Re-Experience High North Dialogue 2023

April 18 – 21, 2023, the High North Center put on the second largest international conference in Northern Norway. High North Dialogue 2023: Spaces of Opportunities gathered together over 600 people from 50 different nations. Most of them showed up physically in Bodø, but around 200 were following the conference online.

World Wide Interest

– This indicates the interest for the High North (Arctic) and the importance of having good dialogues about what happens in the Arctic both now and in the future, says director of the High North Center, Frode Mellemvik.

In his speech, Jonas Gahr Støre said Bodø was like coming home:

Let me be very direct and honest; for me coming to Bodø is like coming home, politically, in my heart and in my mind.

I have a fellow here, with whom I served in the navy, and we learned how to navigate radar navigation; that means that you have no screen. It was done in the port of Bodø, and we were told that if we continued that way, you would end up somewhere in the mountains with your ship. So, that was learning hard lessons for a young sailor.

Støre continued by remarking that a dialogue has a mission, namely, to go further together and unleash resources and activities. Dialogue can be inclusive, dialogue can be a multiplier, and we need that. You can read the entire speech online.

– We appreciated very much that the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, opened the High North Dialogue, and also that many took part in the dialogues, says Mellemvik.

Photographic memories

We have created a photo album with memories from this years conference. You can even download photos you would like to use, but please remember to credit them to Hogne Bø Pettersen/High North Center.

Video memories

You can see recordings of all sessions from the main conference (April 19 – 20) here:

Text memories

The media was present and here are some of the most important articles that were published during the conference: