Áskoranir á norðurslóðum: Að bregðast við breyttum veruleika

Háskóli norðurslóða (UArctic) og Háskóli Íslands bjóða til opins málþings miðvikudaginn 7. október kl. 13:00–17:00 í Hátíðarsal Háskóla Íslands. Málþingið, sem er hliðarviðburður við hið árlega Hringborð norðurslóða (Arctic Circle Assembly), leiðir saman fræðimenn, sérfræðinga og fagfólk víða að.

Norðurslóðir standa nú frammi fyrir töluverðum áskorunum. Loftslagsbreytingar eru að endurmóta vistkerfi með áður óþekktum hraða, á sama tíma og aukin geopólitísk spenna ögrar rótgrónu samstarfi á svæðinu og efnahagslegir og stjórnskipulegir hagsmunir togast á. Þá vakna spurningar um það hvernig samfélög á norðurslóðum geta brugðist við aukinni aðsókn í auðlindir, nýrri tækni og meiri áhuga en jafnframt hugað að umhverfinu, náttúruvernd, og líffræðilegum fjölbreytileika svæðisins.

Á málþinginu árið 2026 verður meðal annars fjallað um eftirfarandi spurningar:

• Hvernig eru geopólitísk samkeppni og öryggismál að móta samstarf og stjórnarhætti á norðurslóðum?
• Hvernig er hægt að samræma vaxandi eftirspurn eftir auðlindum og nýrri tækni við markmið um náttúruvernd og umhverfisvernd?
• Hvað má læra með því að tengja saman þekkingu og reynslu frá íshvolfssvæðum heimsins sem standa frammi fyrir hröðum umhverfisbreytingum?
• Hvaða áhrif hafa loftslagsbreytingar og aukin umsvif mannsins á líffræðilega fjölbreytni á norðurslóðum, og hvar liggja enn tækifæri til samvinnu?

Dagskrá:

13:00 Welcome Remarks: Pia Hansson, Director, Institute of International Affairs

13:05 Opening Remarks: Dag Rune Olsen, Rector, UiT the Arctic University of Norway; UArctic Board Member

13:15 Nordic Cooperation in the Arctic

Keynote address Karen Ellemann, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers

13:25 The Arctic at Crossroads: Geopolitics, Security, and Cooperation

Panel discussion: Gunnar Stefánsson, Vice President of Research, UArctic, Professor, University of Iceland, Hans Peder Kirkegaard, PhD Candidate, Ilisimatusarfik, University of Greenland, Alexandra Anstrell, Member of the Swedish Parliament, Chair of Arctic Parliamentarians (SCPAR), Karen Ellemann, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Moderated by Pia Hansson, Director, Institute of International Affairs.

14:05 Whose Safety and Whose Security? Indigenous Rights, Settler Colonialism, and Canada’s Economic Response to Trump

Keynote address, Rebecca Major, UArctic Indigenous Fellow, Associate Professor at the University of Windsor

14:15 Geoengineering, Rare Earth Elements, and Conservation: Striking a Balance

Panel discussion: Anna Karlsdóttir, Associate Professor, Human Geography and Tourism Studies, Chris Southcott, UArctic Chair, Professor of Sociology at Lakehead University, Melody Brown Burkins, UArctic Chair, Director, Institute of Arctic Studies, Dartmouth University, Kjell Stokvik, Managing director, Centre for High North Logistics (CHNL), Nord University.

Moderated by Jeff Welker, UArctic Chair in Ecology and Biogeochemistry

14:55 Coffee break

15:10 The Interconnectedness of the global glacier regions: Perspectives from the HKH Karakoram glacier landscapes in N-Pakistan.

Keynote address, Saeed Shafqat, Founder and Director of Shafquat Institute for Pakistan and Emerging Geopolitics

15:20 Connecting the Global Cryosphere Regions: Change, Knowledge, and Cooperation

Panel discussion: Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir, Associate Professor, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Dagfinnur Sveinbjörnsson, Founder and Chairman, Climate Research Foundation, Saeed Shafqat, Founder and Director of Shafquat Institute for Pakistan and Emerging Geopolitics.

Moderated by Jón Geir Pétursson, Professor in Environmental Governance at the Environment and Natural Resources Program, University of Iceland.

16:00 Policy response to forecasts of catastrophy

Keynote address, Elín Björk Jónasdóttir, Head of Division, Department of Climate, Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and Climate.

16:10 Biodiversity in the Arctic: Challenges and Opportunities for Cooperation

Panel discussion: Snorri Sigurðsson, Chair of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Working Group, Ingibjörg Svala Jónsdóttir, Professor of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Iceland, Elín Björk Jónasdóttir, Head of Division, Department of Climate, Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and Climate, Edda Sif Pind Aradóttir, CEO of Carbfix, Andreas Raspotnik, Director, High North Center for Business & Governance, Nord University

Moderated by Freydís Vigfúsdóttir, Head of Division, Department of Nature and Cultural Heritage, Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate

16:50 Concluding remarks: Silja Bára R. Ómarsdóttir, Rector, University of Iceland

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