Impact case study database

The research revealed that there was an urgent need to better understand the scale and pace of geopolitical and environmental change in the polar regions. This was true not only within governments, but also in public settings, including the media, the cultural sector, and in schools.

The impact of the research is in three areas: Policy, Public Understanding, and Education. It is built on over a decade of collaboration with policymakers, UK Parliamentarians, professionals, and other academics. Beneficiaries include government agencies, parliamentarians, museum curators and visitors, teachers, and NGOs.

1. Shaping Policy Conversations

Dodds is an acknowledged and in-demand expert in the field of polar geopolitics. His research findings are used by Parliament, specialist bodies, and the UK government. James Gray MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliament Group for the Polar Regions: “ there is no doubt that Parliament’s interest in the polar regions over recent years has never been higher… and this is in large part because of Professor Dodds’ many contributions”. ( E 1, James Gray MP 4^th July 2018). He was appointed as Honorary Fellow by British Antarctic Survey in 2019 in recognition of [text removed for publication]. ( E 7, [text removed for publication] 25th April 2019), and serves as UK representative for the International Arctic Science Committee’s Social and Human Working Group (2019 to 2022). This contributed to the polar social sciences being recognised as pivotal to future UK polar diplomacy and wider science policy planning.

Dodds’ research expertise led to his appointment as specialist adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee (2014 to 2015; House of Lords Hansard 3^rd November 2015), and specialist adviser to the House of Commons Environment Audit Committee’s Arctic enquiry in 2019. The House of Lords used his research expertise to inform their understanding of Artic geopolitics: “ His role was to give expert advice to the committee, help compile questions to witnesses (including ministers), ensure there were no blatant gaps in our work, prevent any errors of fact in our report, and give advice to me as chairman” ( E 2, Lord Teverson, 23rd January 2017). At the House of Commons Dodds research on international relationships with the Arctic states informed a report (HOC, The Changing Arctic 2018): [text removed for publication] (E 9, [text removed for publication], 29th April 2019)

These roles led Dodds to advise the FCO and MOD on polar matters, including invitations to participate in closed workshops and informal briefings ( E1). In March 2020, Dodds was appointed to the DEFRA COVID-19 futures advisory group after earlier briefings to DEFRA on Arctic futures in April 2019. Dodds participated in closed workshops and advised on DEFRA’s post-COVID food security planning, with a particular emphasis on governance and global risk.

Policy Recommendations

Dodds’ public roles and advisory work helped to establish a new network of polar social science expertise dedicated to policy-making. As a member of the House of Lords Select Committee, Dodds recommended that co-ordination and collaboration with Arctic partnerships should be improved. He advised the setting up of a new NERC Arctic Office to achieve this, a policy that was implemented in 2015. A workshop sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2016 brought together Norwegian, Canadian and UK stakeholders, and used Dodds’ research as the basis of a discussion paper at this significant event. The event influenced subsequent work by the MOD on Arctic futures. Dodds was asked to convene an expert group to write a follow up report. “ Klaus’s support and expertise throughout the study was invaluable. He helped develop the main purpose of the study, provide expertise and coordinate the contributing authors” ( E 6, Paul Norman, DCDC MOD 27th November 2017) This MOD report provided the basis for the Chief of Defence Staff’s Strategy Forum in 2018 and developed a clear set of conclusions about the technological, environmental, resource-led and geopolitical challenges facing the Arctic and how the UK would need to develop a more explicit Arctic strategy with security objectives such as evaluating the strategic intentions of China and Russia in particular.

Dodds’ research also informed the FCO Diplomatic Academy where junior diplomats are required to study his expert briefings on the South Atlantic and Antarctic presented in podcasts. This is one example of how Dodds’ research is used in the UK to enable diplomats to better understand the geopolitical and historical context of lingering conflicts ( E 6, [text removed for publication] 24^th December 2020).

Briefing Parliament

Dodds advised the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology’s parliamentary briefing on

Science Diplomacy and participated in the POST annual reception on the same topic in January 2019. “ Our office had not looked at science diplomacy before, and we are grateful for your input at the research stage, and your comments on the draft that was sent for external peer review were particularly useful to us when we were making the final editorial changes” ( E 8, Dr Grant Hill-Cathorne 11 October 2018) This directly led to knowledge exchange activities including the American Geophysical Union requesting a blog about how Arctic geopolitics informs policymaking. This was the first time the AGU published a piece on polar geopolitics. He also contributes to POST and RUSI polar events and spoke at the House of Commons Antarctic Parliamentarians Conference (2019, c. 200 in attendance).

1. Informing Public Understanding of the Polar Regions

Dodds’ research conducted on the Arctic and Antarctic has contributed to the reformation of UK policy conversations about polar geopolitics (R1, R2, R6). Historically, public discourse on the polar regions have favoured exploration, heritage and science. The underpinning research has informed an explicitly geopolitical hue, showing that scrambles for knowledge, influence and strategic advantage matter.

Working with specialist polar science agencies

Research conducted by Dodds on Antarctic geopolitics and governance informs how the UK’s main public polar stakeholder, BAS, makes sense of its strategic role. In 2015, the website of BAS re-wrote its description of the Antarctic Treaty to account for geopolitical factors. Dodds’ research expertise paved the way to formal recognition that the social sciences have an important role in complementing natural sciences as sources of advice to UK polar policy, in 2019 Dodds became first social scientist to be appointed an Honorary Fellow of BAS in recognition of this impactful work. [text removed for publication] ( E 5, [text removed for publication] 11th April 2019).

Informing Exhibitions, Museum Curators and Public Audiences

Dodds’ research on polar geopolitics has informed major exhibitions, inspired curators and visitors. He served as expert adviser to the British Library Lines in the Ice exhibition (2014), and to the Polar Worlds gallery of the Royal Museums Greenwich (2018). Dodds’ expertise was cited as major factors in their planning and curation; both exhibitions and the accompanying books Lines in the Ice (British Library Publishing 2016) used Dodds’ research findings on the contested geopolitics of the Arctic and Antarctic. The British Library’s exhibition received approximately 114,000 visitors– the second highest British Library exhibition attendance figure: “ Using Klaus’s support and expertise the exhibition communicated ideas about the complex history and modern geography of the Arctic to visitors”. ( E 3, Philip Hatfield 31^st January 2017). [text removed for publication] of the Polar Worlds gallery at the Royal Museums Greenwich commented: [text removed for publication] ( E 4, [text removed for publication] 23 November 2018).

In addition to these major exhibitions, Dodds regularly advises galleries, libraries, learned societies and museums about polar geopolitics, including speaking at public events at the National History Museum, the Science Museum, Royal Institution, Dulwich Picture Gallery, RGS, British Library, British Science Association, and National Maritime Museum. Between August 2013 and December 2020, he delivered 18 public lectures, chaired three British Library panel discussion, with average audiences of 250 to 300 people. The British Library staff (including Dr Hatfield and Jon Fawcett, Head of Events) sent emails to Dodds confirming very positive feedback from the audiences.

Working with Media

Regular media writing and public broadcasting has enabled Dodds’ research on polar geopolitics to reach wider audiences. On 4^th February 2015, the Washington Post (circulation c. 250,000) published a piece ‘What Antarctica teaches me about politics’ and referenced an output of Dodds as recommendation: “ In preparation for this trip. I read Klaus Dodds’s primer “ Antarctica: A Very Short Introduction”. In January 2019, Dodds appeared on BBC World Service’s ‘The Forum on North Pole’ (aired 29 January, 41 minutes, 1.3 million total listeners for BBC World Service per week). On 21 August 2019 Financial Times referenced Dodds three times on a story about Trump and Greenland ( Financial Times, circulation c. 105,000). Dodds was referenced four times for a BBC Future piece on ‘The rush to claim an undersea mountain range’ (BBC Future 23^rd July 2020, BBC describes ‘BBC Future’ as having one million fans on Facebook).

Between 2014 and 2020, Dodds has written a monthly column for the Geographical Magazine. As the [text removed for publication] noted [text removed for publication] ( E 10, [text removed for publication] 13^th November 2019). He contributed to multiple podcasts such as Polar Geopolitics (2019), UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (2020) and John Hopkins Podcast on Foreign Affairs (2020). His 2019 invited google talk on geopolitics was watched over 25,000 times.

1. Informing Education on the Polar Regions

Dodds was appointed to the A Level Advisory Content Board (ALCAB) in 2014 to advise on polar geopolitics and the governance of the global commons (which includes the oceans). His research changed the A Level Geography syllabus from 2016 by including developing new teaching materials for the global commons. In response to that change, he produced a briefing note for the Royal Geographical Society-IBG which won a highly Commended award from the Geographical Association in 2016.

The education company AQA, which has about 45% of all entries for A level (approximately 12,000 candidates in 2020) recommends that briefing in their Global Systems and Global Governance scheme of work. Multiple invitations to lectures and publishing in the teaching-led journals, such as Teaching G eography (distribution of 2,600 schools/colleges) and Geography Review (c. 10,000 subscribers) gives further evidence of beneficiaries. These lectures and papers have specifically targeted teachers worried about developing case studies for this compulsory element of the A Level curriculum. Since 2015, 14 lectures to CPD events organized by the Prince’s Teaching Institute and GA-sponsored events have been delivered, with audiences ranging from 20 to 100 teachers. The author was asked to participate in CPD days for the Geographical Association (2014 to 2020, group sizes from 15 to 40).

His Geopolitics: A Very Short Introduction (three editions) has sold approximately 35,000 copies and translated into 10 languages. It is read by both university and school students and public readerships around the world.