The event opened with a keynote from Outi Snellman, Secretary General of UArctic, introducing UArctic and reflecting on ways to enhance UArctic collaboration in and with Asia.
The Special session on Arctic research activities by by AANRE MOU signatories (Arctic-Asia Nework for Research and Education, coordinated by Hokkaido University) included the following speakers:
Stein Sandven, NERSC; Chuen-Fa Ni, Taiwan Polar Institute, Hajo Eicken, IARC, UAF, US; Seong-Joong Kim, KOPRI, Korea; Carina Ren, Aalborg University, Johanna Ikävalko, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland and Kjell Stockvik, CHNL, Nord University. All except for the Taiwan Polar Institute are currently active UArctic members.
The seven representatives of the signatory institutes and Outi Snellman went on to discuss Education and Capacity Building in the Arctic, together with Hokkaido University representatives.