The University of the Arctic: From Vision to Reality

This paper outlines the origins of UArctic from idea and inception through its early days and launch, with observations on the politics of building circumpolar cooperation in Northern education. It then discusses the evolution of three key program areas that aimed to meet the new university’s professed goals of building human capacity and regional identity in the Circumpolar North through international education, namely, the undergraduate Circumpolar Studies Program, the student mobility north2north Program, and the Arctic Learning Environment. The final section of the paper offers some observations on the challenges that lie ahead for the future development of UArctic.