The Arctic Summer College is a virtual campus for learning about the environment in the Arctic and exchanging ideas on how the world can protect the Arctic from negative impacts of human activities in the High North. The college focuses on climate change adaptation, natural resource management, biodiversity protection, environmental governance, and human health. The Arctic Summer College 2015 enabled participants to be better prepared to finding solutions and implementing these in social and political processes.

The 2015 Arctic Summer College built on the successful experience in the years from 2011 to 2014. The 20 Fellows of the Arctic Summer College participated in eight webinars with the following speakers:

• Professor Whitney Lackenbauer, University of Waterloo
  P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Ph.D., is a professor and chair of the department of history at St. Jerome's University in the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
• Julia L. Gourley, US Senior Arctic Official
  Julia Gourley is the Senior Arctic Official of the United States and is the U.S. representative to the Arctic Council. She handles the State Department's Arctic portfolio, covering the wide range of U.S. foreign policy interests in the Arctic.
• Coco Smits, Social Policy Consultant, Industry, Energy & Mining at Royal HaskoningDHV and Chair of Young Royal HaskoningDHV
  Coco Smits is a consultant at Royal HaskoningDHV where she is working on the social aspects of large industrial projects. Managing non-technical risks in the extractive industries is her key focus. Coco is an expert in the governance and social licence to operate of oil and gas activities, with a particular interest in the Arctic region.
• Farid Sharifi, M.Sc., MBA, Senior Renewable Energy Specialist at WWF-Canada
  Farid manages the Sustainable Energy Development initiative in the Canadian Arctic and also the renewable energy mapping project at Saint John River Watershed and the Bay of Fundy in Atlantic Canada.
• Mariano Arriaga, University of Waterloo
  Mariano is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Waterloo, focusing on renewable energy planning for remote communities in Canada.
• Susan Evans, M.Sc., Senior Specialist, Science Research and Innovation
  Susan leads WWF-Canada’s work on climate change adaptation and resilience.
• Monica Tennberg, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
  Monica Tennberg works as research professor, leading the sustainable development research group and the northern political economy team at the Arctic Centre since 2004.
• Michael Kingston, Partner, Marine Trade and Energy Group, DWF LLP, London, UK
  Michael Kingston, from Goleen, County Cork, Ireland is a solicitor in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland and is the current Lloyd’s List Global Maritime Lawyer of the Year for his contribution to safety of life at sea, particularly in the Polar regions in relation to risk and regulation as the Polar Code is being finalized. He is currently representing the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) on the IMO’s world delegation Correspondence Group in the final stages of the development of the ‘ice regime’ that will guide limitation for operation in ice.
• Kevin Harun, Arctic Program Director, Pacific Environment
  Since joining Pacific Environment in early 2013, Kevin Harun has quickly established his leadership in the coalition seeking to protect Arctic ecosystems from the harmful impacts of increased, unregulated shipping in the face of disappearing sea ice. Kevin has been instrumental in bringing strategic focus to member efforts, and he drives the implementation of advocacy campaigns targeting key national and international decision makers.
• Igor Shevchuk, Foreign Relations Officer, Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Science
  Igor Shevchuk has longstanding experience in the research and development field as a foreign relations officer at the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Science, Petrozavodsk (Russia). Since 2009, he has also been leading the nonprofit partnership "Centre for Problems of the North, Arctic and Cross-border Cooperation" (North-Centre) dealing with issues of sustainable territorial development, especially majoring on the cross-sector strategies and programmes.
• Andreas Østhagen, Researcher, Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies
  Andreas Østhagen is from Bodø in the Norwegian Arctic and currently works as a research fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS) in Oslo. He coordinates the program "Security and Defense in Northern Europe", whilst conducting research on Arctic security and maritime issues.
• Alexey Tsykarev, Chair-Rapporteur, United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
  Alexey Tsykarev has gone from being a member of the youth organization Nuori Karjala (Young Karelia) to heading the International Youth Association of Finno-Ugric Peoples, which includes 50 public organizations of Russia, Finland, Hungary and Estonia. In March 2013, he became a member of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, an advisory body for the United Nations Human Rights Council, in 2014 appointed as the vice-chair, and in July 2015 elected as the Chair-Rapporteur of the Expert Mechanism. In August 2013, he was appointed as the representative of the Republic of Karelia to the Barents Regional Youth Council for two years term. Mr. Tsykarev is a member of the Indigenous Peoples Council under the head of the Republic of Karelia. Mr. Tsykarev's interests include indigenous international affairs, indigenous rights, youth policies, media and the environment.
• Leena Heinämäki, PhD Research Fellow, Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
  Leena Heinämäki works as a PhD Research Fellow in the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland. Her research focus is indigenous peoples' rights, particularly their human right to culture and related right to participate in decision-making concerning them.

The 2015 ASC Fellows produced six papers and two blog posts.

Two Fellows presented their outstanding papers at the ASC breakout session during the Arctic Circle Assembly 2015 in October in Reykjavík, Iceland.