Trent-Yukon Model Arctic Council Online Conference
- Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
- Date: Thursday, March 25, 2021 - 9:24 AM to 9:24 AM
- Date: Friday, March 26, 2021 - 9:25 AM to 9:25 AM
Trent and Yukon University are pleased to announce we will be hosting a Model Arctic Council Conference - March 24 -26th, 2021. This conference has been made possible with funding from Universities Canada - Outbound Mobility Project.
Polar Aspect's Trent-Yukon Model Arctic Council Conference is one of the only Model Arctic Councils in the world today designed primarily for undergraduates. Students play the roles of delegates from Arctic states and, unusually in model diplomacy, Indigenous Peoples. Their challenge is to negotiate unanimous consensus on some of the most pressing questions facing not only the Arctic and its communities but by extension our world as a whole.
TRYKOMAC SCHEDULE:
As an online conference, TRYKOMAC 1 will take place over three days from 24 to 26 March 2021, for approximately four hours per day from 16.00 to 20.00 UTC. It will generally keep to the following schedule:
- Pre-conference – Videos introducing the Arctic, Arctic Council and TRYKOMAC, plus pre-conference advice from an Arctic expert
- Day 1 – Diplomatic negotiations, followed by an optional online social event
- Day 2 – Continued diplomatic negotiations, followed by a keynote speech from an Arctic expert
- Day 3 – Continued diplomatic negotiations, followed by final speeches and a decision on the ‘declaration’, plus guided reflection on the conference with an Arctic expert
A full agenda will be provided to delegates closer to the date of the conference.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF TRYKOMAC:
Trent-Yukon Model Arctic Council (TRYKOMAC) is a simulation of the real-world Arctic Council . Established in 1996, the Arctic Council is devoted to advancing international cooperation and good governance across the Arctic. Around its table sit not only the Arctic States—Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the USA—but also Arctic indigenous peoples organizations representing the Aleut, Athabaskans, Gwitch’in, Inuit, Saami and the many peoples of the Russian North.
Hosted by Trent University at its beautiful campus on the banks of the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, TRYKOMAC is one of the few diplomatic simulations of its kind in the world, and also one of the very few designed primarily for undergraduates. Before becoming an educator, Polar Aspect Managing Principal Dr. Anthony Speca lived and worked in the Arctic as a senior policy official with the Government of Nunavut, one of Canada’s Arctic territories. Since 2016 he has launched a number of Polar Aspect MAC conferences, both in-person and online, in order to share his enthusiasm for the Arctic with youth, and in the hope of inspiring them to learn more about this unique region and its peoples.
Whilst students with the experience of Model United Nations may find some aspects of the conference familiar, TRYKOMAC offers an exciting new format of model diplomacy. The Arctic Council is unusual not only in promoting the active involvement of indigenous peoples alongside states but also in making all decisions by consensus rather than majority vote. The Arctic Council is also well-known for collegiality and consensus-building even during times of tension between participants elsewhere in the world—valuable skills for a career after university.
PARTICIPATING IN TRYKOMAC:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the current difficulties around international travel, TRYKOMAC 1 will be held online via Trent University’s learning platform, rather than in person at Trent University’s Symons campus. In order to preserve the quality of the simulation online, TRYKOMAC 1 will be somewhat shorter and smaller than an in-person conference.
For this reason, participation in TRYKOMAC 1 will be limited to three students per delegation. Student delegates should be studying at universities having established partnerships with Trent University or Yukon University. Delegates should also be located in time zones that allow for synchronous participation from 16.00 to 20.00 UTC.
Participation in TRYKOMAC is open to students from universities around the world. Participants are invited to form delegations of up to six pupils each to play the role of representatives from one of the eight Arctic States or six Arctic indigenous peoples organizations. At the conference, delegates will grapple with the challenge of reaching a consensus on some of the most pressing challenges facing the Arctic, and by extension the world as a whole.
It is not necessary for pupils to study at the same school in order to form a delegation together, but preparatory work may be easier to coordinate if so. If demand is high, it is possible that the number of delegates per delegation will be increased. Registered delegates will be informed of any such changes at the close of the registration period.
Since TRYKOMAC operates by the rule of consensus, delegates will find their diplomatic skills stretched and improved. Unlike at other model diplomacy conferences, TRYKOMAC delegates do not debate pre-prepared resolutions. Rather, they rise to the challenge of negotiating mutually agreeable ‘declarations’ in real-time. To assist with the process of consensus building, each delegation is requested to provide a brief discussion paper a week or two ahead of the conference, which will be circulated to other delegations.
CONTACT INFO:
Visit the TRYKOMAC website for general inquiries
Posted on January 28, 2021