Michael Mann has been Special Envoy for Arctic matters since April 1, 2020.

Prior to that, he was the EU’s Ambassador to Iceland.

Between 2011 and 2017, he was head of Strategic Communications at the European External Action Service, doubling up as Chief Spokesperson to High Representative/Vice President Catherine Ashton from 2011 to 2014.

Mr Mann worked as a European Commission Spokesperson between 2002 and 2011, covering a wide range of portfolios.

He began his career in Brussels as a journalist, working for the Financial Times, Reuters and Bloomberg News, among other media.

Raphaël Goulet is since 2020 Head of Unit for International Ocean Governance, Law of the Sea and Arctic policy in the Directorate General for maritime affairs and fisheries of the European Commission.
Before that, he headed the unit for public interest services in the Directorate General for internal market. Between 1996 and 2016, he held various positions in the Directorate General for regional and urban policy: first in charge of regional development programmes (ERDF) in Germany, then pre-accession infrastructure projects (ISPA) in Latvia. He became Assistant to the Director General in 2002, and headed from 2007 different units for strategic planning and inter-institutional relations, for information, communication and international relations, and for Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany and the Netherlands.
He graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris and from the Free University (political science and economics) in Berlin.

Szilvia Németh has worked in the European Commission since 2005. She is currently deputy head of the ‘Healthy Oceans and Seas’ unit in DG Research and Innovation, working on promoting the sustainable use of the value chains of marine resources focused on delivering transition pathways by using the full potential of Oceans and Seas and their ecosystems with the aim to support the transition to a healthy planet.

Previously Szilvia was the policy assistant of the deputy director-general of DG Research and Innovation, working on sustainable investment strategies for European research and innovation.

She also has extensive experience in international research and innovation cooperation, in particular with Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, and with the European Economic Area countries, as well as in international cooperation in the Bioeconomy area.

Szilvia also worked on institution building in DG Enlargement, and with economic analysis in DG Agriculture and Rural Development.

Before joining the European Commission, Szilvia had gained experience in the private sector and in the public administration of Hungary. As an EU expert, she worked at the department of agro-economics at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Szilvia has a background in International Economics, with a degree of Master of Sciences in Business Administration from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences. She also studied International Macroeconomics and Finances in the University of Amsterdam.

She is interested in reading, travelling and dancing. Learning languages has been a hobby of hers since childhood.

The EU Polar Cluster is a network of Horizon 2020 and a Framework Programme 7 funded polar projects. We have a range of Arctic, Antarctic and Southern Ocean, and Polar projects. The Cluster thus merges a broad spectrum of research and coordination activities – ranging from the most up-to-date findings on permafrost and sea ice, from enhancing observation to improving predictions, and from networking research stations to coordinating access to icebreakers.

Our objective is to bring the insights from our various areas of expertise together in order to provide one entry point to EU funded Polar research. Jointly we are aiming at providing policy-relevant information and supporting the EU in implementing its integrated policy for the Arctic.

Coordinators: Elaina Ford (British Antarctic Survey), Renuka Badhe (European Polar Board)

Nunataryuk will determine the impacts of thawing coastal and subsea permafrost on the global climate, and will develop targeted and co-designed adaptation and mitigation strategies for the Arctic coastal population. Nunataryuk brings together world-leading specialists in natural science and socio-economics to:

1. develop quantitative understanding of the fluxes and fates of organic matter released from thawing coastal and subsea permafrost;
2. assess what risks are posed by thawing coastal permafrost, to infrastructure, indigenous and local communities and people’s health, and from pollution;
3. use this understanding to estimate the long-term impacts of permafrost thaw on global climate and the economy.

Coordinator: Hugues Lantuit (Alfred Wegener Institute)

ECOTIP brings together leading scientists from 15 institutes across Europe and Japan. The project combines state-of-the-art field and laboratory studies, analysis of historical and paleo-oceanographic data and trait-based modeling to predict the potential tipping points of key biological ecosystem functions in Arctic seas in the face of climate change and other pressures. ECOTIP works closely with fishing communities in Greenland and other stakeholders to understand the effects of biodiversity and ecosystem changes on society, and how best to reduce, mitigate and adapt to the changes.

Coordinator: Marja Koski (Technical University of Denmark)

JUSTNORTH aims to assess the viability of economic development of the Arctic through sustainability and justice perspectives, while gaining insights on the positive and negative impacts, risks and benefits of key economic activities.

The research will seek to create understanding on the potential for economic development in the North that is both sustainable and just by investigating how to reduce inequalities between Arctic stakeholders. The funding will be used for 18 case studies looking at energy, fisheries, tourism, transportation, mining, shipping and indigenous economic activities.

Coordinator: Corine Wood-Donnelly (Uppsala University)