More than half of the participants were under 40.
High North Dialogue is the High North Center’s annual Arctic conference, bringing together politicians, researchers, business leaders and students to debate what is happening in the north.
This year it was held April 22-23 at the Radisson Blu in Bodø, with a «brewinar» at Bådin brewery the evening before. Among those who participated at the local brewery Bådin was Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
The conference itself was divided into four main panels: governance, business, resilience and people. Acting Rector Levi Gårseth-Nesbakk and High North Center Director Andreas Raspotnik welcomed attendees on Wednesday morning, before Barth Eide officially opened the conference with a keynote. Dean Gry Alsos at the Business School participated in the closing panel on Thursday.
– We are incredibly pleased with this year’s conference. The programme maintained a high level, and there were good discussions both in the room and during breaks, says Director of the High North Center, Andreas Raspotnik.
Pubinar: Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, Bodø Mayor Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, Regional Director Siv Dagny Aasvik from Offshore Norway, and Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, Gjert Lage Dyndal. Photo by Maria Filiushina / Kontrafei.
Mellemvik named this year’s High North Hero
One of the highlights came Thursday afternoon, with the presentation of the High North Hero Award 2026. The award goes each year to a person or organisation that has made a significant contribution to the Arctic, and this year it was awarded to Frode Mellemvik.
Jury chair Anu Fredrikson from Arctic Frontiers highlighted everything Mellemvik has done to build academic communities and international networks in the north. He was part of founding the High North Center in 2007 and led the work that laid the foundation for the University of Nordland.
– I was very surprised, and I’m still a bit surprised, Mellemvik told High North News afterwards.
Frode Mellemvik received the High North Hero Award 2026 from jury chair Anu Fredrikson, Director of Arctic Frontiers. Photo by Markus J. Thonhaugen / High North Center.
Icelanders took the entrepreneurship prize
The High North Hero was not the only one to go home with an award.
On Wednesday, the winner of High North Young Entrepreneur was announced, an international pitch competition for young entrepreneurs with ideas connected to the Arctic. Of 23 applicants, three finalists were invited to Bodø to pitch live on stage.
Icelandic Hringvarmi came out on top with an idea to turn data centres into food producers. The company captures waste heat in converted containers and grows food in them, as a response to the fact that Iceland imports 80 percent of its fresh vegetables.
Norwegian SenSea took second place with sensors designed to prevent farmed fish from escaping, while Icelandic Araxni took third place with their biotechnological spider silk. The three finalists shared a total of 70,000 kroner in prize money.
The three finalists in High North Young Entrepreneur pitched on stage last Wednesday. Icelandic Hringvarmi took first place. Photo by Maria Filiushina / Kontrafei.
Students painted three visions of the future
Where the entrepreneurs focused on solutions for today, the HND Scenarios session was about the Arctic in 2050. This is a programme where students at the Business School spend a semester developing future scenarios for the region.
This year, 43 students from 13 countries participated, and the winning team got to present from the stage. They presented three very different versions of the Arctic, each with its own Netflix-style video trailer.
– All the groups delivered strong work, and it was difficult to name a winner. But one team stood out with particularly clear analysis, strategic insight and creativity, says Associate Professor Elena Dybtsyna-Olsen at the High North Center.
The winning team consisted of Josefine Maximiliane Boeckeluehr, Vera Gulbrandsen, Monika Ivanauskaite, Angelica Jeanet Skarding Remen and Wenxin Wang.
The winning team in HND Scenarios presented their future visions for the Arctic in 2050. Photo by Markus J. Thonhaugen / High North Center.
Side events and Academy
Running alongside the conference was the HND Academy, a dedicated programme where students and young professionals from around the world come to Bodø for a week of teaching and fieldwork on the Arctic.
Around the main conference programme, 13 side events were also held, organised by partners and research communities.
That everything ran smoothly is in no small part thanks to the volunteers. Students from Nord and other young people handled registration and everything else that needed to be in place, welcoming people with a smile from the moment they walked through the door.
Volunteers welcomed participants at registration with a smile. Photo by Maria Filiushina / Kontrafei.
Photo galleries from the conference: