US Special Representative for the Arctic Admiral Robert J. Papp Joins ACCEL Fellows for Youth in the Arctic in Reykjavik, Iceland

On October 31st, 2014, United States Special Representative for the Arctic Admiral Robert J. Papp spoke with young leaders from around the world at a breakout session titled “Youth in the Arctic” at the 2014 Arctic Circle conference (video). Admiral Papp engaged in a forty minute question and answer as well as fielded live questions from online participants via Twitter. Admiral Papp addressed issues ranging from engaging indigenous populations to Arctic security and the need for improved American ice-breaking capabilities.

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The session was moderated by Dr. Edvard Glücksman, Associate Research Fellow at the Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) at the University of Exeter. Dr Glücksman is a member of the Emerging Leaders in Energy and Environmental Policy Network (ELEEP) and a founder of the Arctic Climate Change Emerging Leaders Fellowship (ACCEL). A full press release highlighting Dr Glücksman’s role can be found here.

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Youth in the Arctic was the exclusive youth component of the broader Arctic Circle conference, the largest annual Arctic gathering, convening over 1,400 experts, policymakers, and business leaders from around the world. The session was a collaboration between the Youth Arctic Coalition, Reykjavik University, Barents Regional Youth Council, Ecologic Institute, Atlantic Council, ELEEP Network, and ACCEL. Youth in the Arctic was the capstone of the first installment of the six-month long ACCEL Fellowship. The event also included a series of outcome-oriented roundtable discussions among young leaders led by the ACCEL’s inaugural fellows Dayanita Ramesh and Eleonora Milazzo.

ACCEL is summer fellowship program for graduate level students and young professionals in North America and Europe that aims to train the next generation of Arctic Ambassadors. Fellows collaborate on a series of Arctic outreach and educational projects culminating in an excision to the Arctic combined with a high-impact event. For more information about the ACCEL program and the work of our fellows, please visit: https://accelfellowship.wordpress.com/arctic-101-videos/. The ACCEL program is an initiative of the ELEEP Network and is supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, European Union, and Allianz Foundation for North America.