The Arctic is governed from capitals far away—including Moscow, which oversees half of the region, and which is now locked in a geopolitical struggle with the Western capitals overseeing the other half. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended Arctic diplomacy, and one of the most important and fast-changing parts of our warming globe is fractured …
Category: Speaking
Keynote at Haarlem Model United Nations
Thank you very much to the Secretariat of the Haarlem Model United Nations (HMUN) at Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem in the Netherlands—and in particular to the two HMUN Secretaries General, who were outstanding participants in my MAC Bilbao 5 conference earlier this year—for inviting me to speak at HMUN today. I was very pleased to be …
Keynote at University of Nottingham Model United Nations
Many thanks to the University of Nottingham United Nations Society for inviting me to give a keynote talk at their Nottingham Model United Nations (NOTTSMUN) conference today. I’m proud to say that one of their Secretariat team participated in the second Norwich Model Arctic Council for University last year and, inspired by that experience, selected …
Presentation at 25th Arctic Science Summit Week
This past Tuesday, I took part in a session on ‘Educational innovation and pedagogy for the Anthropocene Arctic’ at the 25th Arctic Science Summit Week in Vienna, Austria, organised by the International Arctic Science Committee, the Austrian Polar Research Institute and the University of Vienna. Together with my colleague Dr Sennan Mattar from the Mary Robinson …
Lecture at Scottish Association for Marine Science
I mentioned in my wrap-up note on the first Scotland Model Arctic Council (SCOTMAC) that faculty at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), where the simulation was held in March 2022, seem to have found the experience just as inspiring as the participating students did. It was amazingly gratifying enough for me that my …
Presentation at 7th UK Arctic Science Conference
Yesterday, I took part in a session on ‘Innovation in Arctic education and public outreach’ at the Seventh UK Arctic Science Conference, organised by the UK Arctic Office, the Durham Arctic Research Centre and Durham University. I reported on the launch of the Scotland Model Arctic Council (SCOTMAC) for undergraduate students, which took place a …
Presentation at 3rd MUN Impact Global Summit
On Friday, Polar Aspect had the privilege of addressing youth from around the world attending the ‘E3 Summit’, MUN Impact‘s third global youth summit. Our presentation—delivered by Joshua Gray, an associate of Polar Aspect and member of our Online Model Arctic Council (OMAC) Secretariat—addressed the summit themes of ‘earth, economy, equity’ by focusing on Arctic …
Presentation at 10th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences
Last week, I spoke at the Tenth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences as part of a panel discussion on ‘Innovation and Pedagogy in Circumpolar Studies’. My presentation, entitled ‘Model Arctic Council for sustainable development‘, proposed that experiential learning through Model Arctic Council (MAC) — such as the Polar Aspect MACs that I design and run …
Presentation to M|A|S|E|R Cluster
This past Friday, I was very pleased to be able to introduce myself and Polar Aspect to the Materials | Art | Science | Environment | Research (M|A|S|E|R) Cluster at the Bath School of Art (BSoA). Established in December 2020 by Prof Mariele Neudecker, who served as Honorary Chair of my fifth Norwich Model Arctic …
Presentation at 3rd UArctic Congress
Yesterday I took part in a panel session on ‘Innovation and Pedagogy in Circumpolar Studies’ at the Third UArctic Congress. My presentation, entitled ‘Model Arctic Council for sustainable development‘, proposed that experiential learning through Model Arctic Council (MAC) — such as the Polar Aspect MACs that I design and run for schools and universities — …