In this issue…■ The Compass Points North for

the Circumpolar Young Leaders

■ Young Polar Scientists Carry onthe IPY Flame

■ Youth Delegation Meets atArctic Indigenous LanguagesSymposium

■ Schools on Board: Buildingbridges between traditionalknowledge, the scientific com-munity and youth.

■ Students on Ice: A truly polarIPY legacy

■ UArctic: A commitment to high-er education and research inthe North

■ A Day in the Life of a CYLIntern

■ Youth Delegates Attend theSenior Arctic Officials Meetingin Norway

■ Inuit Studies Conference

■ Upcoming Events

ARCTIC FUTUREThe Circumpolar International Internship Newsletter

Issue 11, December 2008

The Compass Points North for theCircumpolar Young LeadersThe Circumpolar Young Leaders (CYL) Program, run by the International Institutefor Sustainable Development (IISD), endeavours to bring young people from theNorth to work on northern issues in southern Canada, or in other circumpolar coun-tries, and start their careers in northern issues.

The Circumpolar Young Leaders Program (CYL) brought five young northern-ers together for a week-long training session in Winnipeg in September. Theywere then flung across Canada and the globe to complete six-month internshipsin organizations concerned with the future of the circumpolar North.

“This delightful experience has served to re-align our personal compasses topoint back up North. If the whole point of the CYL program is to inspire cir-cumpolar young leaders to stay up North and activate change, we would saymission accomplished,” says Jennifer Dunn. Dunn, along with SamanthaDarling and Alexandra Winton, were chosen from the Yukon Territory, whileJessica Kotierk of Nunavut and Joel Benoit of Nunasiavut, Labrador, roundedout the group of this year’s Circumpolar Young Leaders.

Throughout the training, the interns bonded over the passion and concern theyall feel for northern issues. They learned a great deal from each other, as well asthe formal training by IISD. “Something that has been re-affirmed for me com-ing out of these training sessions is that the term ‘northern’ in this case isn’t geo-graphic. The term ‘northern’ refers to a way of looking at the world and a gener-al attitude,” says Sam Darling.

Together, the young interns questioned the concept of northern identity, thebenefits of southern education for northerners, and how to best maintain a bal-ance between North and South within their own lives. “We talked a lot about continued on page 2

CYL interns: “The term ‘northern’ refers to a way of looking at the world and a general attitude.” Photographby Alexandra Winton

The Compass Points North forthe Circumpolar Young Leaderscontinued from page 1

issues that have been on my mind for along time: the isolation of the North asgood and bad, who makes up theNorth and what do visitors give andtake away, and importantly, can weactually live and make a living upthere?” said Allie Winton. “The train-ing experience helped me to realizethat living and working in the North ispossible because there are more oppor-tunities than I had realized.”

As for the formal IISD training, theinterns covered a vast array of topics.Before they even arrived they had com-pleted an online training course aboutthe history of circumpolar cooperationin the North, and addressed such perti-nent Northern human developmentissues as health.

In Winnipeg, the interns listened to pre-sentations about climate change,Canada’s role in the Arctic and the ArcticCouncil and spoke with former CYLinterns. In addition they participatedactively in workshops about formal writ-ing, teamwork leadership and fundrais-ing. Most of all, they learned about justhow vast and yet how interconnected thecircumpolar North is. “Even the five ofus, from across Canada’s big North, hadsomehow known about some of the oth-ers. It is nice to have the communityconnections,” says Kotierk.

Through the training with IISD, theinterns say they began to expand theirdefinition of North out from theCanadian North to stretch around thepole. At the end of their training, theinterns travelled to their placements, buthave continued to keep in contact witheach other and will undoubtedly contin-

ue to bump into each other in future.

No matter their location, the interns allfeel they have a more solid understand-ing of what the North means to them.

“From Scandinavia, Asia to America,every northerner carries that sense ofhonest participation that you just don’tsee anywhere else in the world. I’m gladto be part of this group,” says Benoit.

The interns would like to thankCarolee Buckler and Laura Normandfor making the training days smooth,informative and filled with deliciousfood, and must apologize to them fortheir northern definition of punctuality.

This program is funded by theInternational Polar Year Federal Officeand Aboriginal and Circumpolar AffairsDivision, Foreign Affairs Canada.

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Young Polar Scientists Carry on the IPY FlameBy Jennifer Dunn, CYL intern with the Canadian Embassy in Norway

Jennifer Dunn, a CYL intern with the Canadian Embassy in Norway, interviews Kriss Rokkan Iversen, former President ofAPECS, on the significance of the International Polar Year and the future of polar research.

The Association of Polar Early CareerScientists (APECS) is one of the con-crete legacies left by International PolarYear (IPY) 2007–2008. The organiza-tion is a multidisciplinary network ofover 1,200 students, educators andresearchers in more than 40 countrieswhose work concerns the polar regionsand who are in the early stages of theircareers.

According to Kriss Rokkan Iversen,President of APECS in 2007–2008,IPY support has allowed APECS todevelop into a sustainable organizationthat “will survive after IPY has endedand, in this sense, APECS is one of themost important legacies of IPY.”Iversen sees APECS as an importantadvocacy tool to facilitate dialoguebetween the more established scientificcommunity and the newer, youngergroup of polar scientists. “APECS hasserved as a platform for these two

groups to enter into discussions aboutthe science of tomorrow, and to incor-porate the visions of early career scien-tists into that future,” she says. Iversenreports that APECS “received a warmwelcome from the senior scientificcommunity” as there is recognition onboth sides of the need for generationalcontinuity to be established in terms ofthe decision-making and planningwithin the scientific community.

This development is one that Iversencharacterizes as a “soft” legacy of IPY,as opposed to the “hard” resultsachieved during IPY, such as the hugeamount of data collected. Other “soft”developments include the building ofinterdisciplinary networks of scientists,artists, journalists and educators, there-by fostering interdisciplinary under-standing, and cooperative projects inthe often compartmentalized world of continued on page 3

Kriss Rokkan Iversen: “the outreach and educationconducted within the IPY framework has been amaz-ingly effective at spreading public awareness of sci-ence in the polar regions…”

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The Arctic Indigenous LanguagesSymposium (AILS) was held October21–22, 2008, in Tromsø, Norway. Theyouth delegation of the AILS met onday one following the main conferenceand included representatives fromAlaska, Greenland, Canada, Russia andFinland. The session was facilitated byShelley Tulloch, Associate Professor atSt. Mary’s University in Halifax, NovaScotia. The participants engaged inmeaningful discussion and had theopportunity to share ideas and net-work with one another, creating anavenue to utilize collective resources inlanguage revitalization and other issuesfacing Arctic Indigenous peoples.

At the end of the final day of the sym-posium, the youth presented their sug-gestions to the full conference. Thekey points made by the youth were:

Indigenous languages as a means to suc-cess in our communities

The youth felt strongly that speakingindigenous languages goes beyond justpersonal identity and cultural pride.Keeping indigenous languages aliveand strong would result in higher suc-cess rates in education, thus healthiercommunities.

There is a need to systematically supportindigenous languages

There was a lot of pride among dele-gates in their language, culture andidentity. This pride was credited to thesurvival of the indigenous languagesthat are still healthy. The youth want-ed the leaders of today to place a high-er priority on the retention and pro-motion of indigenous languages. continued on page 6

Young Polar Scientists Carry onthe IPY Flamecontinued from page 2

discipline-specific science. Iversen notesthat the “soft” legacies of IPY, while hard-er to quantify, are just as important to thedevelopment of polar science as the tan-gible scientific results. In particular,Iversen views IPY’s outreach and educa-tion achievements as a great success.

Iversen believes that scientists have anobligation to share their knowledge andresearch with the public, not only tofocus the public’s attention on theurgency of the situation in the polarregions, but also to give back to thecommunity which is often, throughgovernment grants, the core supporterof scientific research. Iversen notes thatoutreach is an area scientists rarely focuson, and she criticizes this as it leads toimportant scientific findings beingshelved and forgotten. Iversen says that

“the outreach and education conductedwithin the IPY framework has beenamazingly effective at spreading publicawareness of science in the polarregions, and should serve as a model.”

As IPY draws to a close the questionremains: how will the same strongmomentum in polar research be sus-tained after IPY? Iversen is not overlyconcerned about this as she notes that“unfortunately, climate change will keepthe public’s attention focused on thepolar regions,” and therefore on polarresearch. However, Iversen notes theneed to ensure the sustainability andsuccess of APECS by ensuring fundingfor the APECS Directorate, which is theeveryday machinery of the organization.The University of Tromsø, Norway, has,together with the Norwegian IPY-secre-tariat (Research Council of Norway),agreed to host the Directorate towardsthe IPY Oslo Science Conference in2010. Maintaining the continuity of the

APECS Web site (hosted by the ArcticPortal, Iceland) is also crucial; it allowsscientists to network, discuss, postresearch results, find jobs and accessconference opportunities.

Iversen does note one major problem inrelation to the International Polar Year.The next IPY is set to take place in 50years, but the polar regions are changingdramatically already and there is anurgent need to understand these changesnow. Iversen, along with many other sci-entists, feels that the next IPY should beorganized in the much nearer future inlight of the acceleration of climatechange. If it is, it will more than likelybe organized by the current members ofAPECS, who will by then no longer be“early career” but simply “career” scien-tists. Certainly their experiences withIPY 2007–2008 would ensure a similarsuccess in the next IPY.

Greta Schuerch: “Keeping indigenous languagesalive and strong would result in higher successrates in education, thus healthier communities.”Photograph of Greta Schuerch.

Youth Delegation Meets at Arctic Indigenous Languages SymposiumBy Greta Schuerch

Greta Schuerch, Alaska co-chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Youth Council, is passionate about encouraging youth, retaining languageand equipping the next generation of Arctic youth with the tools to overcome barriers to learning.

Schools on Board is an educational out-reach program that has benefitted fromInternational Polar Year. Created in2004, Schools on Board places highschool students and teachers from acrossCanada on an icebreaker during scientif-ic research expeditions at sea. Schools onBoard promotes Arctic environmentalawareness and encourages future Arcticresearchers while establishing and sup-porting educational partnerships. This isaccomplished through the on-board fieldprogram and the educational network ofteachers, scientists, schools and students.

Thanks to International Polar Year,Schools on Board has been able to

expand the field program from a solelyCanadian-based initiative to an interna-tional endeavour. The increase in Arcticresearch activity has allowed Schools onBoard to have two international fieldprograms as well as a third, solely cir-cumpolar Inuit program.

The surge of momentum fortifies all ofSchools on Board’s ambitions. Fittingin with the International Polar Yearmandate of translating scientificresearch to the public, Schools onBoard is using every opportunity toengage in collaborative activities withresearch teams, government agenciesand the public school network. “Under

the IPY umbrella, everyone getstogether for the first time and says‘This is what we do’,” says Schools onBoard Director, Lucette Barber enthu-siastically.

Schools on Board is working with IISD’sCircumpolar Young Leaders Program byhosting an intern and contributing tothe Polar Resource Book, an internation-al educational effort filled with polar sci-ence activities and stories from aroundthe world as the ultimate legacy productof International Polar Year Educationand Outreach.

continued on page 5

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Lucette Barber and Robin Gislason of Schools on Board: The increase in Arctic research activity has allowed Schools on Board to have two international field programs aswell as a third, solely circumpolar Inuit program.

Schools on Board: Building bridges among traditional knowledge,the scientific community and youthBy Jessica Kotierk, CYL intern with Schools on Board

With the assistance of International Polar Year, Schools on Board is using innovative programming to generate enthusiasm andexpand awareness of traditional and scientific Arctic knowledge to the youth.

Students on Ice Expeditions (SOI), anot-for-profit environmental educationgroup, has been working with IPY toinvolve youth from around the worldwith their expeditions to the Arcticand the Antarctic, making their IPYlegacy truly polar.

SOI has been operating for over eightyears, organizing trips to both polesevery year. Focusing on high schoolstudents, these expeditions provideparticipants with the opportunity toexplore the more inaccessible regionsof the planet, while learning from

world-class researchers, explorers andartists who accompany the expedition.The curriculum while on expedition isdesigned to engage students intothinking about the poles and consider-ing the effects of civilization exhibitedin the polar regions. The goals of anSOI expedition are to empower youthand give them a sense of connection,as they develop into the next genera-tion of decision-makers and worldleaders. “Once inspired, students learnto become active citizens who betterunderstand and respect the planet,”

notes Tim Straka, Students on IceEducation Program Director.

Additionally, through its IPY involve-ment, SOI has been helping to coordi-nate the Polar Perspectives lecture andyouth forum series across Canada.Lectures are being offered by local andvisiting IPY researchers, authors andexplorers, while the youth forums pres-ent the opportunity for southernyouth to interact with northern youthvia videoconference. “It will challengepeople to think about real and imme-diate concerns, about the impact thattheir own actions are having and howthey can make a difference,” saysGeoff Green, founder and Director ofStudents on Ice.

The IPY legacy SOI looks to leavebehind is very similar to its overallmandate. SOI hopes to strongly influ-ence the world view of the next gener-ation by introducing a connection tothe natural world. Through the PolarPerspectives series, SOI hopes toexpose more of the public to the workbeing done at the poles, through theresearch stories of the experts out inthe field doing the work. TheCircumpolar Young Leaders (CYL)Program through IISD has allowedSOI to host a CYL intern for a six-month term to support these IPY ini-tiatives.

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Students on Ice: A truly polar IPY legacyBy Samantha Darling, CYL intern with Students on Ice

Students on Ice empowers youth and gives them a sense of connection to the poles, as they develop into the next generation of decision-makers and world leaders. “Once inspired, students learn to become active citizens who better understand and respect the planet,”notes Tim Straka, Students on Ice Education Program Director.

Samantha Darling and Tim Straka: SOI hopes to strongly influence the world view of the next generation byintroducing a connection to the natural world.

Schools on Board: Buildingbridges among traditionalknowledge, the scientific com-munity and youthcontinued from page 4

Recently, Schools on Board piloted aTraditional Knowledge Collection Kitwith the Circumpolar Inuit Field

Program and is making the resourcesavailable to high schools. It containseverything needed to plan, interviewand disseminate research results. Theexperience of researching one’s owncommunity knowledge raises discus-sion and interest in the Arctic environ-ment by highlighting global and per-sonal meaning while illuminating the

scientific procedures that can boostNortherners as Arctic scientificresearchers.

After International Polar Year, Schoolson Board will continue strengtheningthe collaborative relationships and themulti-faceted direction that the globalattention to the Arctic has brought.

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Youth Delegation Meets atArctic Indigenous LanguagesSymposiumcontinued from page 3

Wynter Kuliktana of Kugluktuk,Canada, said: “Right now, the promis-ing language is English in regards tohigher education. If parents are awarethat policies are aimed at creatingfuture Inuit language opportunities fortheir children then maybe parentswould be more encouraged to teachthe language to the next generation.”

Indigenous languages need to be a prior-ity for our leaders

The youth expressed frustration overthe lack of priority for Arctic indige-nous languages and the lack of fundingand structure to really support the lan-guages in a meaningful manner. Smallpockets of funding that are availablefrom various sources for indigenouslanguages are neither adequate nor suf-ficient to reverse the alarming rate oflanguage loss throughout the Arctic.

Reversing language loss aggressively

There was a sense of urgency amongdelegates, realizing that members ofthe older generation are the language-keepers and unfortunately will not livemuch longer. The youth suggested thatthe leaders tackle language loss aggres-sively and efficiently, and identified theneed to work cooperatively togetherbetween jurisdictions to share bestpractices.

Standardization of indigenous languages

Indigenous language standardizationwas a topic at the Arctic symposium,for standardization may strengthen theuse of the Inuit language and is viewedas being key to curriculum develop-ment. The youth felt that there is sup-port for standardization of theIndigenous language at the local leveland it is the key to securing a viablefuture for indigenous languages.However, the youth cautioned that itis necessary to ensure that the stan-dardization model used does notthreaten local dialects, for they takegreat pride in the richness of local

dialects. Greenland was used as anexample of a place where the languageKalaallisut had been standardized, butthe local dialects in Greenland haveretained their strength.

Sharing best practices

The youth felt strongly that thereneeded to be more networking amongthe different jurisdictions to learn bestpractices for successful language revi-talization.

Importance of language revitalizationprograms

Other suggestions included educatingpolicy-makers so that they could makeinformed decisions regarding languageas well as the teaching of indigenouscultures to others, as that will increaserespect for cultures and languages

The youth conveyed to the group thatthey would like to be empowered totake responsibility for these recom-mendations and that they would liketo be partners in achieving the goals.

UArctic: A commitment to higher education and research in the NorthBy Alexandra Winton, CYL intern with UArctic

UArctic has been the lead agent for IPY Higher Education in the Arctic and has grown during IPY into a unique and complete net-work of higher education institutions in the North which enhances northern research and education cooperation.

The University of the Arctic (UArctic)is a cooperative network of universi-ties, colleges and other organizationscommitted to higher education andresearch in the North. UArctic hasbeen a lead agent for IPY higher edu-cation initiatives in the Arctic, andduring IPY has grown to include 116member institutions.

In 2008, UArctic dedicated its annualnewsletter, Shared Voices, to the IPYlegacy. In their statement, the UArcticBoard of Governors describedUArctic’s role in IPY. “UArctic has

been the lead agent for IPY HigherEducation in the Arctic and has grownduring IPY into a unique and com-plete network of higher educationinstitutions in the North whichenhances northern research and educa-tion cooperation.” UArctic has beenactive in many programs that willensure the legacy of IPY, such as theestablishment of APECS (Associationof Polar Early Career Scientists), TheUArctic GoNorth program, StudiesCatalogue, Graduate program, FieldSchool and PhD networks.

UArctic will provide leadership in theglobal polar research community andmajor polar science organizations.Cooperation between circumpolar gov-ernments is encouraged by UArctic, inthe hopes of ensuring maximumpotential of research and educationinvestments. In Shared Voices, UArcticPresident, Lars Kullerud explained whythis work is significant for the globalcommunity as a whole. “Today’s worldis more dependent on the North thanever—a dependency that will only continued on page 7

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UArctic: A commitment to highereducation and research in theNorthcontinued from page 6

grow in the future. The North representsinvaluable resources, globally vitalecosystems, an important platform toconduct research and understand ourdynamic planet, as well as a dream of adifferent land: a pristine part of the earthfor the mind to explore.”

Finally, the Board of Governorspledged to ensure training and researchfor the circumpolar leaders of thefuture. “UArctic encourages andenables the development of the nextgeneration of northern leaders, peoplewho are born and educated in theregion. UArctic also encourages thedesign of academic programs and serv-ices that are based on the needs of theregion. UArctic promotes the recogni-

tion of traditional knowledge as anintegral part of northern research,training and education and stimulatesfurther cooperation to foster theimportant role of traditional andindigenous knowledge in the northernknowledge base.” For more informa-tion about the University of the Arctic,please visit our Web site: www.uarc-tic.org

Alexandra Winton: UArctic will provide leadership in the global polar research community and major polar science organizations.

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So I’m Joel Benoit and I’m guessingyou’re all curious about what it’s likebeing a UNEP-GRID intern. First off,a little about myself. I’m from the lostwhite blindness of the tundra—alsoreferred to as Nunatsiavut, Labrador!And because of this rare circumstance

and my credible work experience withthe Canadian government, CYL hasgranted me an opportunity to exploremy passion of Arctic ecosystem andbiodiversity protection with an intern-ship at UNEP-GRID Arendal!

GRIDA’s Key Polar Centre, where I’vebeen placed, exists to make sure UNEPincludes Arctic and Antarctic participa-tion in international environmentalinitiatives. The upcoming United continued on page 9

Joel Benoit: “…my contribution involves me getting into as many projects as my mind can bear…”

A Day in the Life of a CYL Intern By Joel Benoit, CYL intern with UNEP-GRID Arendal

Joel Benoit goes from Labrador to Norway to explore his interests in the Arctic and biodiversity protection, with UNEP-GRID Arendal.

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On November 19–20, theArctic Council held a SeniorArctic Officials (SAO) meet-ing in Kautokeino, Norway.The SAOs of the eight cir-cumpolar nations attended,along with the leaders of thesix Permanent Participant(PP) organizations, and anumber of observer states andorganizations.

The Arctic Council (AC) hasoften indicated a desire toinvolve circumpolar youth inAC activities. This session wasthe first to have two youthdelegates as part of theCanadian delegation, SandiVincent from Nunavut andme, Jennifer Dunn from theYukon.continued on page 11

A Day in the Life of a CYLIntern continued from page 8

Nations Climate Change Conferencesin Poznan (COP 14) and Copenhagen(COP 15) are chaired by UNEP. Thus,GRID uses these COPs to voice theconcerns of the some 550 Arctic com-munities and Small Island DevelopingStates (SIDS) affected by polar warm-ing.

At UNEP GRID, I am involved inmany projects. First on my workchecklist is GRID’s video documentaryportion of the “Kick” campaign.Needing a “clean sounding, youngCanadian” (Canadian accents are easier

to understand according to manyinternationals) to fill voice overs, yourstruly luckily suited that job descrip-tion. Also, I’ve had the pleasure to editfor Ieva Rucevska , Programme Officerfor the Regional Field Programme, onher impact assessment for the cleanwater security of Georgia during itspost-war period with Russia. I am alsoassisting the Polar Unit in producingan assessment of climate changeimpacts on the food security of Nordiccountries, with an emphasis on Russia’sBarents Sea Region reindeer herds.This project is connected with thefood security proposals of the ManyStrong Voices (MSV) campaign, a col-laboration between Arctic and Small

Island Developing States that seeks topromote the well-being of these areasvulnerable to climate change. As forside projects, I just received approvalfor updating the Web sitewww.reduce.no, a hazardous materialseducation Web site that GRID sup-ports. I’m very excited about this!

Overall, CYL and UNEP-GRID haveboth provided me with the opportuni-ties, training and mentorship to propelmy career and intellectual interestsinto new and creative directions. I amexcited for my future as a circumpolarleader.

Youth Delegates Attend the Senior Arctic Officials Meeting inNorwayBy Jennifer Dunn, CYL intern with the Canadian Embassy in Norway

Jennifer Dunn attends the Senior Arctic Officials meeting in Kautokeino, Norway, as a youth delegate.

Sandi Vincent (l.) and Jennifer Dunn (r.), youth delegates to the SAO meeting in Kautokeino, Norway.

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Top: SAO Chair Karsten Klepsvik; centre: Saami Laavu; bottom:Performance by Saami School Chorale

Images from The Senior Arctic Officials Meeting, Kautokeino, Norway

Inuit Studies ConferenceBy Jessica Kotierk

Since my internship placement islocated across the parking lot, I hadthe opportunity to attend the 16thInuit Studies Conference, held by theNative Studies Department at theUniversity of Manitoba from October23 to 25. The theme wasImagining/Inuit/Imagining—a gather-ing held to discuss the intersectingvisions that Inuit and non-Inuit createof each other and of themselves inmany creative and academic aspects ofculture. It’s a topic I was keen to learnabout since I have a background andinterest in Inuit film. With keynotespeakers: anthropologist, BernardSalasin d’Anglure; filmmaker,Zacharias Kunuk; and Inuit culturalteacher, Peter Irniq, the conferencecovered a wide variety of perspectives.

Salasin d’Anglur spoke of the Inuit“included middle” which does notadhere to the strict either-or divisionbut recognizes and includes the middlesection which can be both things atonce. Kunuk presented in Inuktitutand promoted the communication

possibilities of the Isuma.tv Web site(http://www.isuma.tv/). He evenfilmed Irniq during his keynote pres-entation, which was a powerful talkthat emphasized his personal history ofcross-cultural struggle.

As well, the range of subjectsallowed for a mix of attendance fromartists and educators to students.

The Inuit keynotes speakers men-tioned that they were glad to see thatso many Inuit were present for theconference. As well, the range of sub-jects allowed for a mix of attendancefrom artists and educators to students.Present were people from Greenland,France, Nunavut and Nunavik amongothers. It was an excellent opportunityfor me to learn about the wide scopeof Inuit studies issues and perspectives.

The conference held simultaneous ses-sions which involved making toughdecisions because there were so manyinteresting ones to select from. The

sessions illuminated the difficulties ofcross-cultural relations in many areas,such as the unclear position Inuit liter-ature holds in regards to greater respectand authorship. Sessions detailed thecontrasting imagination processincluding language and symbols thatinform cultural understandings of par-ticular things like the environment,school and safety.

We also had the chance to take advan-tage of the Hudson’s Bay CompanyArchives and the Winnipeg ArtGallery Inuit art collection, each groupreceiving a privileged tour of theirInuit collections.

The gathering included a banquet heldat the Winnipeg Art Gallery whichhad a special evening opening of the“Music and Dance in Inuit Art” exhib-it and a screening of the IgloolikIsuma Productions film “Exiles.” Theevent enlightened my understandingof academic Inuit studies and thesources that Winnipeg has to offer inthis field.

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Youth Delegates Attend theSenior Arctic Officials Meetingin Norwaycontinued from page 9

Kautokeino is home to the Saami,indigenous reindeer herders who livein northern Norway, Sweden, Finlandand Russia. As hosts of the meeting,they treated us to rides in reindeer“taxis,” lessons in lassoing reindeer,feasts of reindeer meat and perform-ances of traditional Saami joiks (songs)alongside modern Saami rap.

For me, it was so fascinating to see thewhole process of how the AC works,and incredible to watch representativesfrom across the circumpolar Northaddressing common issues together. Ifelt really welcome as everyone seemedto be very excited about having youthinvolved.

Following the meeting, the membersof the Canadian delegation and the PPorganizations accepted an invitation totravel to nearby Karasjok to tour theSaami Parliament in Norway, and Iwas lucky enough to tag along. OurSaami hosts treated us to an incredibledinner in a gamme, a traditional earthhut, where everyone sat around thefire for hours and shared stories, songsand jokes from their cultures. It waswonderful!

I was so happy to have had theopportunity to learn about Saamiculture and to get to know someSaami people.

The following morning we were givenan in-depth tour of the SaamiParliament and an introduction to

Saami culture and history. I was sohappy to have had the opportunity tolearn about Saami culture and to getto know some Saami people. Theissues they are facing are exactly thesame issues that all people across theArctic are dealing with, so there was areal sense of solidarity and unity.

Overall, the whole experience of theAC meeting and the trip to Karasjokwas such a huge learning experience. Imet so many amazing people fromacross the Arctic, and I feel really luckyto have gone. Many thanks to theCircumpolar Young Leaders Program,the Embassy of Canada in Oslo andthe Canadian Delegation for helpingme to go.

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Upcoming EventsThe Age of the ArcticPolicy conference, January 19–20, 2009

The Arctic Frontiers conference will take place January 18–23, 2009. Theopening will be held on Sunday, January 18, at Polar EnvironmentalCentre, while the conference itself will take place at the University ofTromsø.

The main theme of the conference changes from year to year. The select-ed theme for 2009, “The Age of the Arctic,” was first used by ProfessorOran Young in 1986. He was then forecasting an increasing major humanfocus, exploitation and conflicts in the Arctic on a political, economicaland environmental scale. During the recent few years his forecast has beenmoved to the top of the global agenda.

http://www.arctic-frontiers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=163&Itemid=1

Higher Education – A Key to Future Development in the HighNorthTromsø, Norway, January 21–23, 2009

Contact: Arne HaugenPhone: 47 55 30 88 40 E-mail: arne.haugen@siu.no

The conference aims to further develop educational cooperation takingplace in the High North as well as projects dealing with issues of interestfor the High North. How can higher education become an even strongerdriving force for development in the High North? And in what way canhigher education contribute to meeting the challenges of the High North?Speakers and participants will include representatives from the academiccommunity as well as policy-makers, representatives from the businesscommunity and others with an interest in international cooperation inthe High North. The main geographic focus is the Nordic countries ofEurope, North America and northern Russia, but the conference is alsoopen to participants from institutions based in other countries.

IISD would like to thank the Department of Indian and Northern AffairsCanada, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and InternationalPolar Year for making this newsletter and program possible.

Arctic Future Newsletter is published by theInternational Institute for Sustainable Developmentand funded by Circumpolar Liaison Directorate,Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. The CircumpolarYoung Leaders Internship Program is funded by theAboriginal and Circumpolar Affairs Division forForeign Affairs Canada and the Canada Program forInternational Polar Year

Co-Editors: Jessica Kotierk and Laura Normand

Graphic Design: Don Berg

Contributors: Joel Benoit, Samantha Darling, JenniferDunn, Jessica Kotierk, Greta Schuerch and AlexandraWinton

The views expressed in the Arctic Future Newsletter donot necessarily reflect those of IISD or its funders.

The International Institute for SustainableDevelopment contributes to sustainable developmentby advancing policy recommendations on interna-tional trade and investment, economic policy, climatechange, measurement and assessment, and naturalresources management. Through the Internet, wereport on international negotiations and share knowl-edge gained through collaborative projects withglobal partners, resulting in more rigorous research,capacity building in developing countries and betterdialogue between North and South.

IISD’s vision is better living for all—sustainably; itsmission is to champion innovation, enabling societies to live sustainably. IISD is registered as acharitable organization in Canada and has 501(c)(3)status in the United States. IISD receives core operating support from the Government of Canada,provided through the Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency (CIDA), the InternationalDevelopment Research Centre (IDRC) andEnvironment Canada; and from the Province ofManitoba. The Institute receives project funding fromnumerous governments inside and outside Canada,United Nations agencies, foundations and the privatesector.

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