Andreas B. Heide presenting at the political conference Arendalsuka. The event was hosted by The Nordic Council of Ministers and drew the participation of esteemed guests, including two ministers – Espen Barth Eide, the Minister of Climate and the Environment, and Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, the Minister of International Development. Accompanying them was Kikki Flesche Kleiven, the Director of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research. Notably, the audience comprised 40 enthusiastic schoolchildren.

In addition to a presentation and discussions, we showed footage as well as an immersive 360-degree video from our 2021 Arctic Sense expedition. Furthermore, the artifacts recovered during our Svalbard expedition took center stage – a reindeer skull and a plastic barrel. Both items form an integral part of the ocean conservation narrative stemming from the expedition. A big thank you to the extended Barba team and all those who contributed to help make this happen, and to the Nordic Council and Mari Bangstad for hosting the event.