Professor Benedikte Brincker awarded DFF grant for Arctic project on Greenlandic youths’ views on climate change
From 2026 and over a four-year period, Professor Benedikte Brincker from Department of Sociology will lead a research project examining how Greenlandic youths experience and perceive climate change. The project has just been awarded a DFF Research Project 2 grant of DKK 7.15 million under the Independent Research Fund Denmark’s Arctic initiative.
The project, titled 'Experiences and Perceptions of Climate Change: A View from the Next Generation (EPIC)', is the first social science project to receive an Arctic grant from DFF. Until now, funding in this area has largely been dominated by the natural and health sciences.
– It is encouraging to see that the social sciences can also make their mark and secure DFF funding for Arctic research, says Benedikte Brincker, professor at the Department of Sociology.
The project is interdisciplinary, spanning social sciences, educational sciences and natural sciences. In addition to Benedikte Brincker (PI), the team includes Associate Professor Lars Demant-Poort (Co-PI), Institute of Learning, University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik), and Assistant Professor Mitdlarak Lennert (Co-PI), Institute of Society, Economics and Journalism, University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik).
Impact and local embeddedness
Impact is crucial for securing a DFF Arctic grant, emphasises Benedikte Brincker:
– Integration between research impact and societal impact has been key, she says.
The project investigates pupils’ relationship with climate change and the extent to which climate change is addressed in teaching – for example, in learning materials and classroom activities. This work will take place in schools in both remote parts of Greenland and in its larger towns.
The project is strongly rooted locally and involves extensive engagement. Throughout its duration, a communication strategy will be implemented in collaboration with local and national stakeholders and institutions in Greenland.
To answer the question of how Greenlandic pupils experience and perceive climate change, EPIC will collaborate with the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (Pinngortitaleriffik) and UNICEF in Greenland.
– The partnership with UNICEF in Greenland makes it possible to compare the project’s findings with knowledge from other countries across the Arctic region. The project will provide unique insights into how climate change affects children and young people in Arctic communities – and how they experience and understand these changes, says Benedikte Brincker.