Hilde Fålun Strøm

I am the founder of Polheim (Norwegian for “Polar Home”), an impact hub and neutral gathering place in Longyearbyen that brings together community members, scientists, business people, artists, and changemakers for meetings, seminars, and workshops around climate change and other critical topics in the Arctic. The vision for Polheim is to create a place where bridges can be built between diverse groups of decision-makers—a home for sharing ideas, building trust, and developing community-grounded best practices for future solutions in the Arctic. Collaboration is the way forward. I hope that by engaging people—both at Polheim and as guests on ships and expeditions throughout the region—and sharing my deep enthusiasm and desire to protect these places, that I can help others recognize how we can all be part of the solution and take action. In collaboration with other nonprofit partners, I’ve created a digital portal for Polheim where individuals can share their experiences and the projects they have initiated.