This project is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers through the Nordic Arctic Program (NAPA) and aims to ensure ‘made-in-Arctic’ solutions to ongoing geopolitical, social, and environmental challenges that face Arctic communities. By developing mechanisms for consultation and inclusion of local and municipal voices in Arctic policy development and implementation, this project makes sure that local and community perspectives are included in all levels of Arctic policy.
Mayors and community leaders sit at the centre of achieving sustainable development goals – while creation of policy and associated regulations takes place in capitals, it is local authorities that have varying responsibilities for implementation. What is clear is that residents, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, of Arctic cities, towns and villages are the ones
impacted by the delivery/non-delivery of services. In this regard, leaders at the community and municipal level have a special duty to ensure that the needs of their citizens are being met.
This project is geared to building and strengthening the collaboration between the Arctic Mayors’ Forum, the Arctic Council, and the Nordic Council of Ministers while simultaneously supporting AMF is increasing both its membership and its internal capacity. Through this project, AMF has been devoted resources to identifying gaps in exising projects, and working with members and international partners to find innovative and meaningful ways to increase our reach and impact.
Developing Consultation Mechanisms
This project goal was specifically about increasing the formal collaborations between the AMF and the Arctic Council to ensure that local/community issues are included in Chairship priorities on an ongoing basis. Aligning priorities between these bodies to prioritize the needs of Indigenous Peoples and local Arctic residents is essential to increasing the resilience of Arctic communities
Through regular meetings and consultations AMF has been able to advocate for their membership and include their perspectives in the priorities of the Kingdom of Denmark Chairship of the Arctic Council. Further collaboration between AMF and both the Sustainable Development Working Group and the Emergency Preparedness and Response working group highlight that having high-level consultation leads to enhanced collaboration in the planning and delivery of projects and activities.
Hannah Chenok, a Public Policy candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School, a Belfer Young Leader Student Fellow, and a John F. Kennedy Fellow produced a report about collaboration between the Northern Council of Ministers and the Arctic Mayors’ Forum as her capstone project. She performed a document analysis, and a series of interviews with both AMF members and staff from the NCM Secretariat in order to detail historic and current engagement between the two bodies. Her report includes a a list of targeted recommendations and a roadmap for how AMF can strategically engage NCM in the future.
Read the full report by Hannah Chenok below!
Supporting the Greenlandic Chairship of AMF
One of the goals of this project is to support the the transition and success of the Greenlandic Chairhsip of AMF from 2025-27. A general assembly meeting, hosted in Nuuk in the summer of 2025 helped Mayor Olsen from Sermersooq launch her Chairship and work with all members to establish priorities for the Forum. Support from NAPA has allowed the Arctic Mayors’ Forum Secretariat to meet regularly with Mayor Olsen and her team to ensure that all AMF activities are aligned with the priorities of our communities, and to ensure that member communities are continuously informed about the work of the Secretariat.
Increasing AMF Membership and Capacity
Finally, this project helps the Arctic Mayors’ Forum increase their membership as well as their capacity, allowing them to engage with mayors non an ongoing basis. Increasing our membership is about more than just numbers; it is primarily about representation. For AMF to represent Arctic people, we must have members from across the entire Arctic, which includes having representation from small and Indigenous communities. Building these relationships and establishing trust takes time and capacity, but is an essential component of our work.
Photo credit: Tony Devlin for the Enhancing Northern Connectivity project, funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers with the generous support and co-funding of our project partners.