| Summary/Abstract |
The Arctic Council is the primary forum for fostering cooperation and addressing concerns in the Arctic, yet few know of its work. The Model Arctic Council (MAC) is a simulation of the Arctic Council designed to address this awareness deficit. It places graduate and undergraduate students in roles as Arctic Council delegates, challenging them to collaborate to tackle the Arctic’s most pressing issues. This article explains the MAC initiative and the MAC 2016 event held at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). It evaluates participants’ qualitative comments and survey responses from the MAC 2016 and finds that the program was effective in developing student knowledge of the Arctic; increasing student understanding of Arctic Council objectives and processes; preparing students for leadership roles in the circumpolar north; and encouraging student-faculty collaboration among University of the Arctic (UArctic) institutions. To improve future MAC programs, the organizing committee should strengthen the pre- and early program training sessions, clarifying Arctic Council processes and norms and stressing effective communication skills and cultural sensitivity.
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