Abstract

The Arctic is warming up to four times faster than the rest of the Earth. News of the alarming loss of ice now reaches around the world, but we don’t hear enough about what is happening to Arctic land that is no longer covered by ice and snow — it is becoming green. “Arctic greening” describes this alarming increase of vegetation around the Northern world, which accelerates global warming and permafrost thaw. But greening in the Arctic also inspires economic, political, and imaginative innovation among local and Indigenous Arctic peoples, who are “experts of change,” as Mininnguaq Kleist (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Greenland) affirmed at the Arctic Circle Assembly of 2023.

“Greening” thus means different things to different people. For social scientists, it is a deliberate introduction of plants into built environments. Ecologists and geographers each observe plants transforming Arctic lands through different lenses, with different results. For Arctic farmers, the increasing ability of plants to grow brings both new opportunities and unpredictability. How do we make sense of these different visions of greening? This panel discussion will examine the dramatic expansion of plant life across the Arctic from a variety of viewpoints, considering the sciences and arts, and farms, forests, and tundra together.

Registration Link: https://www.bu.edu/pardee/the-arctic-environmental-humanities-workshop-series-2/