The eventful meeting was providing us an overview of the collaboration, and improvements of the communication between University members and staff members. In addition to the meetings, the staff was involved in many team building activities, such as ‘Lappish Olympics’, catching a reindeer with lasso, archery, blind darts, log sawing and nailing, also most importantly enjoying the Finnish sauna.

We would also like to welcome the new members. The new members of the UArctic Team are:

  • Nadia Joe (New VP Indigenous) - Yukon University
  • Lisa Goulet (Membership Engagement Coordinator for Canadian Members, Memorial University of Newfoundland)
  • Dustin Bawcom (Project and event manager)
  • Gunnar Stefánsson (VP Research, University of Iceland)
  • Krismundur Ólafsson (Programme officer, Institute of International Affairs at the University of Iceland)
  • Marianne Hagen (Spokesperson, government relations and communications for the UArctic Tipping Point Actions program)

Among the participants, there were Organization Leadership and the Thematic Network team, as well as a UArctic intern, who starts her internship in beautiful settings.

During the meeting, the different units came from all of the countries of the Circumpolar North, and got to know one another even better, and familiarize themselves with the work routines of other offices and staff. Shared experiences, planned for future activities, solutions, and developed collaboration and communication between different UArctic offices and across national borders.

The meeting in Pyhä followed the Arctic Spirit Conference 2023, starting from November 13-15 in Rovaniemi, Finland.