The NERC Arctic Research Programme (2011-2016) made £15m available for research into changes in the Arctic and their potential future global consequences.
Involving 37 UK research institutions and with extensive field work across the marine, terrestrial and atmospheric sectors, there have been over 70 publications in peer-reviewed journals as a direct consequence of this programme.
Science coordination for the programme was provided by the NERC Arctic Office and, working alongside the individual project leads, we have focused on maximising the impact of the programme, including with policy and decision-makers. In addition to hosting an open-access dissemination event at the Royal Society in October 2016, we commissioned the University of Southampton to produce a short policy report – The rapidly changing Arctic environment – which addressed the specific implications for policy and decision makers coming from the research.