Arctic Coastal Research International Science Plan (ACRISP)  Workshop

Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, Netherlands, 22-26 October 2006

 Arctic Coastal Dynamics (ACD) is a joint project of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and the International Permafrost Association (IPA). Its overall objective is to improve our understanding of circum-arctic coastal dynamics as a function of environmental forcing, cryology, coastal geology and morphodynamic behaviour. Information on the latest developments of ACD can be found in the report of the 5th ACD workshop  held in Montreal in 2004  and in the most recent ACD newsletter.

The 6th IASC-sponsored ACD workshop will take place at the Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, Netherlands, from 22-26 October 2006.  The five-year science plan which guided the first phase of the ACD project expired at the end of 2005.  A central goal of the 2006 workshop will therefore be to identify the key science questions for the second phase of ACD and to develop a plan for implementing the science agenda.  Candidate science questions have been suggested in the Coastal Working Group report from the Second International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP II) and will be developed within the context of International Polar Year (IPY) activities in the coastal margins cluster (IPY Full Proposal #90). Additional goals are the development of a template for monitoring activities within an international network of Arctic coastal observatories, and the integration of ACD activities with other organizations.

The workshop will start off with a plenary session to bring participants up to date on recent developments.  The plenary session will also outline charges to the working groups for the following three days.  As recommended at the last ACD workshop and at ICARP II, the interactions between people and the coastal environment will be a central cross-cutting theme in the discussions.  Additional suggested themes include 1) the transition between onshore and offshore permafrost, 2) modelling of land-ocean interactions, 3) biogeochemical fluxes, 4) remote sensing and geophysical tools, and 5) the coastal observatory network.  The workshop will culminate in a final plenary session to discuss recommendations for the ACD II science plan.

The workshop will afford scientists from various fields of Arctic coastal research the opportunity to exchange data and ideas through oral presentations, poster sessions, and discussion sessions.  We hope that the 6th ACD Workshop becomes a venue at which long-lasting bridges across disciplines are built.  The workshop results will be synthesized and distilled into its main deliverable, a Science and Implementation Plan which will guide ACD II through the IPY and beyond.