The 10th Circumpolar Agriculture Conference will take place in Rovaniemi 13 – 15 March 2019. The conference will address local agriculture and bioeconomy, northern local breeds, reindeer herding, and the effects of climate change on agriculture. The topics also include Arctic foods and natural products, food quality, food security, business opportunities and sustainability.

The Circumpolar Agriculture Conference will address
what agriculture means in different parts of the Arctic region, and discuss its
significance, challenges and opportunities. The conference will highlight new
thinking and local solutions.

– In recent years, local
foods, natural products and small-scale production have been on a rising trend
worldwide. We have seen this also in Finland, even though small-scale agriculture
and related product development is still marginal. In this conference, we want to
emphasize the potentials of local small-scale production, specialization and the
natural products sector in the Arctic by giving voice to both research and practical
examples, says the Conference Chair Päivi
Soppela.

The conference program has just
been published at www.ulapland.fi/cac2019. The Research
Director Mikko Peltonen from the
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will give the opening speech. On
the first day, keynote speaker David Natcher will
explain how agricultural technology has been applied in the northernmost regions of
Canada. On the second day, Margret Geirsdottir from
Iceland will tell how a research institute can support product research and
development in companies. Lena Maria Nilsson will
highlight the views of indigenous peoples and present examples of food security and
its outlook in northern Sweden.

The Circumpolar Agriculture
Conference is one of the events organized during the Finnish Chairmanship of the
Arctic Council. The organisation behind this triennial research conference is the
Circumpolar Agricultural Association, which is currently chaired by Finland. The
local organiser is the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland in cooperation
with Natural Resources Institute Finland and several local institutions. About 150
participants from all over the Arctic are expected to attend the event.

Change 4.3.2019: The opening speech will be given by
Mikko Peltonen, not the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari
Leppä.

For more information:

Event website: www.ulapland.fi/cac2019
Facebook
Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2069668989966001/
#PolarAgri

Päivi Soppela
Docent, Senior
Scientist/ Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
Chair / Circumpolar
Agricultural Association
Tel. +358 40 013 8805,
paivi.soppela(at)ulapland.fi

Paula Tulppo
Conference Secretary / Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
Tel. +358 40
484 4379, paula.tulppo(at)ulapland.fi

LaY/AK/JW&PS