2013.07.25 - Relying on our Network

To this point, we had arranged all of our interviews prior to departing on our travels.  We knew building a strong network of interested parties would be critical to our success in speaking other stakeholders.  Our last day of interviews in Nuuk was constructed of stakeholders built entirely upon the interest we had generated in our prior conversations... and it was by far our busiest day (four interviews and a tour of the Greenlandic Parliament).

On Thursday - July 27th - we spoke with Palle Christiansen, Frans Berthelsen, Peter Barfoed, Bilo Stigsen and Niels Bennetzen.  Palle Christiansen is a member of the Greenlandic Parliament and former Minister of Education, Science, and Nordic Cooperation.  In our conversation, Palle described the need for higher standards of education and the tensions between development and preservation in Greenland.

Frans Berthelsen is a local architect and photographer as well as an outspoken critic of the current development patterns of housing in Greenland.  Frans is a native Greenlander and has spent most of his life working directly within the specific social, cultural, and environmental milieu of Greenland.

Peter Barfoed is a principle at Tegnestuen Nuuk, which participated in the 2012 Venice Biennale in collaboration with Bjarke Ingels Group.  Peter's work has long speculated on the infrastructural imperatives necessary for Greenland to deploy in order to sponsor and promote an economy of resource extraction and environmental tourism.

Bilo Stigsen and Niels Bennetzen work together at Kommuneqarfik Semmersooq - the planning department responsible for Urban and Housing development in the municipality of Sermmersooq.  Niels and Bilo also worked to coordinate the efforts of the local and foreign design teams for the 2012 Venice Biennale.