Last week at the Arctic Congress 2024, hosted in Bodø, Norway, AMF and UArctic co-organized a roundtable with a group of leaders in education, elected officials, and young people to discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with education and training in the north.
The roundtable took place on Friday, May 31st, and was attended by over 90 audience members. Jenn Spence, the Director of the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer’s Arctic Initiative, facilitated a conversation between five panelists about what needs to be considered in order to facilitate sustainable development through training and education in the Arctic.
REMOTENESS
Samuel Valkeapää, the Vice-Rector of Sámi Allaskuvla (the Sámi University of Applied Sciences), addressed the struggle of providing high-quality education with very few resources in remote communities. The Sámi University of Applied Sciences, Sámi Allaskuvla, was founded to meet the needs of the Sámi people “for higher education and research in order to safeguard and further develop the Sámi language, culture, land, and traditional ways of living.”
Valkeapää spoke about how important it is that we offer training and education in the domains that are deemed important by Indigenous and local people. The trades that are prioritized in different regions may be vastly different, and it is critical that we allow the people in the community to identify the domains that are most relevant to their needs.
Mayor Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, who has served as the mayor of Bodø since 2022 echoed this need. He referenced the nursing crisis that is unfolding in Bodø at the moment, wherein a lack of trained nurses has forced the municipality to hire nurses through expensive private contractors. He pointed out that it is not simply that we need more education in the Arctic, but rather that we need more education in specific competencies, like trades for instance. Offering these programs, and encouraging young people to pursue them will be critical for sustainable economic development in Arctic communities.
KEEPING PEOPLE IN THE ARCTIC
Hannah Sibler, a recent graduate of The George Washington University who has worked on research investigating housing as a framework for health and well-being, commented on the affordability crisis in some parts of the Arctic. Often, what keeps people from moving to the Arctic or from staying in the Arctic is not about where they want to be, but simply boils down to where they can afford to be. Housing, and infrastructure in general, is an important factor in expanding education in the Arctic, and retaining people in the region. Students need need affordable housing, healthcare, childcare, and transportation.
Frida Bak, a student at the University of Tromsø and a recent participant in the EU Arctic Youth Dialogues pointed out that young people in the Arctic want to stay in their communities and highlighted the importance of consulting young Arctic people in the development of the Arctic. She used the example of the policy recommendations developed at the EU Arctic Youth Dialogue, specifically their recommendations on ‘Youth-Inclusive Planning and Decision-making for the Arctic.’ By developing opportunities for young people to participate in conversations about Arctic development and governance, we incentivize, and allow young people to stay in the region.
PEDAGOGY IN THE ARCTIC
Ken Coates, the Program Chair of Indigenous Governance at Yukon University who joined the conversation virtually, added that affordability is not the only hurtle young people wishing to live in the Arctic must cross. He argued that we must rethink the way that we approach education in the Arctic and shift it away from an individual experience to a source of community development. Current education systems, specifically those in North America, are not set up to support economic development in communities – they are set up for the individual. Valkeapää highlighted this point by asking whether we even teach the right things. Perhaps education systems need to begin exploring and teaching about how people can build and thrive in communities.
Ambassador Amy Baker, who has served as the Canadian ambassador to Norway since 2023, summed up the conversation. She acknowledged all of the complexities associated with the conversation, and thanked the panelists for their valuable input. She said that she was inspired by the ideas that were generated through the conversation, and that she will will hold many of the takeaways closely throughout her work.
Developing meaningful education in the Arctic will be a critical tool towards sustainable economic development in the region. Focusing on the needs of Arctic communities, prioritizing Indigenous knowledge systems, developing good infrastructure, engaging youth, and shifting the goals of education from the individual to the community were all highlighted as critical steps towards meaningful and effective education in the Arctic.
From left to right: Hannah Sibler, Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, Frida Bak, and Samuel Valkeapää, Jenn Spence (moderator). Ken Coates is not pictured.
Arctic Mayors Forum would like to thank the wonderful panelists and moderator, all those who attended, the University of the Arctic for their partnership, and the Government of Canada, who made the workshop possible by funding the project through the Global Arctic Leadership Initiative.