A Change
in Climate
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Kamil Jagodzinski, senior
project manager, Arctic
Portal, Akureyri, Iceland
with a deeper, more lasting impact. To oversee the
evolving portfolio, the organization brought on Mr.
Jagodzinski, who had spent the previous seven years
as a project manager at the University of Lapland’s
Arctic Centre in Rovaniemi, Finland.
Why did the Arctic Portal establish your role?
The organization was focused on smaller projects
that lasted from one to two years, but our director
thought it would be better in terms of our longevity and efficacy to get involved in longer, bigger
projects and strengthen our expertise on end-user
engagement, data management and strategic planning. To get the portfolio to that level, he decided
to establish a stronger project management practice and hire a project practitioner trained in planning these proposals.
As ice melts in the Arctic, the rest of the globe feels the repercus- sions. “What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic anymore,” Kamil Jagodzinski says.
“It has a big impact on the world.”
The Arctic Portal helps the world understand
that impact. The organization executes research,
development and outreach projects that facilitate
cooperation among private and public Arctic
stakeholders, such as member states of the Euro-
pean Union (EU) and the Arctic Council. “We
serve as a knowledge broker for Arctic information
and data,” Mr. Jagodzinski says.
Last year the organization, which is funded by the
EU and Icelandic national authorities, began expanding its project portfolio in order to take on initiatives
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