UNBC Set To Host Two International Conferences
UNBC Organizing Committee members of two upcoming conferences photo courtesy UNBC
Prince George, BC – Hundreds of delegates will converge on Prince George later this month, as the University of Northern BC hosts two major international conferences focues on the Arctic…
The 17th Annual Council Meeting of the University of the Arctic (UArctic) will run May 20th and 21st, followed by the 8th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS VIII) on May22nd through to the 26th.
UNBC's Northern Studies Program Coordinator, Gary Wilson, says the conferences highlight the local university's position as a leading centre for northern research.
UArctic is a cooperative network of northern universities, colleges and other organizations dedicated to research, the promotion of indigenous and local capacities, and sustainable development in the circumpolar North. It's made up of more than 130 members, spanning 24 times zones in the eight Arctic countries and beyond. "The University of the Arctic plays a critical role in the building of educational capacity in northern communities throughout the circumpolar north," says Wilson. "It also provides educational opportunities to students based at southern institutions to learn more about the issues and challenges facing northern and Arctic regions."
More than 450 delegates from 26 countries are expected to attend ICASS VIII. The theme is 'Northern Sustainabilities', with sessions examining topics like food and energy security in circumpolar north, climate change, health promotion, and resource development.
President of the International Arctic Social Sciences Association, UNBC geography professor, Dr Gail Fondahl, says the Arctic and Subarctic are experiencing profound transformations – culturally, socially, economically and environmentally. " Addressing these changes, whether through adaptation, mitigation, or enhancing the benefits of opportunities provided by such transformations, requires creative contributions from a range of social science disciplines."
Congress attendees will be speaking with students in several classes in School District 57 about the changing social and environmental landscapes in the Arctic/North during the conference.
Comments
Will Russia be allowed to attend? Harper pulled the Canadian contingent out of the Arctic conference in Russia last month over the Ukraine crisis and kicked out Russian academics from Canadian schools. Russia in turn refused to launch the Canadian Air Forces newest spy satellite.
IMO this is the problem with Harper inciting the coup in the Ukraine and the attacks on Russian areas of Ukraine with fascist mercenaries. We have other overlapping areas of concern and really when it comes to the Arctic Russia holds all the cards for real power projection. Harper in regards to the Arctic like in Ukraine is all talk and no action.
They mention “climate change”, now that’s the money maker.
Eagleone, seriously? The problems in Ukraine are Harper’s fault?? What are you smoking??
By the way, it’s “Ukraine”, not “the Ukraine”!!
Ukraine or the Ukraine it’s a foreign policy disaster for the West!!
Hart Guy: “Eagleone, seriously? The problems in Ukraine are Harper’s fault?? What are you smoking??”
And yet, the usual suspects are patting him on the back in the LNG thread. Don’t want to say “I told you so”, but…
Ya Hart guy, you read that right. I said the Ukraine, because its an amalgamation of many areas and ethnicity that have never been a real country, but for the last 30-years. Many parts of the Ukraine were parts of Turkish, Austrian, Polish, and Russian empires over the years in part cobbled together only recently in the last century as a fictional nation for political means by the Germans. Its not a real nation, but a collection of peoples united mostly by force, greed, and fear.
For a trouble maker like Harper it was a juvenile country ripe for the picking. Harper pushed the coup agenda from day one, he was the first world leader to go there to give legitimacy to the banksters and fascists that stole power through violence. He said nothing when the Keiv coup government threatened the Russian population by outlawing their language and culture… a move that can only be designed to start a civil war.
I don’t know Harper’s agenda… is it WW3, it almost seems that way… is it for NATO missile defense shields that can enable a successful first strike as Putin claims, I don’t know… is it to cut Russia off from their Black Sea ports, I don’t know… is it to lay claims for the oil and gas industry on new large finds in the area, its anyone’s guess.
All I know is Harper is willing to commit Canada to war with Russia over what ever his agenda is.
Harper allies have did everything possible to incite a civil war through ethnic hatred policies.
Harper allies are now attacking cities in the East with tanks, rocket propelled grenades, and foreign mercenary forces to try and prevent a vote on their future loyalties. Harper says nothing to try and moderate the violence and everything to try and escalate the violence. These are not Canadian values, but they may be the values of his hardest of hard core supporters, but I guess Hart Guy can speak to that?
Harper is a chicken hawk if there ever was one. Canada doesn’t need WW3 for what ever the Harper and Kiev agenda happens to be. It is one thing to enable a coup to remove an elected dictator in another country, but he has gone so far beyond that and Canada is a big loser now on the international front for being so involved in this disaster involving the peoples of the Ukraine.
If Harper had an ounce of integrity he would use his influence in the region to bridge the gaps of trust and enable a dialogue towards a political understanding between regions of vastly different ethnic peoples… to use a Canadian experience as a strength… but all we get is more incitement to war and silence to crimes committed by his ‘allies’.
One hopes that UNBC can be a bridge to that gap, by still including Russian representation at this arctic Summit. Maybe show the Russians that real Canadians know how to have constructive dialogue ruled by reason.
That is if Harper will even grant them visa’s to attend the conference.
Lets say hypothetically Harper sticks to his agenda and blocks Russian participation in the conference, then this becomes a real threat to Canada’s integrity in the North as we need constructive dialogue with the Russians whether it be disputed marine boarders we share with Russia, or any other host of Arctic issues from oil and gas development, to Arctic shipping routes, and potential environmental concerns.
Time Will Tell
Comments for this article are closed.