WG Chairs Shared Experiences

Last week the Chairs and Executive Secretaries of all six Working Groups in the Arctic Council had their second meeting with the Danish Chairmanship. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Lars Møller, Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials.

Preparations for the upcoming SAO meeting in Ilulissat, Greenland, was one of the main topics. The ongoing work in the Working Groups is always central in any SAO meeting, so the SAO Chair appreciates this regular meeting as a chance to discuss and receive input directly from the WG Chairs.

Several of the Working Groups are in the process of developing their strategic plans. This was an important issue and in the meeting the Chairs shared experiences and opinions on the work with the strategic plans.

The Working Group chairs also had opportunity to present their work and plans for possible deliverables for the next Ministerial Meeting in Nuuk in April 2011. They commented on ongoing processes in the Arctic Council, such as the communication and outreach issue, the review of the observers question and the role of the Working Groups in the upcoming Information Day of the Arctic Council and the Deputy Ministers meeting.