Project Report

Overseas Fellowship Program Participant: FY2022 First Call Short-Term Program
Rena Takezoe (Kobe University)

Thanks to the ArCS II Overseas Fellowship Program, I stayed in Reykjavik and Akureyri in Iceland from October 7 to 18, 2022! Particularly, I visited Akureyri on October 8-11, and gave an oral academic presentation at the 15th Polar Law Symposium (PLS) on October 12-13 and attended the 2022 Arctic Circle Assembly on October 13-16.

During my visit to Akureyri, I attended a lecture titled “Introduction to Arctic Governance” in the “Polar Law Program” at the University of Akureyri. This University has been leading the PLS since the very first symposium. I exchanged a lot of opinions with master students all over the world with many backgrounds. I also visited two of the six working groups of the Arctic Council, the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), and the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME). It was really interesting to talk about how to protect the traditional knowledge of indigenous people in the Arctic and about the importance of sharing information not only with Arctic countries but also with non-Arctic countries.

At the 15th Polar Law Symposium (PLS), we did an academic oral presentation, the theme of “Interim Conservation and Management Measures under CAO Fisheries Agreement: Its origin, concept, and functions”. Articles 3 and 5, which stipulate interim conservation and management measures, were dealt with in the presentation, and specifically, the four conditions to start the commercial fishing in the area, stipulated in these provisions, were explained. It was stated that unless the conditions are met, commercial fishing will not begin. The treaty, which came into force in 2021, is new and attracts attention from maritime countries like Japan. It can be expected that it will be great contribution to the smooth operation in the future. Furthermore, as a result of this fellowship program, an academic article which describes the results of this research and this event was published in the academic journal “Current Developments in Arctic Law” (Vol. 10, 2022) .

At the 2022 Arctic Circle Assembly (ACA 2022), government officials, researchers and activists who are interested in the Arctic region, not only from eight Arctic countries, but also from Japan, China, South Korea, etc. were participated. International legal scholars and scientists, indigenous peoples, and activists, etc. gave oral presentations about results of joint research across various fields, and it made me reaffirm the importance of multilateral cooperation in the Arctic region. In addition, many people of all ages participated in the plenary session on gender equality, which demonstrated a high level of interest in gender equality not only in Iceland (which is said as the best in the world for gender equality), but also in the all Arctic region.