The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shown that global challenges require global responses, which most often seem impossible to agree upon given our world’s heterogeneities and the significant discrepancies in the understanding of human values that once more, the tragic war in Ukraine revealed. Also in pandemic times and in times of war, however, climate change remains the biggest global challenge that humanity is facing and urban development is an important lever of climate change albeit most often not considered a priority area.

This interdisciplinary expert workshop is dedicated to bring experts from Arctic and non-Arctic research projects together. In four sessions, the participants will discuss

• Why do approaches to sustainable urban development differ? (Roundtable discussion);
• How can sustainable urban development be steered more effectively and in alignment with local and global policies? (panel);
• The effects of the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine on Arctic research on sustainable development (project presentations);
• Preliminary research results and their relevance for the Arctic and other remote regions (break-out groups).