Held over two days, events on the first day were hosted by Copenhagen Business School and the Nordic Council of Ministers, which included presentations from UArctic projects funded by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science. This was followed by presentations on two recently launched funding calls for Networking Activities on Arctic Research and Education. The Nordic Council of Ministers hosted a reception at the Nordic House, where participants were welcome by Paula Lehtomäki, Secretary General, and the Chief of Staff, Jonas Wendel who gave a presentation on Nordic Arctic Cooperation. Guest speaker Thomas Winkler, Arctic Ambassador of the Danish Foreign Ministry, also welcomed participants.

Hosted by Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland, and held at the North Atlantic House, the inaugural meeting of the Assembly saw members officially approve UArctic’s governing documents, approve all existing members, elect governing and administrative leaders, and made other important organizational decisions as legally required.

In addition UArctic welcomed 7 new members to the network, bringing UArctic's total membership to 217. Our newest members are:

  1. Algoma University (Canada)
  2. Glasgow Caledonian University (UK)
  3. Liaocheng University (China)
  4. Southern University of Science and Technology - Department of Ocean Science and Engineering (China)
  5. The Yellow Tulip Project (USA)
  6. Trinity Centre for the Environment (Ireland)
  7. Wuhan University (China)

The Assembly also welcomed eight new Thematic Networks to UArctic:

  1. Thematic Network on Ageing and Gender in the Arctic, hosted by the University of Lapland, Finland
  2. Thematic Network on Arctic Transport and Logistics, hosted by Nord University, Norway
  3. Thematic Network on BEBO – for the Future of Reindeer Husbandry, hosted by the Sámi Education Institute, Finland
  4. Thematic Network on Climate Justice in the Arctic, hosted by Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, UK
  5. Thematic Network on Gender in Arctic Knowledge Production, hosted by the University of Oulu, Finland
  6. Thematic Network on Herbivory, hosted by the Agriculture University of Iceland
  7. Thematic Network on Human Adaptation in the Changing Arctic, hosted by North-Eastern Federal University, Russia
  8. Thematic Network on POPs and Chemicals of Emerging Concern in the Asian Arctic, hosted by the Harbin Institute of Technology, China

Future annual meetings of the Assembly of UArctic will be held between April and July each year, and the next Assembly will be held in June 2021 in Portland, Maine, USA.

2020 Meeting of the Assembly of UArcting - Participants

Photo: Jérôme Favre