Our Mission

UNE North — the Center for North Atlantic Studies of the University of New England — connects and engages researchers, educators, students, policymakers, and industry leaders from across the North Atlantic and the Arctic regions to collaborate in building and sustaining healthy communities, environments, and thriving economies. UNE North convenes UNE students, faculty, and professional staff from diverse disciplines along with external local, regional, and global partners to foster innovative solutions to health, social, environmental, and economic challenges.

UNE North will be a leader in research, education, and community building related to the pressing issues impacting the North Atlantic and Arctic regions. The center will support the training of a new generation of leaders that will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders from diverse disciplines to foster healthy and sustainable communities, environments, and thriving economies in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions.

Adopted by 193 countries in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the world’s shared blueprint to end extreme poverty, reduce inequality, and protect the planet by 2030. The SDGs are used worldwide by governments, policymakers, business leaders, researchers, and educators as planning and evaluation tools.

UNE North and the SDGs

UNE North uses the SDGs to help identify and evaluate education and research opportunities that promote interdisciplinary collaboration at UNE, in Maine, and across the region in the service of sustainable development. UNE North believes that understanding the interconnectivity of the SDGs and implementing them through dynamic partnerships is key to our success as a leader for sustainable development in the North Atlantic.

By using the internationally understood language of the SDGs, UNE North will continue to grow and cultivate its network of regional partnerships including in Iceland, Canada, Sweden, Norway, and the U.K; train a new generation of leaders; inform policy through research; promote interdisciplinarity and the co-creation of knowledge in all its activities; and support Maine’s leadership role in the North Atlantic.

Email Cameron Wake at cwake@une.edu.