Arctic Future Challenge - The future of the Arctic is in the hands of the youth

An example of one of the many independent projects we do in Global Startup Awards

Over time Global Startup Awards has transformed into a platform driven by our own proprietary IT system to run the competition, including the features for managing public nominations, data collection and management, shortlisting, jury ranking, public voting for marketing, etc. With this as the backbone and combined with the global network, Global Startup Awards has been transformed into this platform where we now also include collaborations with government institutions and corporates who in the present time are getting closer and closer to the startup ecosystem - which BTW is a synergy that is yet to be fully exploited of its potential.

Arctic Future Challenge is one of several examples of how Global Startup Awards further build on the experiences from working within this field for the last 8 years. It is built with the same philosophy and based on all the collective experience. Also here the role models are important. In the arctic region, you will find less developed startup ecosystems and as a consequence fewer role models. By using the competition as a vessel Arctic Future Challenge can firstly bring into the spotlight the success stories (the role models) of the region as well as becoming a platform for connecting the networks and for important capacity building.

Arctic Future Challenge

The key to future cooperation in the Arctic lies in the hands of the youth. The younger generations of the Arctic will be responsible for the future sustainable development of the region, and their skills in innovation and entrepreneurship are a precondition for future economic growth and social development. Therefore, the Governments of Denmark, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland have chosen to acknowledge youth as a key political priority. Arctic Future Challenge has been created and the concept of the idea was launched at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Iceland in October 2019 by the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jeppe Kofod. The aim of the competition is to strengthen entrepreneurship and innovation among the Arctic youth and to create awareness of the Arctic as a region with entrepreneurial business and investment potential. A public tender for bids for this project resulted in several competitive proposals. The contract was awarded to Global Startup Awards in partnership with Kisserup International Trade Roots.

Nominations are already open on www.arcticfuturechallenge.org and were also announced by Jeppe Kofod the Danish Foreign Minister of Denmark in the video below.

The competition

The competition is based upon a detailed framework developed from the experience of Globa Startup Awards. It is a similar project to encourage the youth of the Artic participating or interested in participating in entrepreneurship a forum to showcase the businesses or business concepts. The competition is driven by the competition software provided by Global Startups and it is planned that the competition will end with an award show taking place at the Arctic Circle Assembly Conference in Iceland in October 2020.

Target Group

Youth ages 18-29 years living in and/or studying in an educational institution or operating a business in one of the Arctic countries.

Eligible Regions

Arctic regions in the Arctic countries: Greenland, the Faroe Islands (The Kingdom of Denmark), Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.

Interested?

If innovation in the arctic is of your interest and feel a need to contribute please feel free to contact me +45 42379748