The goals of the second volume of the AHDR – Arctic Human Development Report: Regional Processes and Global Linkages – are to provide an update to the first AHDR (2004) in terms of an assessment of the state of Arctic human development; to highlight the major trends and changes unfolding related to the various issues and thematic areas of human development in the Arctic over the past decade; and, based on this assessment, to identify policy relevant conclusions and key gaps in knowledge, new and emerging Arctic success stories. The production of AHDR-II on the tenth anniversary of the first AHDR makes it possible to move beyond the baseline assessment to make valuable comparisons and contrasts across a decade of persistent and rapid change in the North. It addresses critical issues and emerging challenges in Arctic living conditions, quality of life in the North, global change impacts and adaptation, and Indigenous livelihoods. The assessment contributes to our understanding of the interplay and consequences of physical and social change processes affecting Arctic residents’ quality of life, at both the regional and global scales. It shows that the Arctic is not a homogenous region. Impacts of globalization and environmental change differ within and between regions, between Indigenous and non-Indigenous northerners, between genders and along other axes.

Abstract: This report is a result of and follow-up to the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR), which appeared in 2004 and had been conducted under the auspices of the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG). The AHDR marked processes of maturation within the Arctic Council and beyond. On the one hand, the AHDR represented the first social science-driven report prepared for the Arctic Council, indicating that various stakeholders, from politicians to Arctic residents, understood the importance of the "human dimension"for sustainable development in the Arctic. On the other hand, the processes leading to the AHDR marked new developments in the relationship between Arctic governance and scholarship, including coordinated support for the report from the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (SCPAR)

Of major findings -- pt. 1: Orientation -- ch. 1. Introduction: human development in the Arctic -- ch. 2. Arctic demography -- pt. II: Core systems -- ch. 3. Societies and cultures: change and persistence -- ch. 4. Economic systems -- ch. 5. Political systems -- ch. 6. Legal systems -- pt. III: Crosscutting themes -- ch. 7. Resource governance -- ch. 8. Community viability -- ch. 9. Human health and well-being -- ch. 10. Education -- ch. 11. Gender issues -- ch. 12. -- pt. IV: Conclusion -- ch. 13. A human development agenda for the Arctic: major findings and emerging issues.

Additional keywords : Indigenous, Aboriginal or Native peoples, Inuit, Northern Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, Northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, Siberia.