SIKU: International polar year project #166 (An Overview)

Abstract

The SIKU (Sea Ice Knowledge and Use) project emerged in response to the growing public and scholarly attention to the environmental knowledge of the Arctic residents, as well as to the rising concerns about the impact of climate change on Arctic environment and polar sea ice. The special momentum for the SIKU project was created by International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 that launched a new era of international and interdisciplinary collabration and partnership with northern communities. This introductory chapter tells how the SIKU project has originated and developed in 2004-2005; it reviews its structure made of various regional and individual initiatives, and covers major activities undertaken by the team during 2006-2009. It summarizes the key scientific outcomes and public messages of the SIKU project, as well as its contribution to the overall science program of IPY 2007-2008. It ends up with the synopsis of the present volume with the acknowledgements to many institutions and individuals who were instrumental to the success of the SIKU project. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.