By Dayanita Ramesh
The Arctic Climate Change Emerging Leader (ACCEL) Program is a summer fellowship at the nexus between communication and policy for students and young professionals in North America and Europe. Over the course of the summer, two ACCEL Fellows produced the “Arctic 101” series.
“Arctic 101” features a series of articles and educational videos complemented with events, interviews, and a breakout session about youth perspectives at the Arctic Circle Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The video component of “Arctic 101” aims to take both the abstract and the complexities of Arctic issues and share them in a creative and fun visual manner. To many, the Arctic is “exotic” and far enough way that it seems as though it won’t affect their daily lives. The videos attempt to break down the issues and reveal the connections. As an illustrator and painter, creating the videos required a deep understanding of the issues before deciding how to visualize them. Sometimes the ideas “just came to me” as I read articles or looked at photos of Arctic flora and fauna! This first video is about the many definitions of the Arctic. Economists, scientists, and policy experts each see a different side of the Arctic and it is important to recognize those nuances.
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Dayanita Ramesh is an Arctic Climate Change Emerging Leader fellow.
[Photo courtesy of Dayanita Ramesh]
This article first appeared on the World Policy Institute website.