The third annual Trans Arctic Agenda will merge with the 8th NRF Open Assembly and take place in Reykjavik, Iceland on 14-15 October 2015. The theme of 2015 is Engaging Cultural Heritage when Building Resilience.
The seminar is organized by the Centre for Arctic Policy Studies at the University of Iceland and the Northern Research Forum in cooperation with the University of Akureyri and the Global Arctic Project (www.globalarctic.org). The Trans Arctic Agenda takes a critical and inclusive approach to Arctic issues, opening the debate between different stakeholders by inviting speakers from the academic and policy circles, representing different disciplines and sectors. Like in 2014, this year the seminar will create a link into the Arctic Circle Assembly scheduled to take place in Iceland the same week, on 16-18 October.
The Centre for Arctic Policy Studies (CAPS) was launched at the 2013 Trans Arctic Agenda. CAPS is a forum for interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of Arctic research with an emphasis on the role and policies of states and institutions, non-state and corporate actors, and broader aspects of governance, culture and society in the Arctic and High North. CAPS organizes conferences, seminars and lectures on Arctic issues.
The centre also runs two publication series, offering occasional papers as well as working papers, available in hard copy and online.
The Northern Research Forum (NRF) launched 1999 provides an international platform for an effective dialogue between members of the research community and a wide range of other stakeholders. The main mission of the NRF is to address the critical issues and highlight the opportunities which face people living in the regions of the Circumpolar North. NRF´s main activity is an Open Assembly every second year, where NRF emphasizes open discussion and the participation of young researchers. The 2015 event will be the 8th NRF Open Assembly, now in co-operation with the Centre for Arctic Policy Studies. (For more detailed information see, www.nrf.is)
The biennial NRF Open Assembly, as well as the annual Trans Arctic Agenda, has attracted attention from high-level officials, politicians, media, leading academics and the civil society in Iceland and elsewhere in the Arctic region.
The Centre for Arctic Policy Studies at the University of Iceland and the Northern Research Forum support education and training and have placed strong emphasis on the role of young researchers in the seminars, their role is two folded, to present their own research and by summing up the sessions and thereby
contributing to the seminars summary report.
This year the Trans Arctic Agenda will split into three plenary sessions and three breakout sessions around the following themes:
- Cultural heritage and human resources as part of 'industrial civilization' - case studies of para-diplomacy and Indigenous / local knowledge
- Representation of Arctic stakeholders and their internal communication
- The interplay between science diplomacy, material and immaterial values: How can the Arctic be a space/ model for peace, sustainability and innovation?