A large group of University of Iceland staff and students will take part in the Arctic Circle Roundtable, which takes place at Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre from 8-10 October. The University also hosted a side event on Arctic challenges on 7 October, ahead of the Roundtable.
The Arctic Circle Assembly is one of the world's largest annual gatherings focused on Arctic affairs and has been held at Harpa since 2013. Each year, around 3,000 participants from across the globe come together to discuss the future of the Arctic and its significance for the wider world. Participants include representatives of Indigenous peoples, governments, organisations, businesses, universities, research institutions, think tanks, environmental organisations and the public.
A central aim of the Roundtable is to foster dialogue and cooperation on the future development of the Arctic. The region is expected to become increasingly important in the coming decades, not least because of climate change. Since the event was established, researchers from the University of Iceland across a wide range of disciplines have played an active role, both by organising their own sessions and by contributing to sessions hosted by other institutions.
As in previous years, the University of Iceland hosted a side event in advance of the Assembly. On 7 October, the University of the Arctic (UArctic) and the University of Iceland jointly organised a symposium in the University's Ceremonial Hall on Arctic challenges and adapting to a changing reality, bringing together researchers, experts and practitioners from a variety of fields.
The symposium examined issues including geopolitical competition and security, growing demand for natural resources and its implications for environmental protection, lessons from cryosphere regions in a time of rapid environmental change, and the impacts of climate change and human activity on biodiversity.
