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Isabel Louise Cadec. Photo: Victoria Cadec
Isabel Louise Cadec’s Discussion Reflection
Shaping Trails and Futures
We have the pleasure and honour of publishing a reflection on the discussion delivered at the Arctic Frontiers conference. The conference was held in February 2026 in Tromsø, Norway. The discussion was part of the panel session organised by the CAP-SHARE project, entitled Intergenerational Capacity Sharing: The Connection Between Nature and Youth.
The text was originally written in English.
Discussion Reflection:
Shaping Trails and Futures
Isabel Louise Cadec
Project Coordinator, The Þórsmörk Trail Volunteers, Land and Forest Iceland
It was a privilege to not only attend the Arctic Frontiers conference earlier this year, but to be invited by the CAP-SHARE project to participate as a panellist representing Iceland in a discussion about capacity sharing and biodiversity on 6 February 2026. Although I am not from Iceland myself, I have spent the last six years immersed in the Icelandic Highlands, leading groups of international volunteers in landscape restoration and hiking trail construction through sustainable approaches. This is with a project called The Þórsmörk Trail Volunteers, which is coordinated by Land og Skógur. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to discuss my experiences as a trail builder who works alongside groups of young people from across the world, including Taiwan, Canada, Finland, and Norway, to name but a few countries.
I thrive and feel most at home in the birch forest of Þórsmörk and Goðaland, a nature reserve in South Iceland, where I continually have soil-covered hands, grass-stained trousers, muddy boots, and windswept hair. I welcome the disconnection and stillness of the Icelandic Highlands. Smart business wear and public speaking are certainly out of my comfort zone, and I would be lying if I said I was not nervous in the minutes leading up to the panel discussion. However, I am enthusiastic and passionate about building trails, restoring Þórsmörk and Goðaland, and teaching our young volunteers about these strategies in a changing environment. Thus, despite the nerves, there was an undercurrent of excitement to be able to discuss a topic I deeply care about.
Early in the discussion, the panel was asked:
How do you relate to land and water - such as rivers, lakes, coasts, tundra, forests, or fells - and how do these relationships shape your identity and sense of the future?
As I listened to my fellow panellists, I was moved by the different stories and experiences they shared about land and place. When it was my turn to speak, I realised that the question was not asking for a single kind of connection, but opening space for different relationships, histories, and experiences to be expressed.
Our volunteer camp in Þórsmörk is basic. This has always been the intention. We are now going into our 15th year of this project, but at the very beginning there was nothing but a dusty scrap of land where our camp is situated. Over the years, our camp has been slowly built with low impact, sustainability and the landscape in mind. Our camp features turf roofs which now have small birch trees growing on them, and our huts are constructed with Icelandic grown timber. A colleague even referred to our camp as a hobbit village.
In the panel discussion, I explained how a significant part of this development has been about nurturing the forest in and round our camp. We have taken a lot of care to plant, relocate and nurture the native birch and willow. With this, the nature and wildlife are much closer to our door. Addressing the audience, I tried to paint the image that shows how we have fostered and created a camp that is part of the landscape and forest.
My relationship to this land, which has shaped my identity, has not come from being born into an Arctic country like my fellow panellists. I grew up on the sunny, populated south coast of England. Instead, my connection and relation to the land have developed over time, mediated through our basic camp lifestyle and passing on knowledge, inspiration, and passion, whilst creating a space for learning and escapism from our busy lives. I call this “the Þórsmörk bubble”. It has become a place to temporarily escape whatever concerns, worries, or stresses our volunteers have, through reconnecting with the land and nature. This is what I would like to continue in the future – not just a trail maintenance programme, but rather a place nestled in the Icelandic forests, rivers and mountains where people can come for a short while to disconnect, learn something new, reconnect with nature, and contribute something good to the landscape.
I was then directly asked:
How do you experience young people’s opportunities to influence biodiversity protection and environmental decision making in your community? What barriers exist?
For this, I had prepared some photographs to help illustrate a very small part of what our volunteers are involved with when they join our project. In Iceland, the term ‘youth’ encompasses people aged six to 25. Most of our volunteers are aged 20–25.
Shaping Trails and Futures
We have the pleasure and honour of publishing a reflection on the discussion delivered at the Arctic Frontiers conference. The conference was held in February 2026 in Tromsø, Norway. The discussion was part of the panel session organised by the CAP-SHARE project, entitled Intergenerational Capacity Sharing: The Connection Between Nature and Youth.
The text was originally written in English.
Discussion Reflection:
Shaping Trails and Futures
Isabel Louise Cadec
Project Coordinator, The Þórsmörk Trail Volunteers, Land and Forest Iceland
It was a privilege to not only attend the Arctic Frontiers conference earlier this year, but to be invited by the CAP-SHARE project to participate as a panellist representing Iceland in a discussion about capacity sharing and biodiversity on 6 February 2026. Although I am not from Iceland myself, I have spent the last six years immersed in the Icelandic Highlands, leading groups of international volunteers in landscape restoration and hiking trail construction through sustainable approaches. This is with a project called The Þórsmörk Trail Volunteers, which is coordinated by Land og Skógur. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to discuss my experiences as a trail builder who works alongside groups of young people from across the world, including Taiwan, Canada, Finland, and Norway, to name but a few countries.
I thrive and feel most at home in the birch forest of Þórsmörk and Goðaland, a nature reserve in South Iceland, where I continually have soil-covered hands, grass-stained trousers, muddy boots, and windswept hair. I welcome the disconnection and stillness of the Icelandic Highlands. Smart business wear and public speaking are certainly out of my comfort zone, and I would be lying if I said I was not nervous in the minutes leading up to the panel discussion. However, I am enthusiastic and passionate about building trails, restoring Þórsmörk and Goðaland, and teaching our young volunteers about these strategies in a changing environment. Thus, despite the nerves, there was an undercurrent of excitement to be able to discuss a topic I deeply care about.
Early in the discussion, the panel was asked:
How do you relate to land and water - such as rivers, lakes, coasts, tundra, forests, or fells - and how do these relationships shape your identity and sense of the future?
As I listened to my fellow panellists, I was moved by the different stories and experiences they shared about land and place. When it was my turn to speak, I realised that the question was not asking for a single kind of connection, but opening space for different relationships, histories, and experiences to be expressed.
Our volunteer camp in Þórsmörk is basic. This has always been the intention. We are now going into our 15th year of this project, but at the very beginning there was nothing but a dusty scrap of land where our camp is situated. Over the years, our camp has been slowly built with low impact, sustainability and the landscape in mind. Our camp features turf roofs which now have small birch trees growing on them, and our huts are constructed with Icelandic grown timber. A colleague even referred to our camp as a hobbit village.
In the panel discussion, I explained how a significant part of this development has been about nurturing the forest in and round our camp. We have taken a lot of care to plant, relocate and nurture the native birch and willow. With this, the nature and wildlife are much closer to our door. Addressing the audience, I tried to paint the image that shows how we have fostered and created a camp that is part of the landscape and forest.
My relationship to this land, which has shaped my identity, has not come from being born into an Arctic country like my fellow panellists. I grew up on the sunny, populated south coast of England. Instead, my connection and relation to the land have developed over time, mediated through our basic camp lifestyle and passing on knowledge, inspiration, and passion, whilst creating a space for learning and escapism from our busy lives. I call this “the Þórsmörk bubble”. It has become a place to temporarily escape whatever concerns, worries, or stresses our volunteers have, through reconnecting with the land and nature. This is what I would like to continue in the future – not just a trail maintenance programme, but rather a place nestled in the Icelandic forests, rivers and mountains where people can come for a short while to disconnect, learn something new, reconnect with nature, and contribute something good to the landscape.
I was then directly asked:
How do you experience young people’s opportunities to influence biodiversity protection and environmental decision making in your community? What barriers exist?
For this, I had prepared some photographs to help illustrate a very small part of what our volunteers are involved with when they join our project. In Iceland, the term ‘youth’ encompasses people aged six to 25. Most of our volunteers are aged 20–25.
Photo collage: Þórsmörk trail projects and the volunteer camp. Photo 1: Hreinn Óskarsson, photo 2: Chas Goemans, other photos: Isabel Louise Cadec.
We are an entry level programme, a stepping stone for young people in their early career development. An opportunity for them to learn about biodiversity protection and restoration in a different capacity. However, what exactly does biodiversity protection look like in relation to trail management, and how are these two elements linked? Trails are an essential infrastructure for our access into these nature destinations, to national parks, to protected areas, to semi-wilderness places. Yet, a poorly maintained trail is bad news for the plant biodiversity surrounding that trail.
Many areas of Þórsmörk feature fragile moss communities and slow growing flora. Biodiversity in Iceland is characterised by wide interspecies diversity. When answering this question, I explained how the moss species in Iceland are extremely vulnerable and take a long time to recover if trampled by hikers. This then exposes the soil beneath, which leads to continual soil erosion if this cycle of off-trail trampling is not fixed. It creates an ugly scar in the landscape.
This is where trail maintenance comes in. Well-maintained trails protect our vegetation biodiversity, because people walk on the trails and not on the moss. The slide I presented in the panel discussion shows what happens when the trails do not receive the continual support and maintenance required (photo 1). Photo 2 shows The Þórsmörk Trail Volunteers efforts in restoring this same section of trail. It gives the plants the opportunity to grow again.
I would also briefly like to point out the importance of community engagement in our trail maintenance strategy. This is illustrated in photos 6 and 7, a before and after look from 2025. At first glance, it is just another trail. However, the story behind it is grounded in a regenerative tourism approach based on community, stakeholder, and user engagement in our trail network development for both tourism and local use. Hiking guides who operate in the area worked with us to restore this section of trail, while we simultaneously cooperated with the local mountain biking community to develop an alternative route for keen bikers in the area.
In answer to this question, I hope it clarified for the audience that trail maintenance and its impacts go beyond just a one-metre path. Restoration and trail development are strengthened with community engagement and young people’s opportunities to learn about the diversity in biodiversity protection methods. As for barriers, we strongly believe in free volunteering to make these experiences and learning opportunities more accessible to a wider audience of young people. I for one was inspired after joining The Þórsmörk Trails Volunteers as a volunteer myself in 2020. Six years on and I am still in the valley of Þórsmörk and Goðaland, hopefully inspiring the next young graduates.
The final question was addressed to everyone in the panel:
What does a hopeful, just and resilient Arctic future look like from your perspective?
For me, I believe it is one that strongly recognises and acts on the understanding that we are part of nature, not apart from it – an Arctic region that actively responds to the environmental and societal concerns of everyone who lives in the Arctic, not just passively listens. We are all connected in this wider Arctic, and if we can all play our part to be inclusive, respectful, and environmentally conscious, that will lead to a more hopeful future.
I would also like to see improved youth mobility. An Arctic that promotes more environmental programmes which offer holistic training and mentoring for capacity sharing in a way that is accessible and financially viable for youth. After all, this is what influenced my own life, and I am all the more thankful for it.
Many areas of Þórsmörk feature fragile moss communities and slow growing flora. Biodiversity in Iceland is characterised by wide interspecies diversity. When answering this question, I explained how the moss species in Iceland are extremely vulnerable and take a long time to recover if trampled by hikers. This then exposes the soil beneath, which leads to continual soil erosion if this cycle of off-trail trampling is not fixed. It creates an ugly scar in the landscape.
This is where trail maintenance comes in. Well-maintained trails protect our vegetation biodiversity, because people walk on the trails and not on the moss. The slide I presented in the panel discussion shows what happens when the trails do not receive the continual support and maintenance required (photo 1). Photo 2 shows The Þórsmörk Trail Volunteers efforts in restoring this same section of trail. It gives the plants the opportunity to grow again.
I would also briefly like to point out the importance of community engagement in our trail maintenance strategy. This is illustrated in photos 6 and 7, a before and after look from 2025. At first glance, it is just another trail. However, the story behind it is grounded in a regenerative tourism approach based on community, stakeholder, and user engagement in our trail network development for both tourism and local use. Hiking guides who operate in the area worked with us to restore this section of trail, while we simultaneously cooperated with the local mountain biking community to develop an alternative route for keen bikers in the area.
In answer to this question, I hope it clarified for the audience that trail maintenance and its impacts go beyond just a one-metre path. Restoration and trail development are strengthened with community engagement and young people’s opportunities to learn about the diversity in biodiversity protection methods. As for barriers, we strongly believe in free volunteering to make these experiences and learning opportunities more accessible to a wider audience of young people. I for one was inspired after joining The Þórsmörk Trails Volunteers as a volunteer myself in 2020. Six years on and I am still in the valley of Þórsmörk and Goðaland, hopefully inspiring the next young graduates.
The final question was addressed to everyone in the panel:
What does a hopeful, just and resilient Arctic future look like from your perspective?
For me, I believe it is one that strongly recognises and acts on the understanding that we are part of nature, not apart from it – an Arctic region that actively responds to the environmental and societal concerns of everyone who lives in the Arctic, not just passively listens. We are all connected in this wider Arctic, and if we can all play our part to be inclusive, respectful, and environmentally conscious, that will lead to a more hopeful future.
I would also like to see improved youth mobility. An Arctic that promotes more environmental programmes which offer holistic training and mentoring for capacity sharing in a way that is accessible and financially viable for youth. After all, this is what influenced my own life, and I am all the more thankful for it.
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