NVP International Summer School

Following the completion of the Global Arctic programme during the period 2022–2024, we now propose to restart the concept in a renewed and updated form. Beginning in 2026, the programme largely returns to its starting point with a primary focus on the Arctic. While much of the conceptual foundation, experience, and academic insight from the previous cycle is retained, the content, structure, and emphasis are refined and further developed. This approach allows the programme to benefit from continuity while simultaneously offering renewal and improvement. Over a new three-year period, the perspective will once again evolve stepwise, moving from a one-pole Arctic focus, to a comparative Arctic–Himalayan perspective, and finally towards an integrated, global view that also includes the Antarctic.

For all three poles, the dramatic effects of climate change constitute the most obvious common denominator. Other global drivers of change – such as population growth, pollution, and biodiversity loss – vary considerably across these regions. The NVP summer schools will address many of these issues stepwise over a three-year period.

Summer School 2026

The 2026 Summer School will commence with a ‘one-pole’ perspective on the “Global Arctic”, illustrating how the Arctic is interconnected with the rest of the world, and how globalization, climate change, and transboundary pollution influence science, commerce, security, and geopolitics. This year will establish the foundation for a ‘two-pole’ focus in the subsequent 2027 Summer School, where the similarities and differences between the Arctic and the Himalayas are particularly relevant and informative.

Summer School 2027

The resources of the Arctic and the Himalayas are of great interest to many countries, particularly in relation to freshwater, minerals, and energy. Freshwater, in particular, represents a key linkage between the two regions. In the Arctic, freshwater availability is increasing as a result of melting ice and increased precipitation – a potential resource that is currently not being exploited. Instead, freshwater flows into the ocean, contributing to reduced surface salinity, which may influence deep-water formation and, ultimately, global ocean circulation.

A ‘Linked Poles’ perspective raises critical questions, such as how increasing freshwater volumes in the Arctic could benefit Southeast Asia and other regions expected to face future freshwater deficits. This is an issue of considerable complexity, with potentially vital implications for large parts of the world’s population. In addition, there are multiple other areas in which the two regions can benefit from shared ideas, joint research efforts, and lessons learned, including governance, legal frameworks, political dynamics and transboundary challenges, climate change adaptation, securitization and militarization, resource exploitation, and environmental protection.

It is increasingly evident that the processes of change affecting the Arctic and the Himalayas will have profound implications for both the environment and the socio-economic development and livelihoods of large segments of the world’s population. While the Arctic and the Himalayas differ in important ways, they also share notable similarities in their biophysical and socio-economic contexts. Given the global scale of future climate challenges, the 2027 NVP Summer School aims to contribute to a broader understanding of the global significance of polar and high-mountain regions, while incorporating new perspectives from areas not traditionally defined as ‘polar’, yet clearly facing comparable challenges.

Summer School 2028

The 2028 Summer School, concluding this three-year series, will build upon the comprehensive perspectives developed in previous years by expanding the focus to include how the extreme natural systems of the Arctic, the Himalayas, and the Antarctic are interconnected in critical ways. Particular emphasis will be placed on how global climate change in these environments affects future livelihoods, food security, and sustainability, not only within these regions, but also on a global scale.

The curriculum is highly interdisciplinary, and a central objective of the summer school is to train young scholars to think across disciplinary boundaries, engage with applied and complex challenges, and develop integrated perspectives on global environmental change.

The Arctic region is rapidly increasing in global significance. Climate change is transforming environmental conditions in previously unseen ways, opening up new opportunities for logistics, resource exploitation, and commercial development, while simultaneously exerting pressure on indigenous and local populations and vulnerable ecosystems. Geopolitical and strategic issues are increasingly brought to the forefront of the international political agenda as Arctic states intensify efforts to secure domestic interests. Securitization needs stemming from far-away conflicts are also spilling over into the Arctic region, leading to expanding militarization and rising tensions that contribute to a more uncertain future in the North.

The New Arctic

At the nexus of rapid climate change and growing accessibility of Arctic resources, a number of ‘near-Arctic’ nations are intensifying their efforts to establish a foothold in the Polar Regions. Opportunities related to shipping, fisheries, tourism, mineral extraction, and energy exploration may become critically important for many countries beyond the ‘Arctic Five’ or ‘Arctic Eight’ in securing future resource needs.

The ‘globalization of the Arctic’ is evident in multiple ways. For example, some of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions and pollution affecting the Arctic originate in Southeast Asia, including coal-based power generation and the extensive use of chemicals in agriculture and industry. Mitigation efforts in Asia, as well as in other parts of the world, can therefore generate win-win outcomes both locally and in the Arctic.

As understanding of climate change impacts deepens, it is increasingly clear that changes in the Arctic are likely to have profound consequences for global weather patterns, with significant implications for agriculture and livelihoods worldwide. The recognition that “what happens in the Arctic affects the rest of the world” is frequently used by non-Arctic states to justify increased engagement in polar geopolitics and, potentially, challenges to existing Arctic governance frameworks.

As the global importance of the Arctic becomes more apparent, the time is ripe for linking the socio-ecological systems of the Polar Regions with challenges in other parts of the world. The Norwegian Academy for Polar Research has therefore decided to adopt the concept of “Three Poles” as an overarching framework for the next three summer schools, linking the Arctic, the Antarctic, and the Hindu Kush Himalaya region. It has long been recognized that many challenges faced in the Arctic are mirrored in the Second Pole, Antarctica, and in the high-mountain regions of Asia, particularly the Hindu Kush Himalayas.

The Sleeping Giant – Antarctica

The volume of ice that may potentially melt in Antarctica is immense and would have major consequences for the global environment, particularly in terms of climate regulation, sea-level rise, and the flooding of land areas inhabited by billions of people. At present, the rate of ice melt in Antarctica is slower than in the Arctic and many mountain regions, and significant differences exist between the eastern and western parts of the continent.

Antarctica has no permanent local or indigenous population, hosting only visiting scientists and tourists. While the continent and its continental shelf are believed to contain vast natural resources, mineral exploitation is currently prohibited under the Antarctic Treaty System.

The Hindu Kush Himalaya region

The Hindu Kush Himalaya region spans more than 4.3 million square kilometres across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, China, Bhutan, and Myanmar. It provides critical ecosystem services and forms the basis for the livelihoods of approximately 210 million people living in the region, as well as nearly two billion people living downstream.

The region contains the world’s highest mountain ranges, serves as the source of ten of the world’s largest river systems, and holds more snow and ice than any area outside the Polar Regions. As temperatures rise at high altitudes, glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayas are retreating rapidly, in ways comparable to changes observed in the Arctic.

Applications for the NVP Summer School 2026 – The Global Arctic shall include your CV and a cover letter which describes a rationale and motivation for the application.

Applications are sent to the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research (NVP) via our online application form.

Application deadline is 8 March 2026. The selected candidates will be notified by 31 March.

The 2026 Summer School Programme can be seen here.