Halldór Jóhannsson

Halldór Jóhannsson, is educated in landscape architecture and planning at the University of Toronto, Canada, and later in international relations, outreach and marketing in Iceland and EU. Registered and Certified as Planner by Icelandic authorities.

Halldór is the co-founder and chief executive officer of the Arctic Portal.org, the Gateway to Arctic information and data – www.arcticportal.org , welcomed in the ministerial declaration of the Arctic Council in 2006, host of numerous international web portals of highest relevance to the Arctic and the North and ArcData – Arctic data management systems and services, www.arcdata.is based in Akureyri, Iceland. Halldor is also the director of the Northern Forum Foundation www.nffoundation.is – to support activities and projects that benefit sustainable development and contribute to better living for the people and peoples of the North and their societies.

Halldór has long and vast Arctic, Northern and international experience in cooperation, communication and outreach, policy, planning, consulting, mapping and data management. Active in the work of the Arctic Council since 2005, travelled widely in the Arctic and the North and gained experience and friends in the different societies, institutions and stakeholder groups.

Attended, presented and chaired at numerous international meetings, seminars and conferences on Arctic and Northern issues,

Previous or current member of Arctic committees and boards as: representing Iceland on the European Polar Board (2014-2020) and ExCom member and chair of its Policy Advice Panel (2019-2020); the Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks – SAON since 2007; the Arctic Data Committee; International Permafrost Association council; the Uarctic Council; Scandinavian committee on information technology in transport Infrastructure; the Aurora Observatory foundation vice-chair; Chair of the China-Iceland Arctic Observatory outreach committee; founding member of the Iceland Arctic Cooperation Network; Co-leading communication in the EU Polar Cluster, collaboration of the EU funded large scale projects on the Arctic and the Antartic (2016-2020), and current member of the editorial board of the Arctic Yearbook.

Arctic and Northern related policy and developement  projects include: EU Arctic Information centre, www.arcticinfo.eu - The Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment of development of the Arctic strengthens communication and outreach within the EU and between the EU and the Arctic community about the contribution the EU is making to address environmental and other issues raised by the rapid development of the Arctic region as a result of economic and climate change - leading communication and outreach and active in EU Arctic policy development recommendations; Co-leader in the establishment of the China-Iceland Arctic Observatory – CIAO www.ciao.is in Iceland and instrumental in its policy shaping activites, science communication, international relations and outreach; Co-leading the establishment of the China-Nordic Arctic Research Center – CNARC in 2012 in cooperation with the director of the PRIC in China and active in its ongoing development; Active partner and regional manager in the Northern Forum, www.northernforum.org, collaboration of regions and municipalities of the Arctic and the North and co-founder and acting manager of the  Northern Forum Foundation, www.nffoundation.is, the  purpose and objectives of which is to raise funding, fund and support activities and projects that benefit sustainable development and contribute to better living for the people and peoples of the North and their societies..

In a leading role in a number of large projects of Arctic and Northern relevance, including: FTP 7 Page 21, www.page21.eu on Permafrost ( leading outreach and data management ); Horizon2020 Edu-Arctic www.eduarctic.eu on promoting STEM education (leading outreach and development of educational tools as the Polarpedia); GTN-P database on permafrost http://gtnpdatabase.org  (technical leader);Horizon2020 Applicate (leading outreach and stakeholder engagement), Arice  (leading outreach, data management and visualization), Nunataryuk (outreach and data management); as well as Arctic Council projects including:  Arctic Renewable Energy Atlas – AREA www.arcticrenewableenergy.org  (data management, visualization and outreach), Arctic Marine Infrastructure – AMATII, and The Preservation of Arctic Languages; Arctic Statistics project in partnership with KMI in South Korea and the Arctic Business Directory and Information Systems in partnership with the Northern Forum  www.northernforum.org 

Halldór has been a consultant to the Icelandic Public Roads Administration, to the Ministry of Transport and the Tourism Board of Iceland on the highly successful development of tourism in Iceland. Certified as Landscape Architect and Planner Halldór has been active in regional and urban planning and design and participated in and led numerous projects on regional, city and International scale. Projects include the development of many masterplans, in collaboration and consultation with municipal leaders and councils, national regulators and relevant authorities,  various stakeholders and the public, including through open consulting events. Planner and initiator of the Finnafjord deep-sea harbour project in NA Iceland. Since 1987 Halldór has been a consultant to the Icelandic Public Roads Administration, to the Ministry of Transport and the Tourism Board of Iceland on the highly successful development of tourism in Iceland.

Receiver of the Northern Forum highest reqognition, the Walter Hickel medal, in 2021.