When the World Turns Polarized,
the Arctic Turns to Partnership
By Lars Kullerud, President, UArctic
The decades of Arctic as a zone of peace and cooperation are over. The Arctic faces changes mainly by external drivers like geopolitical instability, accelerating climate change, hunt for resources, demand for territory, security, pressure on democratic institutions and academia, and distrust in established knowledge systems. History shows that such moments are risky, but they also create opportunities for institutions that are anchored in strong values, knowledge, and long-term partnerships and responsibility.
Nearly 30 years ago, the University of the Arctic was created through an initiative of the Arctic Council. From the beginning, UArctic was designed not as a single institution, but as a cooperative academic network – a “university without walls” – connecting universities, colleges, research institutes, and Indigenous organizations across the Circumpolar North and beyond. Our framework, the Arctic Council, is itself a novel development where the Arctic Indigenous Peoples and the governments work together.
The UArctic purpose was clear then and it remains clear today: to strengthen education and research in and about the Arctic, grounded in the principle that decisions affecting the Arctic must be based on knowledge from both traditional academia and Indigenous Knowledge holders. The UArctic partnership with all the Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations of the Arctic remains core. Lived experience, cultural continuity, and place-based knowledge are essential to understanding the Arctic, just as rigorous scientific inquiry is essential to addressing the region’s role in global systems.
In a time when facts are increasingly contested and expertise is sometimes treated as optional, this commitment matters. Knowledge is not a political convenience; it is the foundation for responsible decision-making. UArctic will not drift with short-term interests or changing geopolitical moods, but instead continue to emphasize stability, openness, and respect for knowledge.
This strategic direction is particularly important as external interest in the Arctic intensifies. The region is increasingly seen through lenses of resource access, tourism growth, security considerations, and global competition. Some of these interests are legitimate, but none of them can be pursued responsibly without genuine inclusion of and ultimate decision by Arctic communities and respect for their right to shape their own futures. People who live in the Arctic are not passive stakeholders in someone else’s strategy. Like all peoples, they have the right to define development on their own terms.
Encouragingly, UArctic is not alone in this approach. Across the Arctic and around the world, we see a growing number of like-minded institutions that want to work carefully, cooperatively, and responsibly. In a world where the cold regions are essential to the future of our globe, we have partners in the Himalaya University Consortium and the International Antarctic Institute. UArctic is also deeply engaged in building the next International Polar Year together with Arctic and Antarctic partners.
In a world of uncertainty, the Arctic embraces a future based on trust, reconciliation, true partnerships, and knowledge-based development opportunities that serve the Arctic and our Mother Earth.
