Ecologic Institute launched its 2012 Arctic Summer College, a virtual course and network aiming to strengthen Arctic communication and build a lasting, policy-oriented network of Arctic professionals.

The Arctic Summer College brought together a network of emerging Arctic leaders to share and discuss ideas. The 2012 Arctic Summer College Fellows represent an impressive group of professionals working in policy, academia, government, scientific research, journalism and the private sector. Participants from each year are encouraged to continue relationships with one another, as well as with participants from subsequent and earlier years.

Weekly seminars held from 9 July until 4 September 2012 focused on key Arctic thematic areas including environmental management, the marine environment, the human dimension, energy and resources, fisheries, transport, and diplomacy and governance. The discussions were led by expert speakers from Arctic institutions such as UNEP-Grid/Arendal, European Environment Agency, the University of Alaska, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat.

The expert speakers were:

• Dr. Alexander Shestakov, Director, WWF Global Arctic Programme
• Anders Backman, Manager Polar Operations / Ice Council Chairman, Viking Supply Ships
• Dr. Barry D. Gold, Program Director, Marine Conservation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
• Betsy B. Baker, Associate Professor, Vermont Law School; Senior Fellow for Oceans and Energy, Vermont Law School Institute for Energy and the Environment
• Erik Gant, Executive Secretary, Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples Secretariat
• Erik J. Molenaar, Senior Research Associate, Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea, Utrecht University; Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law of the University of Tromsø, Norway
• Heather A. Conley, Senior Fellow and Director of the Europe Program, Center for Strategic & International Studies
• Dr. Jean-Claude Gascard, Emeritus Research Director, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), University Pierre et Marie Curie
• Dr. Jeffrey Mazo, Research Fellow for Environmental Security and Science Policy and Managing Editor, Survival, International Institute for Strategic Studies
• John Crump, Senior Climate Change Advisor, UNEP/GRID-Arendal Polar Centre
• Dr. Lawson W. Brigham, Distinguished Professor of Geography & Arctic Policy, University of Alaska Fairbanks; Senior Fellow, Institute of the North
• Nikolaj Bock, Special Advisor on International Affairs, Executive Director's Office, European Environment Agency
• Dr. Olav Orheim, Former Director, Norwegian Polar Institute; Chairman of the Board, UNEP/GRID-Arendal
• Robert B. Carson, Fellow, Circumpolar Affairs, Queen's University School of Policy Studies
• Robert J. Blaauw, Senior Advisor Global Arctic Theme, Shell International Exploration and Production B.V.
• Sara French, Program Manager, Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program, Walter Duncan Gordon Foundation
• Scott Highleyman, Director, International Arctic Program, The Pew Environment Group
• Udloriak Hanson, Executive Director, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

Ecologic Institute is joined in convening the Arctic Summer College with institutional partners Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Embassy of Canada, Germany, and partner and sponsor WWF.