The 2021 Camden Conference focused on The Geopolitics of the Arctic. This is the third episode of our three-part series featuring Michael Bravo on Community and Governance in a Fractured World; Sara Olsvig on Greenland – the Challenges of Developing Self-Governance and Safe Communities; and Gunn-Britt Retter on The People of Eight Seasons: A Resilient Culture or a Future at Risk?
Michael Bravo
Professor, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Affiliate, Scott Polar Research Institute
Michael Bravo is University Senior Lecturer and Fellow of Downing College, University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). He is also Head of Circumpolar History and Public Policy Research at the Scott Polar Research Institute. Dr. Bravo’s most recent book, North Pole: Nature and Culture, spans five centuries of history and relates the role of scientific exploration in the development of the Arctic region. His Pan-Inuit Trails Atlas, based on traditional Inuit knowledge and maps drawn for visiting scientists, missionaries and travelers over centuries, shows the network of trails on land and water that Inuit peoples travelled from Alaska to Greenland.
In Arctic Geopolitics and Autonomy, Dr. Bravo explored how technologies have transformed the relationship between environment and politics for Inuit and other northern indigenous peoples. His topics include the effectiveness for Arctic communities of new green technologies in reducing dependence on hydrocarbons and building autonomy.
Dr. Bravo earned a B. Eng. in Telecommunications Engineering from Carleton University in Canada, and a M.Phil. and Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University
Sara Olsvig
Ph.D. Fellow at Ilisimatusarfik (University of Greenland)
Chairwoman, Greenland’s Human Rights Council and Member, Constitutional Commission of Greenland
Sara Olsvig is a Ph.D. Fellow at Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Greenland, located in the city of Nuuk. She is also the current chairwoman of Greenland’s Human Rights Council and an assigned member of the Constitutional Commission of Greenland. She served as a Member of the Parliament of Denmark and the Parliament of Greenland in the years 2011 to 2018 and has been leader of the political party Inuit Ataqatigiit. Ms. Olsvig was Vice Premier and Minister of Social Affairs, Families, Gender Equality and Justice in the Government of Greenland from 2016 to 2018. She was also the Chairperson of the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region. Ms. Olsvig holds a M.Sc. in Anthropology. She had previously worked as Executive Director for the Inuit Circumpolar Council Greenland and is now a delegate to the Council. She is Inuk and lives in Nuuk with her partner and their children.
Gunn-Britt Retter
Head of the Arctic and Environmental Unit, Saami Council
Former Member, Saami Parliament of Norway
Gunn-Britt Retter is Head of the Arctic and Environmental Unit of the Saami Council, which represents indigenous Saami organizations in Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden. She works on issues related to indigenous peoples and indigenous knowledge, including climate change, biodiversity, pollution, management of natural resources and language. Previously, she had worked on environmental issues at the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has participated in numerous senior-level Arctic Council and United Nations meetings on climate science, biodiversity and related issues.
Ms. Retter is a board member of the Sámi University of Applied Sciences and the International Sámi Film Institute (ISFI). She served for two terms in the Saami Parliament of Norway. Ms. Retter was born and raised in the coastal Saami community of Unjárga-Nesseby by Varangerfjord in northeastern Norway. She was trained as a teacher at Sámi University College (Guovdageaidnu - Kautokeino, Norway) and holds a M.A. in Bilingual Studies from the University of Wales.
Source: www.camdenconference.org