2021
CAMDEN CONFERENCE
THE GEOPOLITICS OF THE ARCTIC: A REGION IN PERIL
February 20 - 21, 2021 | Camden, ME
- 10
Days
2022 CONFERENCE
THE GEOPOLITICS OF THE ARCTIC: A REGION IN PERIL
February 20 – 21, 2021
The 2021 Camden Conference will explore the Arctic, one of the world’s least-known regions. The Arctic already is undergoing dramatic, irreversible changes traceable to global warming, and as these changes impact the pace of climate change, they forewarn of the challenges ahead for human, animal and plant habitats in this and other regions.
We will examine how this transformation of the Arctic is creating a new arena for global power and competition. With the retreating ice mass will come new opportunities to pursue exploration and extraction of vast resources. Will there be unregulated competition, or cooperation among governments and industries? What kinds of security challenges will come with ice-free borders? The territories of eight nations extend into the Arctic, but others —especially China— will assert rights of access and passage. Open waters will make shipping between Pacific and Atlantic ports much cheaper. What could all this mean for Maine with its accessible northern ports, maritime industry, and vulnerable location on a rising ocean?
Please plan to join us on this voyage into the future of global affairs in the Arctic and our planet.
JOIN US FOR THE 34TH ANNUAL CAMDEN CONFERENCE
SPEAKERS
Keynote Speaker
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson served as President of Iceland for twenty years, 1996-2016; he was elected five times in nationwide elections. Previously, he was Minister of Finance, Member of Parliament, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the first Professor of Political Science at the University of Iceland.
He now serves as Chairman of the Arctic Circle, which he founded in 2013 with various Arctic partners. The Arctic Circle Assembly held in Iceland every October has become the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. The Arctic Circle also organizes specialized Forums in other countries; so far, in Asia, Europe, and North America.
For decades, President Grímsson has been an active participant in the global climate dialogue and during his Presidency and in recent years initiated and promoted clean energy projects in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the United States and the Americas, especially using Icelandic achievements and technologies as a model. Cooperation with Sinopec has led to the largest geothermal projects in the world, building clean energy urban heating systems in a multitude of Chinese cities. He was the Chairman of a commission established by IRENA on the new geopolitics emerging from global renewable energy transformation. President Grímsson served on the Advisory Board of Sustainable Energy for All, created by the United Nations and the World Bank.
In addition to devoting his postpresidential efforts to the three areas of climate, the Arctic and clean energy, President Grímsson is also involved in international cooperation on the oceans and the evolution of sustainable use of marine resources. He has received many international awards, including the Nehru Award for International Understanding, presented to him by the President of India.
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson served as President of Iceland for twenty years, 1996-2016; he was elected five times in nationwide elections. Previously, he was Minister of Finance, Member of Parliament, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the first Professor of Political Science at the University of Iceland.
He now serves as Chairman of the Arctic Circle, which he founded in 2013 with various Arctic partners. The Arctic Circle Assembly held in Iceland every October has become the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. The Arctic Circle also organizes specialized Forums in other countries; so far, in Asia, Europe, and North America.
For decades, President Grímsson has been an active participant in the global climate dialogue and during his Presidency and in recent years initiated and promoted clean energy projects in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the United States and the Americas, especially using Icelandic achievements and technologies as a model. Cooperation with Sinopec has led to the largest geothermal projects in the world, building clean energy urban heating systems in a multitude of Chinese cities. He was the Chairman of a commission established by IRENA on the new geopolitics emerging from global renewable energy transformation. President Grímsson served on the Advisory Board of Sustainable Energy for All, created by the United Nations and the World Bank.
In addition to devoting his postpresidential efforts to the three areas of climate, the Arctic and clean energy, President Grímsson is also involved in international cooperation on the oceans and the evolution of sustainable use of marine resources. He has received many international awards, including the Nehru Award for International Understanding, presented to him by the President of India.
Moderator
David Brancaccio
David Brancaccio is host and senior editor of American Public Media’s Marketplace Morning Report. He anchored the award-winning public television news program NOW on PBS until 2010. His reporting has focused on the future of the economy, regulation of financial markets, the role of technology in labor markets, human rights, the environment, and social enterprises.
David’s work has earned some of the highest honors in broadcast journalism, including the Peabody, the Columbia-duPont, the Emmy, and the Walter Cronkite awards. His feature-length documentary film about economic alternatives entitled Fixing the Future was released in theaters nationwide in 2012 and is now available from Netflix, iTunes, and on-demand cable television.
He is author of a book about Americans applying their personal values to their money, entitled Squandering Aimlessly. David has a BA from Wesleyan
University and an MA in journalism from Stanford University. He is married to Mary Brancaccio, a poet and educator. He grew up in Waterville, Maine and also attended schools in Madagascar, Ghana, and Italy. His enjoys public speaking, moderating, bicycling and photography.
AGENDA
THIS SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Saturday February 20, 2021
Saturday Morning: 9:30AM – 12:15AM (EST)
- Olafur Ragnar Grimsson
- Paul Mayewski
- Frances Ulmer
- Vidar Helgesen
- Gail Whiteman
Saturday Afternoon: 1:15PM – 2:30PM (EST)
- Michael Bravo
- Gunn-Britt Retter
- Sara Olsvig
Sunday February 21, 2021
Sunday Morning: 9:30AM – 12PM (EST)
- Thomas Nilsen
- Sergei Medvedev
- David Balton
- Panel Discussion with all Speakers
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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
The Camden Conference invites teachers and students to attend the 34th annual Camden Conference, THE GEOPOLITICS OF THE ARCTIC: A REGION IN PERIL, February 20 – 21, 2021 in Camden, Maine.
The 2021 Conference will be presented online. Please check back for information regarding student access to the Conference.
The Camden Conference is approved for 1.5 Continuing Education Units for teachers!
2020 High School Essay Contest winners HERE
2020 College/University Essay Contest winners HERE
TESTIMONIALS
The weekend couldn't have been better planned or managed. What a rich and charming experience it was.
….the speakers were all first-rate and were all lovely individuals, and Indira Lakshmanan was everything you could ask for in a moderator. The venue, the peripheral events, the flow of the programming, the questions we got from the audience – all of it was a delight. I think the format, especially, is something I might want to draw on for other conferences I'm involved in… In short, I've been to many, many conferences as this certainly rates as among the very best.
What a phenomenal and timely program. Every speaker and every panel hit it out of the park. While we were reviewing how much my wife and I learned over the weekend, I realized that the speakers themselves very likely learned or developed new ideas themselves. And since they have a far larger impact on the events of the day, their experience from the weekend may have even more value than ours. Thank you to the Camden Conference. Five stars to the Camden Conference organization.
I was impressed by the skills, background and range of speakers … I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend such a conference.
I found this year’s Camden Conference to be absolutely amazing. For me, it was … one continuous increasingly gratifying experience from beginning to end. The panel members were all extremely knowledgeable in their areas of expertise. They were articulate and they all were extremely insightful. They truly were committed to helping all of us become better informed about this chaotic world we live in. The panel represented such a wonderful degree of diversity. More importantly is the fact that such diversity could have differing opinions and find common ground.
I found this the most relevant and meaningful Conference I’ve attended (and I’ve attended a lot). A wonderful, stimulating event in mid-winter Maine. I plan to attend the Conference annually.” Conference attendee
“The audience was very engaged, the questions were excellent, and it was very stimulating to hear people with diverse opinions debate with each other.
Camden is the next Davos!
Thank you again for inviting me to the Camden Conference, which was truly a wonderful experience. As I have told colleagues and friends everywhere, it was one of the best organized and best attended conferences I have ever spoken at. It was also, even more importantly, one of the most interesting. What a great cast of speakers. Please call upon me again if you think I will fit the topic of a future conference.
The conference, in my opinion was as good as I could hope for. It was wonderful. Such a terrific and credentialed and scholarly faculty. It was tremendous. And I learned a huge amount. I might not be so stupid when I hear talk about immigration and consider inserting my “two cents worth” - Thank you for a wonderful educational experience. Learning never hurts
…The Camden Conference just might be the best conference of its type in the United States.
Thanks To our 2020 Sponsors
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