Arctic Science Summit Week 2024 is happening in Edinburgh, Scotland from March 21st-29th, see the full program here.

A large part of the event is the Arctic Observing Summit, which occurs on the final three days of the week. The AOS draws a wide range of participants from across the spectrum of Arctic observing – Indigenous experts, operational agency representatives, scientists, and others – from around the world. For more information on the AOS, please visit the website www.arcticobservingsummit.org. 

At ASSW we will be involved in:

            High-latitude Fires, Arctic Climate, Environment, and Health (HiFACE 3)

21 March 2024 | 08:30 - 12:30 (UK)

Open Session - HYBRID

Room:  Holyrood (JMCC) 

Organiser:  Adriana Ford (Imperial College London, UK, Matt Kasoar, Steve Arnold (UK), Marianne Tronstad Lund, Michael Karcher (Germany), Vito Vitale (Italy).

Event Description:

This session will provide an overview of current understandings of complex interactions between climate systems, ecosystems, and society. It will identify knowledge and research gaps, and work towards developing recommendations for an interdisciplinary research agenda. Participants will then have the opportunity to contribute to a working paper (currently in draft form), including developing key research recommendations which will be presented to the Arctic Council at this year’s ASSW. Everyone with an interest in high-latitude fires, whether climate, ecological and/or societal, and from different perspectives and disciplines, is welcome to participate (see bottom of page for funding support). This session builds on two previous workshops, held at the ASSW 2022 and at the 7th International Symposium on Arctic Research in 2023. It is split into two parts. The first part will involve presentations covering four emerging key themes, including opportunity for Q&A. The second part will be workshop-style and interactive. Participants will have the opportunity to identify any missing topics/ points within the four identified key themes, and contribute to the recommendations and research agenda. We will be using shared online documents (e.g. Google Docs) in Part 2. It is recommended, but not essential (as notes will be made) to have a laptop to hand.  Finally, we will have a short session on communicating fire pollution health risk for high latitude communities. Contributors in Part 2 will have the opportunity to co-author or be included in the acknowledgements of the paper. You do not need to register, but it would be good to have an idea of numbers and composition, and to stay in touch post-workshop (for those who wish to). If you are planning to attend, please can you complete this form.  DOWNLOAD THE SESSION AGENDA.

The event is organised by a collaborative team involving:

PACES (Air Pollution in the Arctic: Climate, Environment and Societies);

ACRoBEAR (Arctic Community Resilience to Boreal Environmental change: Assessing Risks from fire and disease – University of Leeds) (Steve Arnold, James Ford)

Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society (Imperial College London, King’s College London, University of Reading and Royal Holloway) (Adriana Ford, Matt Kasoar)

Arctic Voices (University of Leeds)

CICERO (Marianne Tronstad Lund)

Arctic PASSION (Michael Karcher, Vito Vitale)

Contact: a.ford@imperial.ac.uk

Joint Community Meeting for the pan-Arctic network of Distributed Biological Observatories (DBOs)

Thursday 21 March 2024 | 10:30 - 18:00 (UK)

Open Session - HYBRID

Room: St Trinnean's (St Leonards)

Organiser: Anna Nikolopoulos (Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway)

Event Description:

Since 2010, the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) has functioned as a “detection array” for ecosystem changes and trends in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean. Similar marine observational networks are being established in the Davis Strait region (DS-DBO), the Atlantic-Arctic sector (A-DBO) and in the East Siberian Sea (S-DBO). These long-term, multi-disciplinary initiatives build on active involvement of scientists with the goal to strengthen the regional assessments of the coupled marine system. The ASSW provides one of the main arenas for the annual exchange of scientific results and organisational matters of the DBOs, both as regional entities and in a joint pan-Arctic sense.

We invite to a full-day workshop for all the Distributed Biological Observatories during which we present the activities undertaken during 2023 and summarise the most prominent results in each arctic sector. We also make room for general discussions on common priorities and opportunities for our future in situ sampling activities and data assessments, and how to connect these to other parallel observing programs and organisational processes.

Joint (Cross-Cutting) IASC Working Groups meeting

21 March 2024 | 15:30 - 18:00 (UK)

Open Session - HYBRID
Room:  South Hall 
Organiser:  Gerlis Fugmann (IASC, Iceland)
Event Description:
Joint meeting of all five IASC Working Groups (Atmosphere, Cryosphere, Marine, Social and Human, Terrestrial). More information at: https://iasc.info/our-work/working-groups 
The International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is a non-governmental, international scientific organisation. The Founding Articles committed IASC to pursue a mission of encouraging and facilitating cooperation in all aspects of Arctic research, in all countries engaged in Arctic research and in all areas of the Arctic region. Overall, IASC promotes and supports leading-edge interdisciplinary research in order to foster a greater scientific understanding of the Arctic region and its role in the Earth system. More information at: https://iasc.info/

IASC Social & Human Working Group meeting

22 March 2024 | 10:30 - 15:30 (UK): Open Session - HYBRID
22 March 2024 | 16:00 - 18:00 (UK): Closed Session / By Invitation Only - HYBRID
Room:  St Trinnean´s (St Leonards)
Organiser:  Catherine Chambers (IASC Social and Human Working Group Chair), Anna Varfolomeeva (IASC Social and Human Working Group Secretary
Event Description:
Meeting of the IASC Social and Human Working Group. More information at: https://iasc.info/our-work/working-groups/social-human  The International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is a non-governmental, international scientific organisation. The Founding Articles committed IASC to pursue a mission of encouraging and facilitating cooperation in all aspects of Arctic research, in all countries engaged in Arctic research and in all areas of the Arctic region. Overall, IASC promotes and supports leading-edge interdisciplinary research in order to foster a greater scientific understanding of the Arctic region and its role in the Earth system. More information at: https://iasc.info/

IASC Social & Human Working Group meeting

22 March 2024 10:30

Room: St. Trinnean's (St. Leonard's)

Arctic Regional Ocean Observing System (Arctic ROOS) Community meeting

23 March 2024 | 10:30 - 12:30 (UK) 

Open Session - HYBRID

Room:  Holyrood (JMCC)

Organiser:  Anna Nikolopoulos (Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway)

Event Description:

Arctic ROOS is an open forum for national agencies, research institutes, universities as well as commercial bodies to inform, share and develop an Arctic Ocean observing system. It is a regional alliance of the European Global Ocean Observing System (EuroGOOS), whose main objective is to harmonise European operational oceanography activities. 

Established in 2007 and having 19 member organisations from 10 countries, Arctic ROOS seeks to coordinate activities with the Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON), the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), and other regional Arctic Ocean observing networks. Our interest is to improve the connections between the fields of in-situ observations, remote sensing products, and modelling/forecasting tools and to work towards better accessibility and useability of observational data. 

The community meeting at ASSW2024 aims to gather those already being part of Arctic ROOS and those curious of who we are and what we do. A detailed agenda of specific items to discuss will be provided.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Polar Science - sharing best practise

23 March 2024 10:30

Room: Prestonfield (JMCC)

Roadmap for Arctic observing and data systems (ROADS) process 

23 March 2024 | 13:30 - 17:00 (UK)
Room: Pollock (St. Leonards)
Organiser: Jan Rene Larsen (AMAP, Norway)
Event Description:
The SAON vision is to develop a roadmap for Arctic observing and data systems (ROADS) to specifically address a key gap in coordination efforts, which is the current lack of a systematic planning mechanism to develop and link observing and data system requirements and implementation strategies in the Arctic region. This coordination gap has hampered partnership development and investments toward improved observing and data systems. ROADS seeks to address this shortcoming through generating a systems-level view of observing requirements and implementation strategies across. The meeting will provide a status of the work.

Indigenous Participation in SAON's Arctic ROADS

24 March 2024 | 10:30 - 12:30 (UK) 

Format: Open Session - HYBRID

Room: Holyrood (JMCC)

Organiser: Margaret Rudolf (International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA)

Event Description:

We invite Indigenous experts to review the Indigenous engagement guidance documentation for SAON's Arctic ROADS. The goal of Arctic ROADS is to build strategic plans and partnerships for Arctic observing to meet Arctic Indigenous communities.

EU Polar Cluster: Coordination and networking for Polar cooperation projects

26 March 2024 | 10:30 - 12:30 (UK) 

Format: Open Session - HYBRID

Room:  Pentland West (JMCC)

Organiser:  Anneli Strobel (Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Germany); Pjotr Elshout (European Polar Board, The Netherlands)

Event Description:

The EU is a major contributor to Polar research that seeks to better understand the challenges the high North is facing in a rapidly changing environment. As part of this contribution, the EU established the EU Arctic Cluster, and was renamed the EU Polar Cluster with the addition of Antarctic Projects in 2019. The Cluster is a growing network of EU-funded Polar research projects and organisations. Its work highlights excellent examples for improved cooperation and synergistic work of EU projects. The Cluster merges a broad spectrum of research and coordination activities and contributes with European-generated knowledge to both regional and global decision making. The aim of this event is to provide an opportunity for the EU Polar Clusters to network and exchange information between the participating projects. In addition, there will be a moderated panel discussion on current topics in European polar research. The presentation of important cluster activities and objectives and the panel discussion will help the projects to find synergies and potentials for cooperation. In addition, strategic consultation on future research needs and research funding will be part of the meeting. The meeting is aimed at members of the EU Polar Cluster projects in particular, but external participants interested in European polar research are also welcome.

Arctic PASSION-specific sessions at AOS include

27.03.2024     

• 9:30: Plenary: Equity in Arctic Observing:  Identify Systemic Hurdles and Approaches to Achieving Equity   in International Arctic Observing Efforts
• 11:00: WG2 'Data Sharing', WG3 'System Implementation and SAON ROADS' and WG4 'Observing System Benefits' 
  
• 13:30: Toward equitable Arctic Observing Systems – tracking human well-being and advancing environmental observations through societal and intersectional lenses

28.03.2024

• 10:00 Plenary: Keynote presentation on wildfire observing needs identified during the SAON ROADS Expert Panel process    
• 11:00: WG2 'Data Sharing', WG3 'System Implementation and SAON ROADS' and WG4 'Observing System Benefits' 
  
• 13:30: Making an inclusive and holistic Arctic Observing system through inclusion of diverse knowledge systems - how to progress? 
• 13:30: Co-designing a pan-Arctic ocean observing alliance (part I)
• 16:00: Guiding Observing Network and Data System Development with Societal Impact Approaches: A Dialog Toward Establishing an Arctic Community of Practice 
• 16:00: Co-designing a pan-Arctic ocean observing alliance (part II)
• 16:00: Understanding the value of capacity sharing in Arctic research: Progress, lessons learned, and next steps from the AOS Capacity Sharing Working Group

29.03.2024     

• 09:00: WG2 'Data Sharing', WG3 'System Implementation and SAON ROADS' and WG4 'Observing System Benefits' 
• 13:30: Launch of the EUPolarnet2 White Paper with recommendations to accelerate the development of a sustained and fully integrated Polar observing system
• 13:30: Wildfire Shared Arctic Variable
  

We look forward to seeing you there and please also meet us at the EU Polar Cluster booth in the main hall.