ISAC - International Study of Arctic Change

Responding to Arctic Environmental Change:
Translating Our Growing Understanding into a Research Agenda for Action

30 January – 1 February 2012
Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada

An International Study of Arctic Change Workshop

The International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC, www.arcticchange.org), in partnership with the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University, is holding a Responding to Arctic Environmental Change Workshop, 30 January - 1 February 2012,  at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. This workshop is the first in a planned series of meetings that aim to collectively shape and coordinate initiatives for research that directly addresses the needs of stakeholders who are affected by change or who are addressing arctic environmental change. The long-term objective is to enable local people, the arctic nations and the wider global community, including the scientific community, to better respond to a changing Arctic. This workshop, endorsed by the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), is a pre-IPY 2012 Conference event.  It is intended to develop a science plan that will feed into and further evolve at IPY 2012 Conference “From Knowledge to Action”.

In spring 2011, ISAC, in partnership with SEARCH, ArcticNet and the International Arctic Research Center, held a meeting at the University of Alaska Fairbanks that brought together representatives of diverse arctic organizations from 11 different nations to discuss the future of collaboration and cooperation in arctic environmental change research. The final report of that meeting is now available. 

Meeting goals were to:
1. Identify mechanisms for improving international cooperation in arctic environmental change research programs;
2. Begin planning for an Arctic Observing Summit;
3. Implementation of the Responding to Change Component of th ISAC Science Program.

Major outcomes from the meeting included:

1. A detailed overview of many existing programs and collaborative agreements among nations and institutions;
2. Expansion of the scientific planning process to include new scientific communities;
3. Agreement on the need to continue to pursue and expand collaborations, avoid duplication of effort and improve coverage of observation programs;
4. Itemization of key questions and issues that need to be addressed to expand and improve international collaboration in arctic research;
5. Identification of specific actions by ISAC to faciliate information flow and collection;
6. Development of recommendations for activities leading to an Arctic Observing Summit;
7. Agreement on next steps in Arctic Observing Summit planning;
8. Identification of a diverse stakeholder communities in different nations;
9. Recommendation for the scope and structure of the first ISAC Responding to Change workshop.

To download the full report please click here:

Understanding Biodiversity Changes and Causes - Synergies in Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Research and Monitoring Sonnerupgaard Gods, Hvalsø, Denmark 12 October 2011 International, regional, national and local actors have initiated projects and programmes to improve our knowledge of landscape, climate and ecosystems, and to improve our ability to detect changes so as to deal with some of the biodiversity challenges in the Arctic today. Although there is some coordination between some projects and programmes, there are still gaps in knowledge including our understanding of spatial variability in biodiversity, and changes and processes influencing biodiversity. The International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic (INTERACT), the International Arctic Science Committee Terrestrial Working Group (IASC TEG) and the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program Terrestrial Expert Monitoring Group (CBMP TEMG) have jointly arranged a workshop on 12 October 2011 in Denmark to identify gaps in our knowledge and understanding of Arctic biodiversity, and to identify areas of potential collaboration. To read more about the workshop and see the draft agenda, please visit the INTERACT web-site for more information.