On 11 May, 2017, the United States handed over the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council to Finland for a two-year tenure until 2019. In view of the new Chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the Finnish Embassy in cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office and the German Arctic Office organized a special seminar on the priorities of the Finnish Arctic Council Programme “Exploring Common Solutions” in Berlin on 29 May, 2017.
Program 16.30 Registration
17.00 Welcome speeches Ambassador Ritva Koukku-Ronde, Embassy of Finland, and
Ambassador Martin Kotthaus, Director General for European Affairs, German Foreign Office
17.15 Keynote speech: Priorities of the Finnish Chairmanship Ambassador Aleksi Härkönen, Ministry for Foreign Affairs,Finland
17.35 Panel Discussion, Comments Tero Vauraste, Chair of the Arctic Economic Council, CEO of Arctia Ltd: Economic Development
Karin Lochte, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Walter L. Kühnlein, Chairman of the German Association for Marine Technology
Henna Haapala, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of the Environment of Finland
Moderated by Volker Rachold, Head of the German Arctic Office
18.30-19.30 Cocktail reception