| Summary: | This policy paper is about messages subnationalpolicymakers, managers, and experts would like toconvey to data and knowledge producers in the Arctic. The language of science and research, with its intricateand academic terminology, is yielding to the languageof everyday communication. This phenomenon is nota reflection of the literacy level of policymakers in theArctic but rather the result of municipal managers’inability to spare additional time to use dictionaries orseek assistance from scientific institutions in interpretingthe incoming data and knowledge. Consequently, overlytechnical reports, with an abundance of numbers andformulas, inhibit the decision-making processes andcontribute to the need for additional work for municipalmanagers, who are tasked with translating data andscientific reports to fit requirements for policymakers. Moreover, the scope of work of municipal managers alsoincludes ongoing communication with policymakers, necessitating their understanding of not only thecontent of scientific output(s) or data but also the data background and methodologies applied in its collection. The consultations conducted by the University of Lapland Arctic PASSION team with local/regional stakeholders indicated that existing approaches to data and report production are unsuitable for stakeholders who lack an extensive academic background. The purpose of this policy paper is to elaborate on the primary messages about data/reports production received by the University of Lapland team from subnational managers and decisionmakers.The overall message includes the request for R&D projects, such as Arctic PASSION, to have a “human face -simple and attentive to local needs” in scientific outcomesand products that will be disseminated to municipal andregional administrations across the Arctic. The policy paper builds on insights obtained throughsemi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholdersfrom all Arctic states (except for Russia), as well ason a session and workshop organised by the ArcticPASSION ...
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