Changes to the environment and climate of the Arctic are offering new opportunities for both competition and collaboration among the states on its periphery. Dynamism in the region will only increase in the coming decades, as water levels rise, gas and oil reserves are explored, and territorial claims are challenged. How do we successfully navigate the Arctic challenges of tomorrow?
Thorleif Thorleifsson, Norwegian arctic mariner, will assess the state of the actual physical environment in the Arctic and its impact on the strategic environment. He will talk about his 2010 record breaking voyage around the Arctic, and the challenges and environmental changes encountered along the way, as well as the Norwegian history of Arctic exploration and explorers of the past.
Environmental Counselor, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Mari Archer Sæther will speak briefly about environmental change and introduce Thorleifsson.
The lecture will be held in the Volvo Hall on the 2nd floor of Scandinavia House .
About Thorleif Thorleifsson:
Thorleif Thorleifsson is a mariner and an organizational developer. His ideas and perspectives are based on his own experiences from business, organizational development, submarine operations and sailing expeditions into the Arctic, North Atlantic, and Norwegian Sea.
In 2010 Thorleifsson and Børge Ousland became the first to sail around the Arctic in one, short season. A voyage through the Northern Sea route in Russia, the Northwest Passage in Canada and across the North Atlantic back to Norway. A race against time and in waters with drilling ice, increasing darkness and autumn gales. They succeeded due to emphasis on innovation, use of state‐of‐the-art communication technology, good teamwork and combinations of thorough preparation and improvisation.
About Mari Archer Sæther:
Mari Sæther is environment counselor at the Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. Mrs. Sæther has worked in the environment field for more than 20 years; in the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, the European Commission in Brussels and in postings for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has also worked on international trade issues for the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture. She has a M.Sc. from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.