Antonia recently returned from the 9th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS) hosted by Umea University in Umea, Sweden. ICASS IX’s theme was “People and Place” as it focused on the more than four million people living in the Arctic, and the extensive changes impacting the people and places in the north today. During the conference Antonia presented her work on water security in the Arctic that highlights typologies of water security due to contextual factors, such as governance, economics and biophysical characteristics.

ICASS IX emphasized the important role social science has in addressing the present and future challenges affecting the Arctic by concentrating on climate change, industrial development, globalization, migration, circumpolar health and resource security. Additionally, the conference not only highlighted the many variances across the Arctic due to culture, political systems and histories, but also illuminated similarities that researchers and communities can continue to explore in order to find common solutions to problems and better respond to changes.