ARCA - Biocultural Heritage in Arctic Cities

ARCA is a Belmont Forum consortium project consisting of social and natural scientists and artists. It’s main research question is: “How can biocultural heritage embodied in Arctic urban green spaces and natural landscapes serve as a resource for climate adaptation?" It combines the methods of social anthropology, climate science, remote sensing, human geography, arts and community engagement to co-create publicly accessible and place-specific science and arts products. The Vienna anthropology team is focusing on the role of local and Indigenous ecological knowledge and human-nature relations embodied in urban green spaces and landscapes in environmental adaptation and cultural resilience. Our ethnographic research sites include Anchorage in the USA and Kirkenes in Norway. Together with research partners and local communities, our team co-organizes collaborative workshops, including presentations, artistic interventions, participatory mapping and discussions.

This project is funded by BMBWF for Belmont Forum

• go to the official ARCA portal

May 22nd 2025 | ARCA workshop in Fairbanks

Olga Povoroznyuk presented on anthropological research on biocultural heritage and climate adaptation in the Arctic at the ARCA workshop in Fairbanks, USA, on May 22, 2025.

May 2025 | doing field research

In May 2025, the Vienna team carried out interviews and a survey on the role of green spaces for the city of Anchorage, USA.

March 2025 | Arctic Science Summit Week

Olga Povoroznyuk co-organized a community workshop on planning research on Arctic infrastructure and climate for the next decade and co-presented a paper on green spaces, climate adaptation and community engagement at the Arctic Science Summit Week in Boulder, Colorado, US.

 partner institutions

• George Washington University, USA (consortium lead)
• Nancen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Norway
• Art & Science International Institute, France
• Indigenous, environmental and arts NGOs in the USA and Norway