University Centre of the Westfjords

For the past couple of days, our academic director, Matthias Kokorsch, attended the 6th Nordic Ruralities conference in Kiruna. The title of the conference was New paths to sustainable transitions? Apart from the conference theme, the city itself– yet not being coastal– is highly relevant for our program on Coastal Communities and Regional Development, and Matthias left with much inspiration for coming courses. Kiruna is on the Move - The mining town is relocating its entire center to make way for continued mining operations— an ambitious plan stretching to 2100. The move began in 2014 and includes shifting historic buildings, designing a denser, greener, and more sustainable city. Yet, the development is not uncontested. As we learned during the conference, the relocation of Kiruna has faced criticism for prioritizing mining profits over the rights and livelihoods of local Sámi communities, whose reindeer herding lands are heavily impacted. This has sparked debates about green colonialism, as the project highlights the tension between sustainability goals and the exploitation of Indigenous territories for resource extraction.

To start off this term, Tabea and I, together with UW program director Dr. Matthias Kokorsch, attended the GLISFO workshop in Faroe Islands. The workshop is organized by the Research Council of the Faroe Islands, the Icelandic Center for Research, Greenland Research Council, Nordisk Energiforskning & the Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network, and funded by The Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council.

Welcome to our “catching up with alumni” series where we introduce you to previous UW students over the years. Ingrid Bobeková is a 32 year old alum who graduated from the Coastal Marine Management master’s program in 2022. Ingrid's hobbies include knitting, surfing, hiking, photography, and bird watching.

Welcome to our “catching up with alumni” series where we introduce you to previous UW students over the years. Isabelle Price is a 25 year old alum who graduated from the Coastal Marine Management master’s program in 2023. Isabelle's hobbies include running, biking, and kayaking.

Welcome to our “catching up with alumni” series where we introduce you to previous UW students over the years. Tyler Wacker is a 33 year old alum who graduated from the Coastal Communities and Regional Development master’s program in 2022. Tyler's hobbies include biking, surfing, and skateboarding.

A year that had mainly challenging news globally, to say the least – it's even more vital to spotlight the good news and achievements. At the University Centre, there were many moments for us that we will keep in good memories. The biggest milestone for UW was the opening of our new student housing this autumn. Witnessing its transformation from an idea to a tangible reality in just over a year was fantastic. Navigating the complexities of such an ambitious undertaking in a remote setting, with its many unpredictabilities, demanded a lot of collaboration, determination, and patience. This wasn't just a construction project; it was coastal community development in practice.

My name is Brittaney Key, and I’m a Fulbright Fellow and master’s student in the Coastal Communities and Regional Development (CRD) program. I chose to come to Iceland for my fellowship specifically because of the CRD program and its unique inclusion of sustainability and development in a rural context.

This spring, from April 28th to May 14th, a group of 8 UW students had the opportunity to participate in a NORDPLUS trip in the Baltic region, where we joined students from universities in Finland, Lithuania, and Latvia to explore “smart shrinking” strategies for regions experiencing population decline.

Nýlega lauk meistaranámskeiðinu Frá auðlindahagkerfi í aðlöðunarhagkerfi: Sjávarbyggðir á tímum afþreyingar og ferðalaga sem Patrick Maher kennir. Í lok námskeiðsins bjuggu nemendur til myndbönd með þeirra sýn á Ísafjörð og nærumhverfið og útkoman urðu stórskemmtilegar stuttmyndir.

Nýlega lauk meistaranámskeiðinu Frá auðlindahagkerfi í aðlöðunarhagkerfi: Sjávarbyggðir á tímum afþreyingar og ferðalaga sem Patrick Maher kennir. Í lok námskeiðsins bjuggu nemendur til myndbönd með þeirra sýn á Ísafjörð og nærumhverfið og útkoman urðu stórskemmtilegar stuttmyndir.

Nýlega lauk meistaranámskeiðinu Frá auðlindahagkerfi í aðlöðunarhagkerfi: Sjávarbyggðir á tímum afþreyingar og ferðalaga sem Patrick Maher kennir. Í lok námskeiðsins bjuggu nemendur til myndbönd með þeirra sýn á Ísafjörð og nærumhverfið og útkoman urðu stórskemmtilegar stuttmyndir.

Hello we are Hannah and Linda, two students from southern Germany. We are studying Public Administration at the University of Applied Sciences in Kehl. As part of our studies we are doing a three month long internship at the University Centre in Ísafjörður.