Ireland's 2024 Arctic Frontiers Emerging Leader
Since 2019, Embassy Oslo has been supporting an Irish participant at the Arctic Frontiers Emerging Leaders' Programme. The Programme provides a researcher with the opportunity to connect with other young experts on Arctic issues. This year's Emerging Leader is Leah Palmer, a Phd student at the University of Galway, who researches indigenous languages and people in the Arctic. Read more about Leah's experience below.
The Arctic is changing – right now. In order to create a liveable future; not just a survivable future; we need to break out of our bubbles, out of our echo-chambers, and be willing to share our perspectives, listen, and turn these conversations into meaningful and sustainable action.
This is my biggest takeaway from taking part in the 2024 Arctic Frontiers Emerging Arctic Leaders Program.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to take part in the 2024 Emerging Arctic Leaders program as a representative of Arctic researchers in Ireland. I would like to thank the Irish Embassy in Norway and the Irish Marine Institute for their generous funding, covering both program and travel costs, without which I could never have taken part. I especially want to thank the staff at the Marine Institute and Embassy for their continued support and encouragement before and during the trip. There is no question that this experience changed my life, perspectives on the Arctic, and my work, for the better.
Being the youngest candidate in the 2024 Emerging Arctic Leaders cohort, I struggled before the trip with feelings of imposter syndrome and anxiety. Nevertheless, I travelled alone from Ireland up into the Arctic circle in late January. Once I arrived in the first stop of our trip, Bodø, and met with the other Emerging Leaders and our mentors, my fears were quickly dispelled. I could not have asked for a more welcoming, talented, passionate, determined group of people to share this experience with.
In Bodø, we attended a variety of talks and presentations on the challenges and resiliences experienced in the region. We learned about the promotion of arts and culture in the Arctic in a talk about Bodø European City of Culture 2024, toured the search and rescue training simulation lab at Nord University, and learned about Bodø’s rich maritime history at Jektefartsmuseet; among many other things! The second stage of our trip took us to the Lofoten Islands, where we admired the stunning scenery from our traditional fishing cabins, and wrote, directed and produced two short films on the topics of Arctic development and the theme of Arctic Frontiers 2024: Global Actions- Arctic Reactions.
Finally arriving in Tromsø, we attended the Arctic Frontiers 2024 conference, a packed programme of interdisciplinary and multinational approaches to Arctic issues. My highlights of the conference programme included an insightful panel about perspectives of Indigenous women researchers hosted by fellow Emerging Leader Haliehana Stepetin, an engaging discussion about Sámi languages in education during the ‘Education and the Green Shift’ panel, and hearing the Norwegian Prime Minister talk about Arctic development. The conference also provided further opportunities for networking, which for me meant meeting the Irish ambassador to Norway, and taking part in hosting the Emerging Leaders reception where we met important Arctic stakeholders from across the world, and look back on everything we achieved during the packed week.
Undoubtedly, the experiences from this trip will stay with me for a lifetime. I want to give special thanks to the Irish Marine Institute and Irish Embassy in Norway, who provided the funding that made this trip possible for me. This trip taught me true adaptability, when the Emerging Leaders stuck together despite an unexpected 10 hour coach ride and thousands of flight and ferry cancellations in a historic storm. It served as a time to talk with people outside of my own narrow field of language and archive studies, and to address major questions inherent with living in our world today. But, more than anything, it introduced me to a network of inspiring young professionals living and working across the Arctic. For all these reasons, the trip was truly invaluable to me. I would love to see more Emerging Arctic Leaders from Ireland take part in future years and join our alumni network, which I am excited to explore. Thank you again to all the staff at the Irish Embassy in Norway and the Irish Marine Institute, who made this trip possible for me!
Leah Palmer
2024 Emerging Arctic Leader