ARCTIC EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2025
BY OLE KRISTIAN BJERKEMO, HANS KRISTIAN MADSEN AND NINA ÅGREN
The Norwegian Chairship of the Arctic Council organized the inaugural Arctic Emergency Management Conference (AEMC) in Bodø, Northern Norway, March 18-20. The conference was part of the official program of the Norwegian Chairship of the Arctic Council (2023 to 2025) and featured a robust program with a dedicated section on Arctic wildland fire prevention, preparedness and response.
The Arctic Emergency Management Conference was one of the first international conferences dedicated to a broad view of Arctic emergency management. There have been conferences covering different thematic areas of Arctic emergency response arranged by multiple stakeholders, but no space for a comprehensive venue dedicated to bringing together various sectors of Arctic emergency management landscape, so Norway took the initiative to arrange this event during its Chairship of the Council. The conference provided a platform for discussions, information exchange and advancing work on emergency management in the region. The program highlighted the importance and interconnectedness of different aspects of emergency prevention, preparedness and response in the Arctic.
The Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) Working Group of the Arctic Council, also under the leadership of Norway, was assigned to lead the conference program planning and organization in cooperation with Nord University as the local partner. The conference was held at Nord University campus, consisting of three full days, beginning with a plenary day setting the scene followed by two days of thematic parallel sessions. The conference gathered more than 200 participants, plus more than 130 people registered to follow the online streaming; this ensured a mix of varied backgrounds and areas of expertise providing opportunities for cross-cutting discussions and networking. The audience was a unique combination of subject-matter experts, public-sector officials, knowledge holders, researchers, practitioners, students and industry representatives. The conference program also included an academic poster exhibition organized by Nord University, and an exhibition space for organizations and industry relevant to the AEMC topics.
Emergencies in the Arctic are a growing concern, and the region faces unique circumstances such as vast distances, scarce infrastructure and resources, and sometimes challenging environment and weather that affect and complicate emergency preparedness and response. Further, climate change and emerging risks in the region add to the complexity and frequency of possible incidents and disasters. As Arctic inhabitants, particularly Indigenous Peoples, face the effects and risks posed by the changing environment, better understanding, capacity building and cooperation on all levels from local to global must be strengthened. Community safety and preparedness, as well as social resilience, are essential parts of prevention of emergencies, and enhanced cooperation is needed for acknowledging the hazards and informed decision making and actions. Changing environment, besides exacerbating natural hazards, may lead to increased activities, increasing risks in the region. Prevention and preparedness, as well as knowledge-based response in emergencies contribute to both safeguarding the sensitive environment and protecting lives, livelihoods and cultures.
WILDLAND FIRES IN THE ARCTIC
The AEMC program covered multiple thematic areas from marine environmental response to search and rescue, and radiation-related preparedness to health preparedness and community perspectives, while wildland fires were one of the main focus areas on the conference program. According to the objectives of the conference, a variety of wildland-fire related topics from different angles were covered during the three days.
The Norwegian Chairship of the Arctic Council launched a Wildland Fire Initiative (WFI) for 2023 to 2025, co-chaired by Norway and Gwich’in Council International, to elevate the topic in Arctic and global discussions. The initiative highlights Arctic Council work related to wildland fires and encourages information exchange and capacity building. A concluding discussion of the WFI, between the co-chairs, was arranged during the plenary day of the conference for a full audience, recapping the developments over the past years, and providing reflections of the achievements of the initiative.
During the following two days, stories from Sweden, Northern Europe, and the Nordic countries about past and potential future fires, together with the accounts of the devastating fires in Canada in the summer of 2023 –which forced the entire city of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories to evacuate – set the scene. The program aimed to give space for stories shared and for the knowledge experienced and brought forward the dramatic risk picture and challenges. Wildland fires threaten the Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ ways of life and raise serious concerns for the future.
As a summary of the program, the following three key points were noted by the wildland fire program leads.
1. Wildland fires create crisis situations that consist of a host of different perspectives, whether it be that of individual, local community, the regional and national entities or authorities, or international.
To understand the nature of wildland and forest fires we need to approach all the identified challenges inclusively; this can be done through lessons learned – be it planning, prevention, mitigation, preparedness, or response. Research on what comes next, what types of plans need to be prepared, and how future impacts of wildland fires should be mitigated, is crucial. The Arctic climate and the changes of the climate play an active role in the development of wildland and forest fire behavior and the threat they pose. Extended fire seasons and their impacts, for example, on emissions and air quality create risks not only to local communities and the people in the Arctic, but globally as well.
2. The tools used in planning and prediction, such as weather forecasting, climate surveillance, and land management practices, need to be adapted to prepare for future challenges.
Data-heavy services need to transform the data gathered and received and the knowledge brought forward into applications that are practical to use in planning, preparing and learning how to react and respond.
3. In addition to risks and hazards that are a part of major wildland fires threatening communities and urban areas, such as risk to lives or loss of infrastructure, health effects of fires should also be in focus.
The massive fires during 2023 season in Canada severely impacted people’s ways of life, causing mental strain and fear for their families, income, friends, pets, and homes. These health effects are relevant for the planning of upcoming crises simply to be able to be better prepared next time and to plan for adequate measures. From the presentations, one key takeaway was the importance of acknowledging that the consequences of wildland fires will have different impacts on different people and communities.
The wildland fire program of the AEMC highlighted the unique combination of stories, Indigenous knowledge, subject matter expertise, state-of-the-art research, planning, and practices, and provided an overview that sheds light on the complexities and far-reaching impacts the wildland fires in the Arctic have, not only locally but also globally.
