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Speakers / Agenda

Monday, October 14, at the China-Iceland Arctic Observatory (CIAO)

• 13:30 - 15:00 - Assembly of Member Institutes of CNARC (by invitation only)
• 15:00 - 16:00 - CNARC Executive Committee Meeting (by invitation only)
• 16:00 - 17:00 - Introduction and excursion of the CIAO station
• 17:00 - 17:15 - Presentation from IASC
• 17:15 - 18:00 - Panel discussion: International Arctic research cooperation
• 18:00 - 20:00 - Icebreaker Reception / stand-up dinner

Tuesday, October 15, University of Akureyri (UNAK)

• 8:15 - 9:00 - Registration & Coffee

Plenary 1: welcome remarks and opening of the Symposium

• 09:00 - 09:15 - Housekeeping & general information
• 09:15 - 09:30 - HA Rektor Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir
• 09:30 - 09:45 - RANNÍS Director, Ágúst Hjörtur Ingþórsson
• 09:45 - 10:00 - PRIC Deputy Director Dr. Zhang Beichen
• 10:00 - 10:30 - Coffee break
• 10:30 - 10:50 - Keynote presentation Dr. Wan Rong, Rector of Shanghai Ocean University
• 10:50 - 11:10 - Keynote presentation Dr. Gunnar Stefánsson, University of Iceland, University of the Arctic
• 11:10 - 11:30 - Keynote presentation Dr. Romain Chuffart, Nansen Professor, University of Akureyri
• 11:30 - 12:00 - Questions & Answers from the audience
• 12:00 - 13:30 - Lunch and group photo

Parallel sessions - Room 1 - Session 1: International Cooperation and Arctic Governance, Current and Future Perspectives

Moderator: Pei Zhang, Researcher, SIIS

• 13:30 - 13:45 - Towards Sustainable Arctic Governance: Enhancing Adaptability and Synergy, Long Zhao
• 13:45 - 14:00 - Implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in the Arctic: A case study on the Ramsar Convention on wetlands, Tom Barry
• 14:00 - 14:15 - Implications of the area-based management tool under the BBNJ Agreement for Arctic Ocean governance, Xidi Chen
• 14:15 - 14:30 - The Role of Science Diplomacy in China-Nordic Arctic Relations, Egill Thor Nielsson
• 14:30 - 14:45 - Utilization of Arctic Biological Resources and international cooperation, Ying Luo
• 14:45 - 15:00 - Rethinking science diplomacy for a fragmented Arctic, Trym Eiterfjord
• 15:00 - 15:15 - New Challenges of Sustainable Development in a Changing Arctic and the Sino-Nordic Cooperation, Yingqin Zheng
• 15:15 - 15:30 - The Western Turn (Arctic-2030 BANHER): Joint Nordic-Canadian/US Arctic Cooperation in Higher Education during Changing Geopolitical Times, Peter Haugseth
• 15:30 - 15:45 - Questions and Answers, Session moderator
• 15:45 - 16:15 - Coffee Break

Session 2

Moderator: Pia Hanssen, Director, Institute of International Affairs, University of Iceland

• 16:15 - 16:30 - What Arctic can Learn from Negotiations on A New Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution, Leilei Zou
• 16:30 - 16:45 - Chinese Arctic Diplomacy under World Order Change, Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen
• 16:45 - 17:00 - Give Peace a Chance: Arctic Politics in the Planetocene, Liisa Kauppila and Sanna Kopra
• 17:00 - 17:15 - Images of China in Russian and U.S. discourses on the Arctic, Erdem Lamazhapov
• 17:15 - 17:30 - The Dilemmas and Prospects for China's Engagement in the Nordic Arctic, Sun Wei
• 17:30 - 17:45 - Questions and Answers, Session moderator

Parallel sessions - Room 2 - Session 3: Creating, developing and sharing Social and Environmental Knowledge in the Arctic

Moderator: Deng Beixi, Deputy Director, PRIC

• 13:30 - 13:45 - How is the Co-production model applied in the Arctic?, Marco Volpe
• 13:45 - 14:00 - Effects of climate change on integrated marine Ecosystem Assessment in the Arctic, Steingrímur Jónsson
• 14:00 - 14:15 - Society and Advanced Technology in the Arctic (SATA): Understanding the interplay between Arctic environments and societies for sustainable development, Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen
• 14:15 - 14:30 - Polar Exploration with Different Purposes: Exploring the glaciers, natural species, and night sky conservation of the polar regions, Exodus Chun-Long Sit
• 14:30 - 14:45 - Nordic Space Infrastructures: Sustainability, Security, and the Future, Adam Fishwick
• 14:45 - 15:00 - Application potential of Chinese spaceborne LiDAR for polar cloud-aerosol detection, Lin Zang
• 15:00 - 15:15 - Questions and Answers, Session moderator
• 15:15 - 16:15 - Coffee Break

Session 4: Sustainable development in the Arctic, Arctic Resources, Green Transitions, and Global cooperation

Moderator: Tom Barry, University of Akureyri

• 16:15 - 16:30 - The Northern Sea Route and the role of climate change, Arild Moe
• 16:30 - 16:45 - Assessment of Arctic Shipping Development in the Post conflict Era, Beixi Deng
• 16:45 - 17:00 - Enhancing the use of renewable energies for transportation, Younes Abghoui
• 17:00 - 17:15 - Evolving Dynamics of Sino-Nordic Cooperation in Arctic Clean Energy: Case Studies in Geothermal and Wind Energy, Yue Wang
• 17:15 - 17:30 - Municipal solid waste incineration in the Arctic, Aysan Safavi
• 17:30 - 17:45 - Arctic Living in times of booming global Tourism in the Arctic: The case of Alta an Urban Arctic center in Vest-Finnmark, Northern Norway, Peter Haugseth and Kåre Jakobsen
• 17:45 - 18:00 - Critical Raw Materials in the Era of Planetary Transformations: The Case of the Arctic Region, Florian Vidal
• 18:00 - 18:15 - Reconfiguration of Arctic Energy Security, Yu Cao
• 18:15 - 18:30 - Questions and Answers, Session moderator
• 19:00 - Symposium Dinner, Aurora restaurant

Wednesday, October 16

Session 2: Arctic People's, Rights and Policies

Moderator: Jian Yang, Deputy Director, CNARC; Researcher, SIIS

• 08:30 - 08:45 - An Analysis on the Identity and Path of Indigenous Peoples Participation in the Arctic Governance: An Energy Transition Perspective, Guifang (Julia) Xue
• 08:45 - 09:00 - Feminist Standpoint Epistemology and Indigenous Knowledge: A Prolegomenon, Eric M. Rubenstein
• 09:00 - 09:45 - Indigenous engagement in the Arctic Council - Case study of CAFF, Kári Fannar Lárusson
• 09:45 - 10:00 - Indigenous Ecological Knowledge in Environmental restorative justice, Sara Fusco
• 10:00 - 10:15 - Questions and Answers, Session moderator
• 10:15 - 10:45 - Coffee Break

Final Plenary Session

• 10:45 - 12:00 - Closing remarks, Tom Barry (University of Akureyri), Yang Jian (Shanghai Institutes of International Studies SIIS)
• 12:00 - Lunch

Topics

Session 1: International Cooperation and Arctic Governance, Current and Future Perspectives

With the growing focus re-emergence of security concerns in the Arctic, including the growing impacts of climate change, the work of the Arctic Council and the Arctic strategies of Nordic countries are being affected. The Arctic governance regime is undergoing its greatest impact since the 1990s in the wake of the pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian war. Maintaining the functionality of the Arctic governance conflicts with the geopolitical aims of some countries, and balance is becoming more difficult to maintain. This situation has not diminished the Arctic's qualities as a region vulnerable to climate change, where the role of the Arctic as a climate change response region is becoming increasingly important after the 28^th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). How can the Nordic countries and China play help promote peaceful Arctic governance and international cooperation to the original track of peaceful competition? This session will explore Arctic international cooperation and governance issues including:

• What are the prospects for China-Nordic cooperation in the Arctic and are there any approaches that could strengthen mutual understanding and trust?
• Based on current and future perspectives, what measures could help Arctic peaceful governance and international cooperation?
• What are the challenges for the Arctic governance framework and future perspectives e.g.
• How can China-Nordic cooperation help promote better Arctic governance?

Session 2: Arctic People/s, Rights, and Policies

The Arctic is home to circa 4 million people of which approximately 500,000 are Indigenous Peoples. Arctic Indigenous Peoples are key players in the region's environmental politics through their role as Permanent Participants in the Arctic Council; and the importance of Indigenous Knowledge in ensuring a better understanding of the impacts of climate change and preparing adaptation and mitigation responses. Therefore to ensure that the Arctic remains a sustainable and secure home for all its inhabitants, Indigenous Peoples and their rights and well-being must be respected and taken into account in in decision-making and governance in the Arctic. This session will address the following issues: The role of Indigenous Peoples in Arctic Governance;

Session 3: Creating, developing, and sharing Social and Environmental Knowledge in the Arctic

The increasing changes happening in the Arctic’s cascade throughout the entire global climate system. In order to address current gaps and global connections, we need an approach that spans disciplines, scales and diverse knowledge systems in future research activities. Key to understanding the changes happening in the Arctic and their potential impact requires knowledge - both Indigenous, scientific and local. To enhance our understanding of the Arctic within and beyond the region this session will explore knowledge collection, analysis, and communication including the:

• importance of scientific assessments to improving knowledge and understanding of the Arctic to inform policy shaping and decision-making;
• co-production of knowledge, based on different knowledge systems, where science, Indigenous knowledge, and local knowledge are used to inform policy shaping and decision-making relevant to Arctic people and their communities; and the
• promotion of scientific and Arctic research cooperation and encouraging access to, and sharing of, Arctic data.

Session 4: Sustainable development in the Arctic, Arctic Resources and Green Transitions and global cooperation

Building on the outcomes of COP28 and understanding that healthy and Resilient Arctic Ecosystems are dependent upon a sustainable development approach to Arctic development. Doing so requires that biodiversity and ecosystem objectives and provisions are taken into account in ongoing and future international standards, agreements, plans, operations, and/ or other tools specific to development in the Arctic. In a landmark moment for the global energy transition, parties to UNFCCC at COP28^th agreed to transition away from fossil fuels, triple renewable power, and double energy efficiency by 2030. The Arctic is both a producer of energy and a beneficiary of energy transitions. As a relatively clean fossil energy source, Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) could act as a bridge towards the energy transition. The demand for Arctic energy from Asian economies, including China, Japan, South Korea, and India, and the rapid development of clean energy technologies in the future, as well as the achievement of peak carbon and carbon neutrality goals, will greatly influence the transformation of the Arctic energy mix. This session will explore sustainable development issues in the Arctic including:

• Mainstreaming of environmental concerns in Arctic resource development;
• The role of external actors in Arctic resource development and their connection to the Arctic;
• Promotion of green transition in Arctic resource and energy initiatives.
• What will be the situation of the new energy resilience of the Nordic countries; and
• What will be the contribution to the world's energy transition? What kind of changes could stricter Arctic environmental protection and prohibitions on energy fuels bring to the energy cooperation between Arctic and non-Arctic countries?