The Arctic is one of the most fascinating places on the planet. As the global climate warms and geopolitics hardens, it has also become one of the world’s most important places. Yet at the same time, it remains an almost imaginary place that most people have never seen with their own eyes, let alone come to understand.
Ask someone to think about the Arctic, and they usually imagine a vast wilderness: isolated, frozen, pristine. Some people might be aware of the great natural resources there, and they think of the Arctic as an unopened treasure chest. Some might even think of the Arctic as a military frontier worth fighting in—or fighting over.
But the real Arctic is something else: a homeland. Four million people live there, including Indigenous peoples with vibrant cultures who have called it home for thousands of years. Despite its reputation as a remote and inhospitable place, the Arctic has long been a dynamic region interconnected with the rest of the world: a vital part of our global human community.
Today, this unique region and its peoples face an uncertain future. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. Some of its communities are built on melting soil, others have contended with devastating fires, and yet others struggle to maintain valuable Indigenous traditions and knowledge based on snow and ice.
What is more, the increasingly accessible Arctic has attracted significant new attention from governments and businesses around the world. It has become something of a crucible for international relations, where cooperation between nations and peoples is vital to sustainable development, environmental stewardship and peaceful coexistence.
It is with great excitement, therefore, that I introduce International Leaders of Tomorrow (with Model Arctic Council), a pioneering programme created through a new partnership between AISL Outdoor and Polar Aspect. Together, we are bringing a new educational experience to students in Asia: one that immerses participants in the pressing social, political and environmental challenges of the Arctic, while simultaneously equipping them with the skills and perspectives necessary for leadership in an increasingly fast-changing world.
The Power of Partnership
At the heart of this new programme is the belief that true leadership is based on collaboration and consensus building. Beset by multiple challenges too great for one nation or people to tackle alone, the Arctic depends more than most places on Earth on cooperative governance.
Indeed, the Arctic Council—the world’s premier intergovernmental forum for Arctic affairs—operates on the principle of consensus, bringing together eight Arctic States and six Indigenous organisations to forge common solutions to shared challenges. This cooperative Arctic Council model is one that today’s students—the world’s future leaders—must master.
In that spirit, this new programme offers students the chance to put themselves at the heart of the Arctic Council’s diplomacy. Participating ‘delegates’ will not only learn about the Arctic and its significance in global affairs, but they will also experience firsthand the challenges of collaborative negotiation and leadership through our Model Arctic Council: the world’s only such diplomatic simulation designed specifically for secondary-school students.
Immersive Learning and Real-World Impact
The International Leaders of Tomorrow (with Model Arctic Council) programme is structured around an experiential education model that fosters deep learning and real skills development. Students begin with two Learning Days full of hands-on workshops and masterclasses covering research methods, negotiation strategies, public speaking, and written communication. Under the guidance of an expert in Arctic governance, international diplomacy and sustainable development, students gain the foundational knowledge and skills they will apply in the following days.
The core of the programme is the Model Arctic Council (MAC) simulation, a dynamic three-day experience in which students take on the roles of Arctic diplomats and elected leaders. In this highly realistic diplomatic setting, participants must work together to debate and resolve pressing and up-to-the-minute Arctic issues, ranging over climate change, resource management, Indigenous rights, scientific cooperation and much more. By the programme’s conclusion, they will have collaboratively drafted a diplomatic declaration, mirroring the way real Arctic diplomats and leaders operate.
MAC is more than just an academic exercise. It is an opportunity for students to cultivate the leadership qualities and interpersonal skills that will serve them well in any future career. Whatever path they choose to pursue—whether diplomacy, law, advocacy, government, business, science, or beyond—the ability to listen, persuade, and build consensus across diverse perspectives is invaluable.
My Arctic Journey
My own journey into the Arctic began after a career in finance and management consulting, when I was appointed as a senior policy official with the Government of Nunavut in the Canadian Arctic. I took on the responsibility of advising politicians and the public on fiscal and economic issues, negotiating with the federal government of Canada, and engaging directly with Arctic governance structures. Living and working in the Arctic reinforced my conviction that it must be understood first and foremost as a homeland, where human development, environmental stewardship and collaborative problem-solving must go hand in hand.
Inspired to share this perspective, I founded Polar Aspect and in 2016 launched the world’s only MAC programme for secondary schools. Over the years, my MACs have reached hundreds of students from around the world, providing them with unparalleled exposure to the realities of Arctic governance and international relations. And research on MACs, including my own published work in Polar Geography, has demonstrated that they also enhance skills in negotiation, consensus-building and critical thinking: key competencies for 21st-century leadership.
Unlike traditional Model United Nations (MUN) simulations, which can sometimes encourage competitive posturing, the Model Arctic Council (MAC) fosters a more collaborative and authentic approach to diplomacy. By working within the consensus-based framework of the Arctic Council, students engage directly with the complexities of multilateral negotiations—learning that diplomacy is not about winning or losing but about finding common ground.
It is hard to overstate the importance of this lesson. I firmly believe that real leadership means bridging divides, not creating them. It means bringing people together in pursuit of a common goal that none can achieve alone. I see the value of this sort of leadership every day in my own role as Chair of East Suffolk Council in the UK.
Indeed, for me, one of the greatest satisfactions of MAC is watching students emerge from the simulation as collaborative leaders—especially those who might never have thought they could be one.
Educational Excellence for Life and Leadership
Collaboration and consensus building is also at the heart of AISL Outdoor’s vision of Educational Excellence for Life and Leadership. International Leaders of Tomorrow (with Model Arctic Council) offers students in Asia a unique opportunity to develop suchinvaluable diplomatic and leadership skills. The demand for collaborative leadership has never been greater than it is today, and now is the perfect time to take part in this innovative new programme.