"This will be spectacular", says Professor Grete Hovelsrud, IASSA president and Steering Committee Chair for Arctic Congress Bodø 2024.
Up to 1,500 international participants gather for what will be the year's major research event in the Arctic, in Bodø, Norway.
Arctic Congress Bodø 2024 combines three Arctic congresses. Never before has an event of this calibre taken place in Norway. The Congress runs from 29 May to 3 June, and the program is released today.
Climate researcher and professor Grete Hovelsrud at Nordlandsforskning and Nord University says that top Arctic researchers will attend. She has worked with the program for a long time.
- It is spectacular, with so many Arctic actors gathered in the same place. We connect Indigenous Peoples, Arctic ambassadors, researchers, educators, politicians and businesses. This is quite unusual in a congress context.
Check out the programme for the Arctic Congress here!
Focus on Indigenous Peoples
The program's core is the sessions driven by the researchers. This is the very backbone of the Congress, with a lot of new and exciting research and perspectives, adds Hovelsrud.
The gathering points are the plenary panels, and there we can raise the discussions to a slightly different level than we do in research, she explains.
There will be a strong focus on Indigenous Peoples themes, adds Hovelsrud.
- We also have some side events with "pubinars" that address more sensitive topics, such as what we are doing now that Russian researchers are by and large absent.
Rapid changes
Hovelsrud believes that the relationship with Russia will probably become a hot topic among people "in the corridors." It is challenging that such a big Arctic congress will be missing the country that accounts for half of the land areas in the region.
- Some of us remember the time before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. For 30 years, it has been natural for us to go to Russia and collaborate with Russian researchers.
- Many questions arise now: How do we proceed now? Will it ever be the same? The fact that we also address the problematic questions shows that this is a great depth and breadth Congress.
As a climate researcher, Grete has experienced firsthand how the Russian war against Ukarine has reduced access to important research data from the Russian side of the Arctic.
There are rapid climatic changes, and when we no longer cooperate with Russia and do not know what they are up to, we lack access to their new knowledge.
Unique event
Hovelsrud is looking forward to the Congress and says there is also great interest from non-Arctic countries.
- For example, France and India.
- How large will this be?
- It will be the largest congress that has taken place in the Nordic region. Due to the unique collaboration between three established Arctic organizations it will be a unique event that has not happened before and will probably not happen again.
Reminder! Deadline for submitting statements for nominations for IASSA Members is April 19th 2024. Click here for more information.
