A guided tour across the top of the world

Each month we share updates from our Education team and the work they do to help facilitate dynamic ways of teaching geography, from resource highlights to recent activities.

This September, we are zooming in on the relaunched Discovering the Arctic – an interactive website for schools. With a range of physical and human geography topics related to the Arctic, the site will be a valued resource to engage pupils with the region and its importance in our world today.

Originally created over a decade ago, the website relaunch is the product of a partnership between the Society, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and others including The Arctic Office, key academics, British Antarctic Survey and Scottish Association of Marine Science.

This free-to-use website has been updated with the most recent information on the Arctic as well as increased multimedia tools including soundbites from leading experts, interactive maps and new video clips on different aspects of the region.

James Jansen, UK Senior Arctic Lead at the FCDO, who worked closely with our Education team on the website updates, commented: “The Arctic is at an inflection point as a result of rapid climate change, growing interest in the region’s economic resources, and shifting geopolitical dynamics…there has never been a more critical time for the future of the Arctic.

"It’s crucial that students have a good understanding of how the region is changing, and the implications of this, so they are well equipped to respond as the leaders of tomorrow - as politicians, teachers, diplomats, scientists or indeed as geographers.”

James is proud of how the updated design of the website helps get this message across: “It was important to be able to shine a stronger spotlight on the extraordinary pace of climatic change, the role of geopolitics in shaping our lives, and the importance of science in securing our future. We did this by bringing new audio and visual content to the site, including from those who work in the region”.

Central to the website’s refresh is the amplification of Indigenous Arctic voices: “Over 4 million people live in the Arctic, around 10% of whom are Indigenous. Indigenous people have successfully inhabited the Arctic region for thousands of years, yet until relatively recently few Europeans knew of their existence.

Today we recognise the important role played by Indigenous people in the Arctic, and this theme is a core thread running throughout the website, giving us a chance to hear directly about their history, culture and lived experience.”

To complement the updated website, a range of educational resources can be found on our website which can support teaching and learning about the Arctic region, including:

• Climate change and the Russian arctic
• Climate change: a Russian perspective
• Discovering the Weddell Sea

Discover our full range of free and members-only educational resources created by experts.