Visit of the delegation of the University of Greenland and of the Greenland Representation to Iceland

This week, a delegation from the University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik) consisting of the University's Rector, Gitte Adler Reimer, Henriette Nolsøe Rosing, Managing Director, and Paul Erik Mathiasen, Technical Director, visited the University of Akureyri (UNAK). The delegation was joined by the Head of Greenland Representation to Iceland, Tove Søvndahl Gant, her husband Andreas, and Birta Jóhannesdóttir, secretary of Greenland Representation to Iceland. The visit was jointly organized by the University of Akureyri and Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network (IACN).

The purpose of the visit was to get to know the University of Akureyri’ s experience of distance and flexible learning and to map where the universities can work together in the field of teaching and research.

A co-operation agreement was signed between the universities, which aims to transfer the knowledge and experience that has been created at the University of Akureyri in distance learning.

"It is a clear policy at the University of Greenland to increase flexible study and we at the University of Akureyri are pleased to be approached for co-operation in this field," says Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, Rector of the University of Akureyri.

Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, and Gitte Adler Reimer.

Tove Søvndahl Gant, Gitte Adler Reimer and Eyjólfur Guðmundsson.

Co-operation in the field of research and the Arctic was also discussed. In addition to UNAk and IACN, the two delegations met and discussed with representatives of several organizations based in Akureyri and working on Arctic issues, including the Stefansson Arctic Institute, the Polar Law Institute,  the Nature and Research Centre Northwestern Iceland, the RIF research station, the Icelandic Tourism Research Centre. Arctic institutions in Akureyri are working and preparing for the several Arctic events scheduled ahead in Nuuk in the coming months where there are opportunities to strengthen that co-operation and start a new dialogue. Examples include research collaborations between Iceland and Greenland, the Arctic Circle Forum, and the UNLEASH-Innovation lab, all of which will take place in Nuuk in August.