Arctic mayors met the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Tromsø on 3 February 2026 as towns and cities across the region stepped up cooperation through an EU-funded network.
The meeting took place at the Arctic Frontiers conference in Norway, where mayors also joined wider discussions on “Strengthening and Sustaining Pan-Arctic Cooperation”, supported by the Arctic Mayors’ Forum, the European Commission announced on Saturday.
The cooperation is being channelled through the Arctic Urban Regional Cooperation (AURC) network, launched by the European Union in January 2024 and bringing together Arctic towns and cities from Canada, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the United States.
“Arctic stability and resilience starts in the Arctic cities,” said Nataliia Hammarberg of Luleå Municipality in Sweden.
What cities say has changed locally
In Salla, Finland, the municipality launched its first participatory budget, with 150 resident ideas submitted and a community gym chosen as the winning project now under construction, according to the same statement.
Arctic communities need “a say” and to be “at the same table”, said Asisaun Toovak, Mayor of Utqiaġvik, Alaska.
Several towns reported new or expanded schemes focused on newcomers and recruitment, including a Welcome House opened in Gällivare, Sweden, offering services in Swedish and English for newcomers, jobseekers and international talent.
Luleå is planning a Welcome Hub involving employers, businesses, civic organisations and academic institutions to run joint activities for newcomers and international talent, while Tromsø has appointed an “International House Coordinator.”
A cross-border project on talent attraction and retention, “TALENT NORTH: Attracting and Anchoring Global Talent in the Arctic”, has emerged from the network’s work and involves partners including the Arctic Six universities alliance and municipalities such as Oulu, Bodø, Tromsø, Luleå and Umeå.
On emergency planning, Fairbanks North Star Borough in Alaska partnered with George Washington University to develop its first comprehensive wildfire evacuation plan after drawing on Yellowknife’s experiences, with the academic collaboration funded through a jointly developed research grant proposal.
Yellowknife has also developed a list of 25 “ready-to-go opportunities” for investors and modernised its city branding, while Salla reported a cross-border training project worth more than €1 million.
