Prior to the start of the meeting, presentations were given by the Arctic Council Secretariat; Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat; and the Arctic Economic Council Secretariat, all located in Tromsø.
During the meeting, the Board elected Jouko Niinimäki, Rector of the University of Oulu (Finland) as Board Vice-Chair I, and Elena Kudryashova, Rector of Northern Arctic Federal University (Russia) as Board Vice-Chair II. In addition, the Board also elected Board member Karen Barnes, President of Yukon College (Canada) to the Board Finance Policy Committee.
The Board also took an important step towards transitioning UArctic to a legal entity under Finnish Associations Law by approving the Constitution drafted by Finnish Minister, Lauri Tarasti, which will serve as one of the founding documents. The Board initiated this process in 2017, and the next step will be the approval and endorsement of this transition by members of the Council of UArctic during the 2019 Council meeting in September in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Board also discussed fundraising issues, and established a steering group to oversee and develop agreements that will enable a more concrete fundraising effort by UArctic in the years to come. Appointed to the steering group are Board member Fredrik Paulsen, who will serve as Chair, fellow Board member Gary Kachanoski, as well as UArctic President, Lars Kullerud, UArctic Vice-President Organization, Outi Snellman, and UArctic's Vice-President Finance Development and Engagement, Sheila Downer who will serve as Secretary.
Finally, the Board also gave a warm farewell to Lasse Lönnum from UiT, who served on the UArctic Board for three terms (2010-2019), including as Board Vice-Chair from 2011-2013. In his thank you speech, UArctic’s President Lars Kullerud emphasized the strong role Lasse has had in ensuring Norway’s commitment to UArctic.