INTERACT
This project has a main objective to build capacity for identifying, understanding, predicting and responding to diverse environmental changes throughout the wide environmental and land-use envelopes of the Arctic.
INTERACT is a large organisation hosting around 5,000 scientists annually and it is also extremely diverse in the disciplines it covers. The education and outreach component of this initiative aims at promoting Arctic and climate change issues in education in order to enhance education on Arctic and northern issues by establishing communication between INTERACT science and European schools and universities.
Schools and universities will be engaged as outlined below while the INTERACT community will be engaged at annual meetings. The INTERACT community will identify issues that are most important for INTERACT partners to inform schools about and the taskforce will gather suggestions on creating materials in effective and attractive ways.
One of the crucial activities contributing to this goal is promoting polar issues by providing educational resources within school organisations.
Basic information
- The University of Sheffield, UK
- Kobenhavns Universitet, Denmark
- Oulun Yliopisto, Finland
- Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
- CLU srl, Italy
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz- Zentrum Fuer Polar und Meeresforschung, Germany
- Norsk Polarinstitutt, Norway
- Natural Environment Research Council, UK
- State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education Tomsk State University, Russia
- Jihoceska Univerzita V Ceskych Budejovicich, Czech Republic
- Polarforskningssekretarietet, Sweden
- Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research – Nibio, Norway
- Stockholms Universitet, Sweden
- Helsingin Yliopisto, Finland
- Gronlands Naturinstitut, Greenland
- Instytut Geofizyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Poland
- Turun Yliopisto, Finland
- Universitetet I Oslo, Norway
- Luonnonvarakeskus, Finland
- Branch Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
- M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
- Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet, Sweden
- Zentralanstalt Fur Meteorologie und geodynamik, Austria
- Universitaet Innsbruck, Austria
- Yugra State University, Russia
- Jardfeingi, Faroe Island
- Rannsoknarstodin Rif, Sweden
- Université Laval, Canada
- Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania im. Stanislawa Leszczyckiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Poland
- Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche, Italy
- University of Alaska, USA
- Sudurnes Science and Learning Center, Iceland
- Ilmatieteen Laitos, Finland
- Caff Skrifstofan A Islandi
- Universitetet I Tromsoe, Norway
- Aurora College
- The Arctic Institute of North America, USA
- Umbilical Design Ab, Sweden
- Meteorologisk Institutt, Norway
- Landbunadarhaskoli Islands, Iceland
- Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, the Netherlands
- International Polar Foundation
- Mapillary Ab, Sweden
- University Centre In Svalbard, Norway
INTERACT was proposed by the existing SCANNET network of field stations situated in all eight Arctic countries. The cooperation has a long history especially among the European members, resulting from EU funding in 2001-2004 within the 5th Framework Programme. However, the bottom-up network has expanded during the last six years with new members from Russia and North America to become a true circumarctic network of terrestrial field stations.
These developments without resources, together with a greatly increasing demand for information on environmental change in the North as exemplified by IASC activities and also the Arctic Council’s SAON project, require a new initiative with appropriate resources. Deliverables produced include e.g. road maps, recommendations, report on science expertise among INTERACT partners and ability to act as INTERACT Ambassadors.
INTERACT offers a set of comprehensive online materials for teachers, based on research conducted in INTERACT scientific stations. Materials are dedicated mostly to 13-to-19-year-olds (with a part for younger pupils) and aim to engage students and enhance inquiry-based learning.
They also shape important skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving, global awareness and environmental literacy. Each educational toolkit contains:
- Syllabus – table of contents with basic information and resources, links to crucial definitions, mind map
- Material for Teachers – comprehensive and reliable resource –“topic in a nutshell”, illustrations, Basic facts, Advanced material, Research methods, five fun facts
- Lesson Plan – detailed but easily adaptable description of suggested activities (minute-by-minute) with homework, preparation, goals, evaluation
- Worksheet – hands-on activities for students, based on actual research results + version for teachers – with answers and explanations; online activities (Educaplay, Kahoot)
- Experiment Scenario – easy DYI, engaging activities without special equipment
- Presentation – PowerPoint, ready to use for teacher as introduction
- Webinar – recording of 15 min lecture by an expert-scientist
- Animations – narrated, illustrative explanations of phenomena