Panel session at the Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit Conference 2023
The UArctic Chair in Arctic Legal Research and Education and the UArctic Law Thematic Network, in collaboration with the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law of the Arctic Centre, organized a panel session at the Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit Conference 2023.
The panel “Message from the Inter-Polar Conference: Connecting the Arctic with the Third Pole” discussed the process, content, outcome, limitations and challenges, and achievements of the Inter-Polar Conference organized in September 2023 in Kathmandu.
Prof. Kamrul Hossain moderated the session, and panelists included Mr. Markku Heikkilä, the head of science communication at the Arctic Centre, Mr. Albert van Wijngaarden, a doctoral candidate at Cambridge University, Dr. Marlene Payva Almonte, a senior researcher at the Arctic Centre and Ms Zhanna Anshukova, a Doctoral candidate at the University of Lapland.
As they actively participated in the Kathmandu conference, the panelists shared their experiences with a sizeable audience and highlighted the importance of mutual learning and gaining first-hand knowledge. Given that the conference attracted scholars, including young doctoral and post-doctoral researchers from the Third Pole region, it created a platform of interactions among scholars from the Arctic and the Third Pole. They highlighted the under-representation of social and human science research when linking the two regions. Discussions ended up with the need for its continuation in a more focused and coordinated manner.