Maine and the New North

In October of 2020, the University of New England was named a partner in the Northern Periphery and the Arctic Programme (NPA) COVID-19 Response CORE Project, a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the intent of collating information learned from thematic projects within the NPA’s newly formed COVID-19 Response Group, of which  UNE NORTH: The Institute for North Atlantic Studies  is a part.

In early 2020 as the pandemic spread, the NPA COVID 19 Response Group was established and quickly gathered a large group of interested health experts based in the Northern Periphery and Arctic programme area. The group currently gathers more than 130 experts from almost all NPA regions, Canada, the USA and New Zealand including clinicians, rural GPs, public health specialists, health service managers, and digital technology, mental health and social science experts.

All members believe that working together is a valuable approach, much needed in this time of crisis. 

The aim of this group is to increase the understanding of the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on the NPA regions, share and analyse data and identify best practices. They collaborate on the basis that although they may compete for the same funding at a later stage, at this moment, cooperation is more important.

 UNE was the first US partner in this multinational Covid-19 project .

UNE North's Director and members of the Advisory Council presented UNE North's role in Maine and the North Atlantic region at an event leading up to the opening of the Camden Conference in 2020. Since 1987, The Camden Conference has held an annual speaker series bringing global challenges up for discussion for the hundreds of professionals, students, and community members who attend each year.  

To watch “Maine and the Arctic: Building Bridges to the Future”, click below. 

During the “Think Rural, Think Digital, Think Ahead!” virtual ‘hackathon’, international teams of four or five people with different backgrounds and skill sets came together to rapidly design and test innovative ideas. Participants from a variety of backgrounds such as coding, design, marketing, healthcare, tourism and hospitality participated.

Teams identified digital solutions to deliver essential healthcare services, or created a sustainable recovery plan for the tourism industry, both with a focus on rural communities.

UNE hosted pre-hackathon and post-hackathon workshops as well. Participants were introduced the U.N. Sustainable Development Goal framework, a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. After the hackathon, participants offered practical recommendations for what to do with their hackathon ideas.

Regions participating in the event included Maine; Ontario, Canada; the Faroe Islands of Denmark; and the countries of Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Scotland.

To learn more about the project, click below.

In June 2021, UNE and our four international partners — Agricultural University of Iceland, Borganes, Iceland; University of Highlands and Islands, Inverness, Scotland; Tyumen State University, Tyumen, Russia; and SustainaMetrix, Portland, Maine — founded a UArctic Thematic Network centered on Bioregional Planning for Resilient Rural Communities.

Our Commitment

This network of interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners from Maine, Iceland, Scotland, and Russia are committed to:

This network has five initial partners, but its potential for impact for both UArctic and its communities lies in the participation of partner organizations throughout the UArctic family. This is an open invitation for all UArctic member institutions to connect with us and explore how your work and expertise might help realize this network's full potential. 

To watch the Thematic Network’s introductory webinar, featuring bioregional projects in Maine, Iceland, Scotland, and Russia, click below. 

In October of 2021, UNE North Director Holly Parker, UNE President James Herbert, and Associate Provost for Research and Scholarship Karen Houseknecht joined the Maine Delegation to the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland. Holly Parker led the following events at the ACA:

• An interactive conversation about the opportunities and challenges of digital health technology in the rural North – in partnership with the University of Akureyri (Iceland) and Interactive Health (Scotland)
•  The first working meeting of UNE North’s UArctic Thematic Network, “Bioregional Planning for Resilient Rural Communities”. Partners include Agricultural University of Iceland, University of Highland and Islands (Scotland), State University Tyumen (Russia) and SustainaMetrix (USA).
• UNE hosted a continuous open conversation at its booth for ACA participants called “Building Connections and Collaboration for a Sustainable Arctic.” Participants shared their ideas, passions and lessons learned about moving toward a more sustainable Arctic and responded to those of their colleagues.

Click below to watch a video produced by the Maine North Atlantic Development Office that tells the story of Maine’s 2021 delegation to the Arctic Circle Assembly. 

The University of New England became the only institution in Maine to be granted non-governmental observer status to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP26. Dr. Holly Parker and UNE North Advisor Glenn Page of SustainaMetrix, (Portland, Maine) flew to Glasgow and presented their joint research on bioregional planning. A bioregion is defined, not by political or economic boundaries, but by geology, topography, climate, soils, hydrology and watersheds, flora, fauna and vegetation.

“Climate change does not respect political boundaries,” Parker said. “A bioregional approach allows us to see beyond these human constructs to better understand how biological and human systems interact and how we can, through governance, transform those systems for a more sustainable future.”

UNE now has observer status for all of the UN Climate meetings going forward. “This is a tremendous opportunity for our students, faculty, and professional staff to be in the room where these global conversations are happening.” Parker added, “Observer Status demonstrates UNE’s commitment to climate action.”

To watch Holly Parker’s presentation on her COP 26 experience, click below. 

Read about the outcomes and meetings at COP26 below.