The theme of the Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit Conference this year is climate change and the future generations. Organizers invite young people, decision-makers and researchers to a common, solution-oriented dialogue. The Conference will take place November 12th-13th in Rovaniemi, Finland.

The opening session of the conference brings the young
generation of the Arctic to the fore. What are their thoughts, fears, hopes and
ideas concerning climate change and living in the Arctic? The Finnish Minister of
the Environment and Climate Change Krista Mikkonen will
give the opening speech and participate in a discussion with active youth
participants form the different parts of the Arctic.

The
first Conference day also addresses decision-making concerning climate change. The
Conference debates whether it is possible to find consensus through international
climate negotiations, how radical measures should be applied, who should bear the
biggest responsibility and whom should the decision-makers listen to.

– Climate change is a challenge that we can and must confront at many
levels and layers. The conference discusses the different levels and perspectives of
decision-making and action such as indigenous, national, regional, local and NGO,
says Markku Heikkilä, one of the organizers from the
Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland.

He also
reminds how the recent UN Climate Summit had a strong focus on youth and how the
latest IPCC report highlighted the increasing speed of Arctic change.
–
In Rovaniemi conference, these two themes are connected, he says.

Second day of the conference consists of parallel sessions with research
presentations and panel discussions. Topics include, among others, climate change as
a human rights issue, youth well-being in Arctic towns and cities and security
aspects of climate change. The conference is an official side event of Finland’s
Presidency of the Council of the European Union and one of the panels takes a look
at the future of Finland’s and the EU’s Arctic policy.

The
registration for the conference is now open on the conference website www.rovaniemiarcticspirit.fi. The early bird
fee is available until 20 October 2019.

More
information:

Program and
registration: www.rovaniemiarcticspirit.fi

Twitter: @TheArcticSpirit
Facebook: @rovaniemiarcticspirit

#ArcticSpirit

Anne
Raja-Hanhela, Conference coordinator
Arctic Centre,
University of Lapland
anne.raja-hanhela(at)ulapland.fi, +358 40 039
1337

Markku Heikkilä, Head of Science
Communications
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
markku.heikkila(at)ulapland.fi, +358 40 484 4300