Conference Paper: Managing Solid Waste at the Periphery: Interplay Between Remoteness and Urban Governance in the Arctic.

Where: Arctic Congress 2026, Torshavn, Faroe Islands, May 26-29. 
Authors: Nadezhda Filimonova and S. Jeff Birchall

Description: The presentation was delivered during the session “Solid Waste Management in the Arctic: Issues, Complexity, and Sustainable Future,” organized and moderated by Dr. Anderson Assuah. The presentation explores how remoteness affects the ability of national governance to enforce waste regulations locally, as well as Arctic cities’ capacity to develop, acquire, and fund waste-treatment innovations and infrastructure. The associated paper will be available soon.

Click here to see a PDF of the presentation.

Webinar: 
Title: Bolstering climate adaptation implementation at the local scale
When: April 7, 2026, 2pm - 3:20pm (MDT)
Hosts

• PLOS-Climate
• UArctic Thematic Network on Local-scale Planning for Climate Resilience

Chairs/ moderators

• Jeff Birchall, University of Alberta, Canada
• Desiree Rose, University of Alberta, Canada

Panelists

• Nicole Bonnett, University of Alberta, Canada (Local planning for climate induced relocation in Canada)
• Aida Esmaeilzadeh Seilabi, University of Alberta, Canada (Community-based climate adaptation in Iran)
• Nina Rogers, University of Tasmania, Australia (Mainstreaming climate adaptation in municipal policy and practice in Australia)

See attached poster (Webinar Poster April 7 2026)

Speaker Series: 

• Talk title: Building resilient places: The promise and paradox of place-based adaptation
• Date: May 1, 2026, 10-11am (MT)
• Host: UArctic TN on Local-scale Planning for Climate Resilience
• Speaker: Sarah Kehler, PhD Candidate, University of Alberta, CANADA
• Zoom link https://ualberta-ca.zoom.us/j/98017056347?pwd=t5hjt1cFV0wksSLTzdPjgKaNrNx5MG.1
• Click here for Speaker Series Poster (Speaker Series Poster May 1 2026)

New Article + Info Graphic:
Recently, Maeva Gauthier et al. from the UArctic Thematic Network on Local-scale Planning for Climate Resilience, led the development of ‘Transforming education in the Arctic: Co-creation, decolonization and participatory approaches’, published with the journal Arctic.

 This article emerges from a panel and workshop held during the Arctic Congress 2024, and reflects on how participatory methodologies, co-creation, and decolonial approaches can inform and transform Arctic educational programs.

The journal article can be accessed for free here: https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic83510

Click here for the accompanying Info Graphic (Arctic Education Info Graphic)

Full citation:

• Gauthier, M., Birchall, SJ., Hirshberg, D., Bonnett, N., Rose, D., Russell-Loewen, D., Sinisalo, A., Speca, A., Topkok, SA. (2025). Transforming education in the Arctic: Co-creation, decolonization and participatory approaches. Arctic. https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic83510

Guest Talk: Climate adaptation governance in Yukon: Why local action lags in practice

• Course: ENPL 417-617: Local Climate Action Studio 
• Host: Mark Groulx, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, CANADA
• Speakers: Nicole Bonnett 1 , Desiree Rose, Jeff Birchall, University of Alberta, CANADA
• Date: March 17, 2026, 12-1pm (PDT)
• Zoom Link

Guest Talk: Adapting Critical Infrastructure in the Arctic: The case of Tuktoyaktuk

• Course: Disaster and Emergency Management 2452: Critical Infrastructure Protection
• Host: Brady Podloski, Instructor, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT),
  CANADA
• Speaker: Nicole Bonnett, PhD Candidate, University of Alberta (CANADA)
• Date: February 25, 2026
• Click here for slides

Speaker Series: 

• Host: UArctic TN on Local-scale Planning for Climate Resilience
• Talk title: Planning the Great Acceleration
• Speaker: Dr. Mark Groulx, Associate Professor, University of Northern British Columbia, CANADA
• Date: Feb 23, 2026, 12-1pm (MST)
• Zoom link 
• Click here for Speaker Series Poster

New Collaboration between TN partners:

• Aalborg University (Denmark), in partnership with the École nationale d'administration publique (Canada) and the University of Alberta (Canada), is applying for a ERASMUS+ grant to support a mobility project intended to strengthen existing educational collaboration between Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) partners in Canada and Denmark on the theme of urban climate resilience. Contact Martin Lehmann (martinl@plan.aau.dk) for further details.

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