Arctic Circle (organization)

Arctic Circle is an organisation that was founded in 2013 by the former president of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, alongside Alice Rogoff from Alaska Dispatch and the former Greenlandic Premier, Kuupik Kleist. The Arctic Circle was announced on April 15 by Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson as he was attending a National Press Club luncheon in New York, because he wanted to present his vision of a new international assembly for the Arctic called “Arctic Circle”. He believed that an assembly like this would “strengthen the policymaking process by bringing together as many Arctic and international players as possible under one large tent”. Arctic Circle describes themselves as “[t]he largest network of international dialogue and cooperation on the future of the Arctic and our Planet. It is an open democratic platform with participation from governments, organizations, corporations, universities, think tanks, environmental associations, indigenous communities, concerned citizens, and others. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan. Every year, in October, the Arctic Circle Assembly takes place in Reykjavik, Iceland in Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center.