Guest Editors:

Yulia Zaika, Federal Research Centre “Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, y.zaika@ksc.ru

Tatiana Iakovleva, UK Science and Innovation Network in Russia (SIN Russia), tatiana.iakovleva@fcdo.gov.uk; Tatiana.Iakovleva@fcdowebmail.fcdo.gov.uk

Yekaterina Kontar, National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs, Arctic Sciences Section, ykontar@nsf.gov

Henry Burgess, Natural Environment Research Council, Arctic Office, henrge@bas.ac.uk

Science diplomacy plays an integral role in international science facilitation and communication being an element of soft power that enables the nations to build comprehensive longer-term and stable science dialogue at different levels from the global arena to national, regional, and even institutional actors. While being such a powerful and overarching instrument, science diplomacy constantly experiences paradigm shifts driven by the multiple and multidimensional internal (regional, national) and external (global) changes which have the direct co-influence on each other.

Current global environment and the rapid changes it undergoes shape the state of science diplomacy by putting forward both challenges and opportunities not only at the level of international science but also regionally through bilateral, cross-border cooperation and regional interconnections. Increasingly, our understanding of the importance of science diplomacy drives forward adaptability and innovation and through this - continuity of scientific interaction. This is what we witness today despite the challenges brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, with temporarily closed national borders, limited mobility, and switching to online communication formats.

One of the recent successful examples of delivering science diplomacy in this challenging global context is the flexible shift of the ASSW2020 conference to online format with the support of the Icelandic government. Institutionalization of online conferences is becoming a global practice and a new trend.

At the same time, a few challenges have jeopardized the development of science communication and collaboration among regional and institutional actors. Closed national borders and restructuring of national regulative rules regarding international mobility have hampered the summer field season in the Arctic including monitoring and observation activities.

With this Special Issue we aim to discuss Arctic science diplomacy case studies which both exercise examples from the regional to global and global to regional co-influence and explore innovative tools and approaches to delivering science diplomacy in the rapidly changing global context. We invite research papers from scientists and experts in this field.

For any questions please contact the Guest Editors.

Schedule

• Abstracts submitted: 30^th November 2020
• Final Decisions and notifications: 20^th December 2020
• Fist draft submissions: 28^th February 2021
• Final submission deadline: 31^st March 2021
• Special Issue published: July 2021

Submission

Abstracts of potential contributions can be submitted by email to guest co-editor arcticscidip@gmail.com by 30^th November. Submission should include title, authors and abstract (max 200-250 words). Invitations for full submissions (including research articles, short communications, commentaries and review papers) will be sent to respective authors by 20^th December.

Completed manuscripts can be submitted between 28^thFebruary and 1^st April 2021. All papers will be submitted via Scholar One by choosing the special issue "Special Issue on Science Diplomacy in the Arctic" when prompted.

Detailed information for authors can be found here.

The word limit for full papers and review papers is 12,000 words (including references), while commentaries and short communications should have a maximum of 4,000 words.

All submissions will be externally reviewed.