The first 3-day meeting on “Resilience and adaptive capacity of Arctic marine systems under a changing climate (RACArctic)” was organized by the Arctic Research Center of Hokkaido University (ARC-HU) and was held at Hakodate research center for fisheries and oceans, from March 1-3, 2016.
The said event was attended by 54 participants, representing various scientific, social and industrial communities from 3-collaborating countries (Japan-Norway-US). During the 3-day session, divided into the stakeholders and science meetings, the results of scientific and social researches in the Arctic marine systems were presented and prolific discussions with the resource stakeholders were successfully initiated.
The first day of the event was intended for the stakeholders’ meeting. The session commenced with an overview of the RACArctic tri-lateral collaboration and the general presentations of the climate change, environmental processes and marine ecosystem responses in the Arctic. These talks provided a general introduction of past and present climate and environmental conditions in the Arctic which, helped facilitate the ensuing stakeholders’ meeting. The open discourse amongst the stakeholders was comprised of three workshops which aimed at (1) selecting the points of discussion, (2) identifying the needs and problem, and (3) establishing future perspectives in the Arctic systems. The remaining days of the event were designated for the science meeting, where the findings from other studies on physical-chemical-biological oceanography and fisheries management and governance were presented.
We thank all the participants for their contribution that made this meeting a success.
Sei-Ichi Saitoh
(Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University / ArCS Sub Project Director)
Introductory presentation by Franz Mueter (University of Alaska Fairbanks)
Discussion during the stakeholders’ meeting
Sei-Ichi Saitoh (Hokkaido University) summarizing the discussion
Reception after the stakeholders’ meeting
