During 19-21 October, the 2018 Arctic Circle Assembly was held in Reykjavik, Iceland. The Arctic Circle is the largest network of international dialogue and cooperation on the future of the Arctic. The annual Arctic Circle Assembly is the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. 

To Promote the collaboration between Pan-Third Pole and Arctic communities, a series activities were organized in 2018 AC Assembly. In the Plenary Session of “The Arctic and the Third Pole-Himalaya”, Prof. Yaoming Ma from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ITPCAS) delivered a keynote talk on behalf of the chair of TPE Programme Prof. Tandong Yao, which is titled: Pan-Third Pole Environment Study for a Green Silk Road. In his presentation, the TPE programme and the new CAS Strategic A program: Pan-TPE Environment Study for a Green Silk Road (2018-2023, PI: Tandong Yao)” were introduced in detail. 

Pan-TPE and IIASA (The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis) jointly hosted a breakout session called: The Third Pole as Complex Socio-Ecological System–Sustainability and Resilience. 5 presentations followed by panel discussion and interaction with the audience were organized. This session brings together scholars with diverse backgrounds and disciplines to discuss how to build cross-sectoral partnership to turn advances in sciences into effective policy making and for enhancing resilience at all levels. Beijing Normal University and TPE jointly organized another breakout session called: Three Poles Environment and Climate Changes (TPEC). This session is to promote the potential TPEC program by focusing on the climate changes of the Three Poles (North Pole, South Pole and Third Pole), their impacts on the regional/global environment and the linkages among the Three Poles. 6 talks were invited to this session. 

Prof. Yaoming Ma gave a keynote talk in Plenary session