Utilizing Arctic infrastructure data for ecological restoration, just transitions, and protection of cultural heritage

Climate change is leading to much greater access in the Arctic, creating both challenges and opportunities for infrastructure planning. Research on existing and abandoned Arctic infrastructure, its legacy contamination, and its vulnerabilities to anthropogenic and natural pressures is scattered across genres of scholarship in multiple languages. Data sources on Arctic industrial infrastructure are also diffuse, patchy, multilingual, and poorly documented. Lacking coherent data on Arctic infrastructure can result in errant adaptive planning in this region, which is among the most vulnerable to climate change. In order to highlight the data gaps that hinder the consideration of various pathways for socio-ecological restoration and reuse of industrial sites, we provide an integrative review of key data sources on Arctic infrastructure. This approach includes cultural heritage alongside ecological criteria because “brownfield” redevelopment is a critical key to “greenfield” preservation, and planning a just transition requires attention to the historical and social contexts of past decision-making. Resolving the identified data gaps can also provide a mechanism for future Arctic collaboration on science diplomacy to ensure a more sustainable future for resident communities.