Members of the Boise State community spoke at the Arctic Circle Assembly hosted in Reykjavík, Iceland on Oct. 19-21, 2023. Kathy Araújo, a professor of Sustainable Energy Systems, Innovation and Policy with the School of Public Service and the director of the CAES Energy Policy Institute (EPI), and Cassie Koerner, the assistant director of research, communications and development for EPI, leveraged insights from their regional diversification analyses that examine energy strategies, local strengths/priorities, workforce and policy.
Both presented in a panel which was built upon work by the Idaho National Lab-led Emerging Energy Markets Analysis Initiative.
Araújo also spoke on a second panel about better practices in community-engaged decision-making, such as consent-based siting and resilience planning. Such approaches are relevant for energy-related facilities and critical infrastructure/processes that could include the electric grid and power plants, spent nuclear fuel/nuclear waste, hydrogen and critical minerals, among other areas
The Arctic Circle Assembly 2023 event included more than 700 speakers in over 200 sessions.