national committees from various disciplines with state subsidies from the Ministry of Education and Culture.

International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is a non-governmental, international scientific organization.

The Founding Articles committed IASC to pursue a mission of encouraging and facilitating cooperation in all aspects of Arctic research, in all countries engaged in Arctic research and in all areas of the Arctic region. Overall, IASC promotes and supports leading interdisciplinary research in order to foster a greater scientific understanding of the Arctic region and its role in the Earth system. There are six working groups, for which every member country can nominate two representatives. Currently from the University of Oulu there is Docent Mervi Heikkinen in the Social and Human Working Group.

The International Union for Circumpolar Health (IUCH) is an international non-governmental organization with members, adhering bodies and affiliates throughout the circumpolar regions. It has been active since 1967. There has been a long-standing need for the exchange of medical knowledge, as well as the results of recent research and demonstrated solutions to problems for the benefit of humankind. It arranges every third year an international congress, the 18th congress will be held in Yellowknife, Canada, in 2024. Arctic communities, with the general and specific medical and health problems found in this region, obviously share this need with the rest of the world. The health problems and needs of northern peoples have become the focus of the organization. It is the only organization of its kind, dedicated to the health problems of the circumpolar regions — the International Union for Circumpolar Health. IUCH is an observer of the Arctic Council.

In order to support its members and affiliates, and the scientific and indigenous communities at large, the IUCH has clearly established working groups that concentrate on specific health problems of importance to circumpolar populations, in addition it maintains several publications and supports international efforts in Telemedicine and Health Informatics.

Alun Hubbard, PhD, Interim Director of Thule Institute (50% part-time)
Email: alun.hubbard (at) oulu.fi
Phone number: +38294481322
Room number: IT

Kirsi Latola, PhD, Research Coordinator, UArctic Vice-President Networks
Email: kirsi.latola (at) oulu.fi
Phone number: +358 294 483565
Room number: IT234

Hannele Savela, PhD, Research Coordinator
Email: hannele.savela (at) oulu.fi
Phone number: +358 294 487554
Room number: IT256

Heli Niittynen, Solution designer, UArctic Manager of Thematic Networks
Email: heli.niittynen (at) oulu.fi
Phone number: +358 294483543
Room number: IT261

Timi Kärki, Solution designer
Email: timi.karki (at) oulu.fi
Phone number: +358 294487366
Room number: IT253