Advancing Community Engagement at the NEDA Conference
As Arctic tourism continues to evolve, the NEDA conference remains an important venue for dialogue between communities and industry. This year, AECO returns with strengthened relationships and new insights from recent community focused ship visits.
Last year, the Nunavut Economic Developers Association (NEDA) brought together a broad range of participants, including economic development officers from nearly all of Nunavut’s 25 communities. Since then, AECO has expanded its dialogue with local stakeholders, with a particular focus on local economic contributions—an experience that will be highlighted at this year’s conference.
One example is the series of stakeholder ship visits in the Canadian Arctic, where representatives from eight local communities were invited onboard AECO members’ vessels to learn more about expedition cruise tourism. Nearly 200 stakeholders took the opportunity to engage, ask questions, and discuss the relationship to, and impact on, their communities.
“The local economic development officers we met at NEDA in 2025 were essential to making this effort happen. They helped us connect with people from the hamlets, HTOs, tourism, and other local groups,” says Gyda Guðmundsdóttir, head of Community Engagement, representing AECO at the conference.
What are AECO’s goals for this year’s conference?
“Community engagement is not a one‑time conversation; it is an ongoing process. We want to continue strengthening the relationships formed last year while also building new ones.
“With the conference taking place in Iqaluit, we have an opportunity to visit local stakeholders, including the Government of Nunavut, the Inuit Heritage Trust, and Travel Nunavut. We also plan to visit the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum and the Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre, and conduct Made in the Arctic outreach by visiting producers such as Uasau Soap, Carvings Nunavut, Malikkaat, Sijjakkut by the Seashore, and NuBrewCo.
“Our members have planned 13 visits to Iqaluit in the upcoming season, compared to six in 2025, and we want to ensure we have built good relations with the community.”
How does AECO make sure tourism initiatives align with community priorities?
“It is important to understand the needs and opportunities in each community. We gathered significant information during the stakeholder cruises and received many suggestions for how we can collaborate more effectively. We are now assessing which initiatives can be implemented as an industry in each community.
“AECO’s Community Engagement Committee is also focusing on two projects that support communities in their interactions with expedition cruise tourism. One involves facilitating new community specific guidelines, and the other is the Cruise Ready toolkit, which helps communities prepare for ship visits. Another focus area is Made in the Arctic, which aims to help create more local value.
“There is much more work we hope to do across the 165 communities in our operational area, so we are adding more resources by hiring a Community Engagement Specialist. We hope to have that position in place before next season begins,” concludes Gyda Gudmundsdottir.
The annual NEDA conference is a platform for discussing sustainable growth, sharing best practices, and strengthening regional networks. AECO’s Secretariat and Community Engagement Committee are participating for the second year.
Last update: 02. February 2026