APECS had a strong presence at this year's Arctic Frontiers conference, held 2-6 February in Tromsø, Norway. APECS was visible through its partnership with the Arctic Frontiers Student Forum, speaking engagements of APECS members (related to their own areas of expertise), and sessions where APECS Executive Director Sarah Strand represented the organization.
Sarah served as a mentor for the Arctic Frontiers Student Forum and led a 1.5 hour workshop on Arctic governance and polar research coordination on Thursday, 5 February. The workshop concluded with a panel featuring Lemet Mihkkal Hætta, Sáttanuorat member (Sámi Youth Delegate program of the Saami Council) and political science student; Naima El Bani Altuna, Deputy Secretary at NAMMCO – North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission Secretariat; and Natascha Schmidt, senior scientist at NILU. Lemet is an alumnus of the 2025 Arctic Youth Dialogue program, held under the ubrella of the Youth Together for Arctic Futures project, and the 2025 Arctic Frontiers Student Forum. Other alumni from the Youth Together for Arctic Futures project attended and presented at Arctic Frontiers in various capacities, underscoring synergies between APECS' partner organizations and sustained engagement and impact of polar early career community members.
Above: participants and mentors of the Arctic Frontiers Student Forum 2026.
Sarah spoke in panels in two different sessions: Building What Outlives Us: Arctic Youth in Unison on Tuesday, 3 February, and Arctic Ocean: New Challenges, New Frontiers, and the Role of Science Diplomacy in Sustainable Cooperation on Wednesday, 4 February. She also attended a closed Fifth International Polar Year (IPY-5) roundtable of directors of polar institutions, where she provided brief updates on APECS activities related to IPY-5. The session Building What Outlives Us: Arctic Youth in Unison was organized by Troms County, the Kingdom of Denmark’s Chairship of the Arctic Council, and True North, and emphasized pathways toward coordinated and lasting youth influence in Arctic governance. The discussion also laid the foundation for the 2nd Arctic Youth Conference, to be held in Nuuk in early 2027, where APECS expects to host activities. The session Arctic Ocean: New Challenges, New Frontiers, and the Role of Science Diplomacy in Sustainable Cooperation was hosted by the Research Council of Norway and the French Institute in Norway, under the patronage of the Norwegian and the French National Commission for UNESCO. This session highlighted the importance of cross-sectoral collaborations and networks in supporting the best possible outcomes for Arctic marine ecosystems and governance.
Overall, APECS' participation at Arctic Frontiers 2025 demonstrated the organization's contributions across youth engagement, science-policy dialogue, and institutional coordination, reinforcing APECS' role in amplifying early career voices and advancing collaborative, youth-inclusive approaches to Arctic research and governance.
Above: panelists in the session Building What Outlives Us: Arctic Youth in Unison.
