Nordic Ambassadors visit UPEI on February 25
Nordic Heads of Missions representing Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland visited UPEI on Tuesday, February 25.
The Nordic Heads of Missions were H.E. Hlynur Guðjónsson, Ambassador of Iceland; H.E. Signe Burgstaller, Ambassador of Sweden; H.E. Nikolaj Harris, Ambassador of Denmark; H.E. Hanna-Leena Korteniemi, Ambassador of Finland; and Mr. Trygve Bendiksby, Chargé d’Affaires Norway.
The Heads of Missions have been working to expand the visibility of Nordic nations in Canada and to encourage closer partnerships on various fronts, including at the federal and provincial levels. As part of this initiative, the Nordic embassies arrange joint visits across Canada. These visits normally include meetings with the provincial governments, trade counterparts, and events or meetings together with universities.
Dr. Laurie Brinklow, Coordinator of the Master of Arts in Island Studies program at UPEI and Chair of the Institute of Island Studies Executive Committee, is Iceland’s Honorary Consul to Prince Edward Island. She led the Nordic team’s visit to the UPEI campus, which included a tour of Diagnostic Services at the Atlantic Veterinary College, which does aquaculture work with Nordic countries, and meetings with Dr. Wendy Rodgers, UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor; Dr. Greg Naterer, Vice-President, Academic and Research; Dr. Marva Sweeney-Nixon, Associate Vice-President Research and Dean of Graduate Studies; and Dr. Sharon Myers, Dean of Arts. They also enjoyed lunch with three exchange students attending UPEI from Sweden and Finland, and two UPEI students who are going to study in Norway next year.
The Heads of Missions, faculty members, and students also took part in an engaging and well-attended panel discussion titled Climate change and transatlantic security across the Global North. Participants learned about some of the wide-ranging impacts of climate change, clean technology, transatlantic security, peacekeeping, democratic transition, and other global issues important to the Nordic countries.
“I was excited to be part of the team welcoming this delegation of five Nordic ambassadors to campus. UPEI and Island Studies have had long-standing relationships with the Nordic countries through research projects, aquaculture knowledge mobilization, student mobility, and University of the Arctic initiatives,” said Brinklow. “This visit was a wonderful way to strengthen and build on those friendships. In today’s political climate, it’s more important than ever to be part of the conversation around global security, opening up the North, climate change and sea-level rise, and their impacts on Prince Edward Island and other islands.”
While on PEI, the Nordic team spent time at Government House and met with Premier Rob Lantz and several members of his cabinet on February 24. After their visit to UPEI, the group travelled to New Brunswick to continue their mission.
