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Pilo Samuelsen (Chief Operating Officer, SiuTsiu, Nuuk, Greenland)) receives the 2024 Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award on behalf of his organisation 

Two keynote speeches opened the second day of the Arctic Futures Symposium.

This panel highlighted key challenges and smart initiatives that allow the High North to build and maintain a well-trained Arctic workforce and resilient communities. The panel discussed the situation for young people across the Arctic, the role of education and skills, health and wellbeing, and what the EU can do to support Arctic communities.

This panel examined the current European and North American security landscape with regard to the Arctic and whether or not “low tension” continues to be a characteristic of security in the Arctic. The panel will discuss measures that can be taken to try and keep the Arctic an area of low tension in spite of the current geopolitical situation and increased military activity along the new NATO-Russia border in the Arctic. At the same time, it is important not to ignore the threats the Arctic 7 face in light of the new geopolitical situation. Can the right balance be struck?

This panel highlighted what the Norwegian Arctic Council Chairship has been able to achieve in spite of the current geopolitical situation and what the Kingdom of Denmark Chairship will carry on when it takes over in 2025.

Changing political dynamics between Arctic states and within Arctic states have the potential to accelerate the transformation of the Arctic from an area apart from geopolitical tension to an area of geopolitical competition. All Arctic Council states apart from Russia are now NATO members, and these Arctic 7 must grapple with increasingly challenging ties to Russia and China. Although current points of tension do not stem from the Arctic, this does not preclude heightened tensions from being expressed in the European High North, North Atlantic, or the North American Arctic. Climate change is opening new opportunities for trans-Arctic trade, drawing interests from both Arctic and non-Arctic States. This panel was split into two 45-minute panels with three speakers each. The first focused on Transatlantic Cooperation Priorities : What Will Be New in 2025 and After, and the second focused on Transatlantic Cooperation on the Ground: How Transatlantic Cooperation Can Deliver.

The 15th annual Arctic Futures Symposium began with a welcome from the organisers and four keynote speeches.

This week two members of our team traveled to the coast when they just so happened to encounter a pod of Arnoux's beaked whales swimming and feeding amongst the seaice. These whales are very rarely seen, and marine biologists still know very little about their feeding habits and behavior, which made this sighting even more special!  

Riding in a Toyota Hilux towards PEA after spending some time at Perseus Airfield to prepare for the arrival of scientists in a few days!