Professor Lise Autogena to speak at The 2023 Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland

Professor Lise Autogena will speak at The 2023 Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland this month. The assembly takes place 19-21 October 2023 and is the largest annual gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from over 60 countries. It is attended by heads of state, indigenous leadership and others from the growing international community of partners and participants interested in the Arctic.

Autogena will speak in the session ‘Greenland and the UK: Building Lasting and Equitable Partnership in Arctic Science‘, which is organized by the UK Science and Innovation Network; Arctic Office, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), United Kingdom; ArcticHub, Greenland. She will discuss the need for a holistic approach to designing and deploying new sampling techniques in relation to ecologic study in Greenland, and how co-design and community science can help to achieve this. In the session, she will speak about the Narsaq International Research Station (NIRS) in Narsaq, South Greenland, which she set up in 2020 as a cross-disciplinary research hub. Current research at NIRS addresses human rights, health, climate and environmental protection.

Kuannersuit; Kvanefjeld

In her 2016 film Kuannersuit; Kvanefjeld, Professor Lise Autogena explored the social, cultural and democratic challenges involved in the siting of a rare earth/uranium mine in South Greenland. This research highlighted the issue of cultural taboos in dealing with conflicts, and how it prevented democratic participation in Greenland. Her work has led to a greater awareness of the complex issues surrounding uranium mining, indigenous rights and traditional land use. It has also led to new initiatives on democratising radiation monitoring in Greenland.

Read more on this research ADMRC Research Archive >> Kuannersuit; Kvanefjeld

Narsaq International Research Station (NIRS)

Continuing this work, Autogena established Narsaq International Research Station (NIRS) in Narsaq, South Greenland. NIRS is a not-for profit organisation that works to ensure that research taking place in South Greenland is not just published elsewhere, but also owned and communicated locally – developing tangible benefits for the local population, such as scientific literacy, local income generation and new cultural engagement. Since 2020 NIRS has developed into a pioneering project and an active research hub in South Greenland, initiating cross-disciplinary collaborations, cultural initiatives as well as hosting and coordinating some of the most important international climate research taking place in Greenland.

Related news >> Prof Lise Autogena at ‘Curating Matters of Care in the Arctic’ workshop

Prof Lise Autogena, Head of Art, Design and Media Research Centre (ADMRC), will soon embark on a one-year sabbatical from the ADMRC as she continues to develop the research stations at Narsaq.

[Images courtesy of Professor Lise Autogena]

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Professor Lise Autogena

Lise Autogena is a Professor of Cross-Disciplinary Art and Head of the Art, Design and Media Research Centre (ADMRC).

Lise’s research explores societal impacts of cross-disciplinary and socially engaged arts-led research and has been exhibited and presented worldwide. In 2019-20 Autogena established Narsaq International Research Station (NIRS) in South Greenland. Autogena is currently developing an ocean observatory in Denmark in collaboration with the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Find out more about Lise’s research projects: Kuannersuit; Kvanefjeld, Black Shoals; Dark Matter, Foghorn Requiem and Most Blue Skies I + II.