SCOPE – Student-led Conference on Polar Education
… Excitement
… Engagement
Get ready for the first-ever student-led conference at 78° North in October 2021!
Having studied in the Arctic for a while, we students of the North all share this excitement and spirit to understand and most importantly work towards preservation of this scarce and dazzling environment, we find ourselves in.
Longyearbyen is uniquely placed in the High Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard and starting off with already being home to three different educational institutions. So far, there has been little exchange and cross-over between students of all these institutions.
In an effort to overcome these educational borders, SCOPE has been initiated by the bioCEED student representatives at UNIS, Christina Hess and Daniela Walch, as a pilot project that specifically aims to offer a place for exchange, learning, and inspiration.
– We initially got inspired by conferences and student-led formats from other institutions, such as the BISC – Bergen International Student Conference or the CEMUS student-led courses at Uppsala University, says co-initiator Daniela.
A series of differently formatted events (workshops, keynote speeches, brainstorming sessions, interactive panel talks and more) will be organized by a steering committee consisting of students from all participating institutions. As SCOPE is meant to take place in autumn 2021, first steps and certain critical measures have already been put into place, however the shape of the conference itself will be ultimately determined by the students involved in the planning process. SCOPE has been announced in the Learning Forum at UNIS.
– Great potential lies in taking ownership of the whole process of planning, undertaking and evaluating a big event like this, which is meant to have roughly 100 participants.
In order to make this event happen, the initiators of SCOPE seek financial and structural support over the course of the coming months. This is to ensure a low threshold for participation of what the initiators think might be an incredible learning-opportunity for Longyearbyen students and polar enthusiasts from dedicated partner institutions.