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The 5th session of the 6th annual Arctic Futures Symposium was organised by the Nordic Atlantic Cooperation (NORA). The session focused on inadequate broadband infrastructure in the North American Arctic, as well as some unique and innovative new IT-related companies that have been established in the West Nordic Region of the Arctic. The panel discussion was led by Kate Sanderson, Head of the Faroese Mission to the European Union, and included contributions from the following people as well as two mini-documentaries:- Tara MacLean Sweeney (Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Executive Vice President of External Affairs and Chair of the Arctic Economic Council)- Mini-documentary about Highsoft- Søren Halling (Senior Software Architect & Partner at E7)- Olavur Ellefsen (IT entrepreneur and Founder of Tökni)- Mini-documentary about Azurafiles- Oana Spinu (Executive Director of Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation)The session took place the morning of Wednesday 18 November 2015 at the Residence Palace in Brussels.

The 4th session of the 6th annual Arctic Futures Symposium focused innovating solutions in energy and industry in the Arctic. Led by Runa Haug Khoury, Senior Adviser on Energy and Climate at the Bellona Foundation, the panel looked at some of the latest innovative solutions in the energy and other industries from different regions in the Arctic. Contributors to the panel included:- Morten Karlsen (Manager for the Arctic Technology Program at Statoil)- Hege Berg Thurmann (Director of Arctic Group at DNVGL)- Stephen Mooney (Director of Cold Climate Innovation at the Yukon Research Centre)- Salve Dahle (Director of Akvaplan-niva)- Stein Matheisen (Cheif Operating Officer of Varanger Kraft)- Eirik Sivertsen (Member of the Norwegian Parliament and First Vice Chair of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communication)The session took place in the late afternoon of Tuesday 17 November 2015 at the Residence Palace in Brussels. 

The 6th session of the 6th Arctic Futures Symposium focused on Arctic Council Observers. Following an introduction from Sebastian Knecht from the Free University of Berlin, Dr. Kathrin Keil (Project Scientist at IASS Potsdam and European Director of the Arctic Institute) led two successive panel discussions examining the role of Arctic Council observer states and organisations - i.e., what the observers can get from Arctic Council, and what the Arctic Council can get from the observers.The first panel included interventions from:- Susan Harper (Director-General and Senior Arctic Official at Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada)- Boris Iarochevitch (Head of Eastern Partnership, Regional Cooperation and OSCE Division at the European External Action Service)- Gabriele Altana (Italian Senior Arctic Official)- Rod Downie (Polar Programme Manager, WWF-UK)The second panel included:-Árni Þór Sigurðsson (Icelandic Ambassador to the Arctic Council)- Henry Burgess (Deputy Head of the Polar Regions Department, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office)- Prof. Yang Jian (Professor and Vice President of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies)The session took place in the early afternoon of Wednesday 18 November at the Residence Palace in Brussels.

(ENG) IPF Press Conference - 20th of August 2015 - Residence Palace - Brussels

Geophysical Center of Dourbes, Belgium

Nicolas Bergeot from the Royal Observatory of Belgium talks about the interesting research on ice mass balance and Earth’s geomagnetic field he and his colleagues are carrying out at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station.