Yellowknife (Sep 10/04) - Top scientists and dignitaries from across the arctic will gather in Yellowknife next week for the third biennial Northern Research Forum.

Included on the list of attendees will be Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson and the President of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.

The Northern Research Forum is intended to "provide intensive dialogue among members of the research community and a wide range of other northern stakeholders," according to the NRF website.

The meetings, which are open to the public, address issues of community viability, sustainable development, peace and security, social and environmental policy, and the impact of global change in circumpolar regions.

Participants include a wide variety of researchers, policy makers and scientists from Canada, Russia, Iceland and other arctic countries.

The theme for this year is "The Resilient North -- Human Responses to Global Change."

The NRF was held in Russia in 2002 and in Iceland in 2000.

Papers presented at the forum will include such topics as expanding circumpolar cooperation, diamonds in Siberia and polar bears as a resource.

The Northern Research Forum runs from September 15 to 18 and many of the lectures and events are open to the public.

The forum is jointly hosted by the GNWT, the City of Yellowknife, Aurora College and the community of Rae Edzo.

The Yellowknife NRF is organized by the Northern Research Forum steering committee and secretariat, in partnership with the Canadian Polar Commission.