News

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Italy has unveiled its new national strategy for the Arctic, reinforcing its long-term engagement in the rapidly changing High North and setting out priorities for cooperation, sustainability, security, and research in the region.

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The Call for Session Proposals for the 2026 Arctic Circle Assembly is now open. The Arctic Circle Assembly 2026 will be held 8–10 October 2026 at the Harpa Conference Center in Reykjavík, Iceland, bringing together international decision-makers, experts, and Arctic stakeholders from around the world.

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After two consecutive years of severe disruption, Iceland’s capelin fishery is heading into a markedly stronger season in 2025/2026. New results from extensive winter surveys conducted in January 2026 indicate a significantly larger capelin stock than initially expected, paving the way for a revitalized fishing season with substantial economic and social impact.

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As the few weeks into 2026 have already shown, we are at a crossroads in humanity’s history, while changes in the global climate system increasingly supervene those in human systems. On the follow-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém (COP30), held in November 2025, we must reflect on what COP30 represented for climate multilateralism and for broader global governance at a historical moment of phase transitions – in geopolitics, societies, economies, finance, cultures, technology, and information systems.

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Arctic sea ice follows a strong seasonal cycle, reaching its annual maximum toward the end of winter and its minimum at the end of summer. Newly updated maps in the Arctic Portal map gallery now show the maximum sea-ice extent in February 2025 and the minimum extent in September 2025, providing an up-to-date view of sea-ice conditions in the Arctic.

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The High North Center for Business and Governance at Nord University is now accepting nominations for the prestigious High North Hero Award 2026.

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The Arctic Yearbook is calling for abstracts for its 2026 volume. This year’s theme is “Arctic Intelligence: Data, Knowledge Systems, and Self-Government”.

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With the incredible aurora visible lately in Iceland, it is an honor for the Iceland Research Institute of Space Science along with Arctic Portal to host a panel discussion with the UVSQ-Sat NG research team from Université de Versailles, France on Thursday the 15th January in Reykjavík, Iceland.

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Indigenous languages are a cornerstone of Arctic cultures, carrying knowledge, history, and relationships with the land that have been shaped over thousands of years. Across the Arctic, many of these languages now face serious challenges as social, environmental, and technological changes accelerate. Despite global challenges, there are still efforts that have continued, demonstrating a sustained commitment to ensuring that Arctic Indigenous languages remain accessible to future generations.

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The History of this Big Arctic Island and Why the United States Has Long Taken an Interest. When former U.S. President Donald Trump suggested in 2019 that the United States might want to “buy” Greenland, the idea was widely met with laughter, disbelief, and memes. Greenland’s leaders called the proposal absurd, Denmark firmly rejected it, and the episode seemed to fade into political trivia.

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The latest issue of the international Arctic journal Inter-Nord (Issue 24) has recently been published online by the Malaurie Institute of Arctic Research Monaco-UVSQ (MIARCTIC). The new issue places a special focus on Alaska, presenting a rich blend of scientific research, cultural perspectives, interviews, and artistic contributions.

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On 21 December, the North and the Arctic reached the deepest point of annual darkness. The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year, a moment when the sun barely lifts itself above the horizon, and in some parts of the country, not at all. Yet in Iceland, the solstice is less about darkness than about turning points. It is the quiet promise that the light will return.

B.C. Court of Appeal Confirms UNDRIP Has Immediate Legal Effect in Landmark Indigenous Rights Ruling
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In a landmark decision with far-reaching implications for Indigenous rights and resource development in Canada, the British Columbia Court of Appeal has ruled that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) forms part of British Columbia and Canadian law and carries immediate legal effect.

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A major step forward for the global polar research community has been achieved with the official launch of the Registry of Polar Observing Networks (RoPON), a new online platform designed to make information about high-latitude environmental observing systems significantly more findable, accessible, and interoperable. RoPON serves as a comprehensive catalog of systems and related organizations that coordinate or track observing activities and infrastructure across the Arctic, Antarctic and Southern Ocean regions.
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