Members of the thematic network steering committee met in the afternoon at the University of Lapland. The members also spoke to the local media during a press conference about why climate change is an important issue to discuss.
“Where the change will happen the fastest is in North,” said UArctic President Lars Kullerud during the press conference. “We believe it is important for universities and colleges to train people to deal with what will come.”
The next two days, participants at the workshop will discuss gaps in educational curricula regarding climate change and how it affects the North. Participants will also discuss future ventures for the network.
Earlier this year, the network received 500 000 DKK/year from the Nordic Council of Ministers Arctic Co-operation programme 2006-08. The funding was granted to the Thematic Networks Office at Thule Institute, University of Oulu, Finland, which is hosting the network. The network has partners in all Nordic Countries: all together 14 Nordic organisations are involved and in addition to six circumpolar organisations from Canada, USA and Russia.