The main objective of this kick-off symposium at Kobe is to provide a broad yet
insightful overview of emerging legal and policy issues in the following four areas: Arctic science, Arctic Ocean, Arctic environment, and Arctic Council (AC) as a framework institution, acknowledging the inter-linkages between and among them.

The presentations by world’s leading experts in the field and the discussion
following them will set a framework for the future direction of research at Polar Cooperation Research Center (PCRC).

Keynote Speech by Ambassador Hannu Halinen, Finland.

Presentations by:

  • Professor David L. VanderZwaag of Dalhousie University, Canada
  • Professor Rachael Lorna Johnstone of University of Akureyri, Iceland
  • Professor Kentaro Nishimoto of Tohoku University, Japan, and
  • Professor Akiho Shibata of Kobe University, Japan

For more information, detailed program and registration instructiocn, see the program overview.