From April 21st to 23rd, Norwich School hosted a unique event – the Norwich Model Arctic Council or NORMAC, which is the only conference of its kind at secondary school anywhere in the world. For two-and-a-half days, pupils from schools across Norfolk, London and from as far afield as Bilbao, Spain, played the roles of diplomats attending the Arctic Council as part of an innovative experiential learning programme.
The Arctic Council is a multilateral forum established in 1996 to discuss, debate and find collaborative solutions to the pressing issues facing the Arctic, one of the most fascinating and important regions of the planet. It is unusual amongst international organisations in that Arctic indigenous peoples have permanent seats alongside Arctic States – meaning that pupils participating in NORMAC had the very special opportunity to learn about Arctic peoples, cultures and indigenous rights as well as about the policies of Arctic governments.
NORMAC began on Friday evening with opening ceremonies and a welcome dinner. Delegates heard a keynote speech from Ms Christine Kelly of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who heads the UK’s own observer delegation to the Arctic Council. Many hours of diplomatic meetings followed on Saturday and Sunday – but there was still time for a ghost-walk around Norwich Cathedral Close with the Man in Black! By the closing ceremonies on Sunday, Delegates could congratulate themselves on having negotiated consensus on a number of resolutions on issues such as Arctic wetland protection, commercial fishing in the Arctic Ocean, and educational opportunity for Arctic children.
Before teaching at Norwich School, NORMAC founder and Director Dr Anthony Speca lived and worked as a senior civil servant in the Canadian Arctic. He launched the first NORMAC conference in 2016 in order to share his enthusiasm about the Arctic with pupils, and to introduce them to a part of the world to which most of their peers have little or no exposure.
Assisted by Deputy Director Mr White, Dr Speca oversaw a ‘Secretariat’ of Norwich School pupils who managed a very successful conference, receiving glowing feedback from all participants. Dr Speca would like to express his sincere thanks to Secretary Guy Cranfield (U6R); Deputy Secretary Lauren Reid-Edwards (U6V); Chairs Emily Harris (U6P) and Nik Koch (U6P); Deputy Chairs Tom Brandford (L6N), Will Tremelling (L6C) and Ismay Whitaker (L6R); Chief Rapporteur Tim Bishop (U6E); and Rapporteurs Rory Bartram (U6C), Jack Ellis (L6E), Sam Foster (L6E), Ishan Singh (L6B) and Sri Vulla (L6R).
Dr Speca also thanks Charlie Austin (U5P), Louis Cann (U5V) and Louis Mian (U5C), who attended NORMAC as Delegates representing the Inuit Circumpolar Council, as well as Gabi Smith (U6B), who attended as a Delegate representing Finland.
All those who attended, pupils and their teachers alike, told us not only that they would attend again, but that they’d recommend NORMAC to other schools – so we’re looking forward to hosting an even more exciting NORMAC 2018 next year!
For more about NORMAC, please see http://www.normac.org/ -- and follow all the action from this weekend’s conference on our Twitter feed @NorwichMAC.
If you’re interested in politics, diplomacy, international affairs or the Arctic, and you’d like to get involved with NORMAC, our model diplomacy society meets every Wednesday Period 5A in Dr Speca’s classroom E24. It’s open to U5 and above – but we’re now planning for next year, so all interested M5 are also welcome.