Arctic leaders and ambassadors from 20 countries will be meeting in Anchorage for the Arctic Encounter Symposium this week, with security of the region at top of mind.
The policy-focused forum is billed as the “largest Arctic convening in North America.”
“We’re hosting leaders from the U.S., Canada, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and then many states as well that have interests in the Arctic or are observer states with the Arctic Council,” said founder Rachel Kallander.
Notably missing from the list of participating nations: Russia.
The Arctic Encounter Symposium has taken on new importance since the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum, went dormant last year, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s Russia‘s turn to chair the council and the other member countries have condemned the invasion. They put council meetings on pause until the chairmanship passes to Norway this year.
At the Arctic Encounter event, Norway’s senior Arctic official is scheduled to articulate his country’s priorities for during its two-year chairmanship of Arctic Council.
“At the top of many people’s minds is national security, and sort of the future of the Arctic Council, and the diplomatic efforts and cooperation among states in the Arctic, given the conflict that started last year with Russia,” she said.
The conference runs March 29 through March 31. Students can get free tickets to the conference sessions.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
