Climate-driven landscape change and ongoing infrastructure development are leading to air pollution concerns across the Arctic, including Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). Air quality can be impacted by natural or manmade sources of dust and has been identified as of concern to the Qeqqata Kommunia municipality. New road infrastructure (a ATV trail) has been developed between Sisimiut and Kangerlussuaq, with the potential to change local air quality. Concerns have been raised regarding the environmental effects of road development on a UNESCO World Heritage Site and culturally significant wildlife harvesting sites, and the associated health impacts on residents. One environmental concern identified is that of dust, and how road development may exacerbate high background levels. Dust is a natural seasonal hazard in Western Greenland created via natural processes but also one that can be generated from transport infrastructure. The regional infrastructure development manager called for increased environmental monitoring along the new road and the development of better working relationships among researchers and both rights- and stakeholders in the region. We helped to fill this need by developing new partnerships and collecting initial baseline environmental data to quantify the impact of transport infrastructure on air quality along the new ATV route. To address local concerns and facilitate future sustainable development of the area, an environmental monitoring network providing quantitative data on air quality is urgently required to assess current and future changes in air quality. Initial information from new, low-cost, low-power air quality monitors set up along the remote ATV trail will help to inform future development of a locally driven observing network along the new road. Subsequent work will distinguish the effects from different dust sources along the route, helping to identify the potential impacts of dust on human health and inform sustainable development planning. Outreach meetings brought together local rights and stakeholders with researchers to co-develop priorities and protocols for further development monitoring infrastructure along the trail in a way that can support community and citizen science research approaches. We will disseminate findings and continue to build on partnerships and appropriate protocol development at a participatory workshop and community tour during Greenland Science Week in November.
Monitoring Deployment and Field Activities
In Sisimiut and Kangerlussuaq we installed three low-cost, low power air sensors, developed at Northumbria University and trail cameras at key locations, including Arctic DTU and along the proposed ATV route. These installations support ongoing monitoring of air quality and land use changes. In April 2025, additional dust traps were deployed to capture data on seasonal dust events, particularly during the spring melt.
Partnership Development
The project was grounded in strong local partnerships with Qeqqata Kommunia, the Sisimiut Museum, Arctic Circle Trail Business, UNESCO Chairs, and Arctic DTU. These collaborations were critical in co-developing monitoring goals and methodologies that reflect community priorities.
Outreach meetings held at the Sisimiut Museum created important opportunities to share early findings and gather feedback from residents and rights-holders. These discussions helped shape our understanding of local air quality concerns, local research priorities and informed us of the next steps for community-driven research. In-person meetings and follow-up online meetings have helped the team to identify key local research priorities that we hope to address through aligned funding. This includes (but is not limited to) topics such as permafrost monitoring along the ATV road, camera work, lake monitoring along the transect and documenting community perspectives over climate change. We also discussed issues relating to Indigenous data sovereignty and ownership and agreed that our local partners would be responsible for downloading and storing the data on their computers and that we could access the data. Team members will be attending Greenland Science Summit Week, Nuuk, November 2025 where we will hold a participatory workshop to continue to identify appropriate and feasible methodologies for addressing these priorities. Additionally, this trip will enable return visits to Sisimiut and Kangerlussuaq to sustain relationship development with project partners in Greenland.
This project has enabled collaborations between Northumbria Universty, University of Arkansas, Loughborough University and Arctic DTU researchers that have been crucial to organising logistics of the trip and providing support with accommodation. This collaboration also enabled access to infrastructure. Collaborations with the Qeqqata Kommunia municipality, UNESCO chairs, Sisimiut Museum, and Arctic Circle Trail Business enabled us to shape research towards addressing the scientific research priorities of Greenlanders and support sustainable development planning. The model of collaborative research (Mercer et al., 2023) has been successfully applied to a very different region, highlighting that this more equitable way of working can be applied more widely to guide research and enable more ethical and equitable outcomes across diverse knowledge systems.
International Impact
Learnings from applying the collaborative research model fed directly into the ICARP IV research planning process and Arctic Science Summit Week (Colorado, March 2025). Project partners presented the approach to collaborative research to the International Arctic Science Committee Atmospheric Working Group, which led to participation and presenting results in an International Polar Year (IPY) 2032-2033 planning event at EGU Annual Meeting 2025 centered on the PACE’s initiative “Improving regular vertical profile sampling for the Arctic troposphere”. PACES aims to review existing knowledge and foster new research on the sources and fate of Arctic air pollution, and its impacts on climate, health, and ecosystems. This highlights how the approach taken by this work will inform future observation monitoring networks across the Pan-Arctic Region and inform research processes in the next IPY 2032-2033.
Support for Early Career Researchers
The project also fostered collaboration between early career researchers (ECRs) from the UK and Greenland, including IASC fellows. These researchers played active roles in fieldwork, data analysis, and international engagement, building capacities required for equitable partnership development and high-quality Arctic research.
Lessons learned
We encountered several key challenges during the project. Logistics and timing presented some challenges, as shipping delays affected the dust trap deployment schedule. However, this ultimately proved beneficial, as it aligned with the spring dust storm season and enabled the collection of valuable data. In terms of technology, initial field performance has informed refinements to the sensor design, with efforts now underway to improve durability of the housing and reduce battery dependency through solar power integration and enhanced weatherproofing. More broadly, conducting research in Greenland requires careful navigation of a shifting geopolitical landscape. In this context, building trust, supporting Indigenous self-determination, and fostering transparent, reciprocal partnerships are more important than ever. Finally, our experience highlights the value of collaborative models. Applying a co-development approach rooted in solution-orientated community-based research has shown its adaptability across Arctic regions. While there is no one-size-fits-all model, this project demonstrates how meaningful, ethical collaboration can be both scaled and transferred to new contexts.
Looking Ahead
Work from this project has contributed to further funded initiatives under IASC’s Terrestrial Working Group and the NSF’s NNA Arctic Observing Systems and Technology Convergence Working Group. This will enable sampling to continue and partnership development with local rights and stakeholders to continue. In November 2025, we will attend the Greenland Science Summit Week in Nuuk to hold a participatory workshop that will contribute to the co-development of accessible and applicable community return to field sites and deepen collaboration with the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and other partners.
The proposed Arctic Circle ATV route has delayed opening until late 2025. This presents a timely opportunity to embed community-led monitoring into the region’s infrastructure development, ensuring that local voices and values shape the environmental future of the trail and surrounding ecosystems.
Highlights:
- Our data showed that 24-hour PM10 levels exceeded Danish and EU limits in both urban and peri-urban areas near Sisimiut, with more frequent exceedances near the ATV route.
- Despite logistical challenges, the sensors proved reliable for capturing fine-scale, high-resolution air quality data suitable for long-term health-relevant monitoring.
- Dust trap samples will be retrieved and analysed in Autumn 2025 to determine dust origins (natural vs. anthropogenic, local vs. long-range). This work is being
All photos are taken by the project's organisers. From top to botttom:
1. A small portion of the landscape the new ATV trail runs adjacent to. The trail passes through culturally significant areas and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ATV trail is significant to keeping Sisimiut connected and supporting sustainable development in the region
2. ATV trail in background, monitoring station set up just outside Sisimiut
3. Low-cost device set up in Sisimiut, Greenland
4. Site in Kangerlussuaq where low-cost air quality monitor was placed.
Date and Location:
2nd-11th April 2025 | Kangerlussuaq and Sisimiut, Greenland
IASC Working Group / Committees funding the Project:
- Terrestrial WG
Project Lead
Millicent Harding (Durham University, UK)
Year funded by IASC
2025