Involvement of young researcher in Arctic Research Planning – the long process of ICARP II and what came out of it

In November 2005 the second International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP II) took place in Copenhagen. It brought together over 450 scientists, policy makers, research managers, Indigenous Peoples and others interested in and concerned about the future of Arctic Research, The conference was the culmination of a 24-month planning process involving over 140 scientists working to develop research plans around thirteen critical research themes identified to guide international cooperation over the next 10-15 years (see: www.icarp.dk). What was new was that young scientists were deeply involved from beginning on in developing the research plans. It became clear during the work of the Conference that the Arctic is a system that can no longer be divided into traditional disciplines. The linkages to other disciplines and other knowledge systems and to the global system are critical and must be addressed in the post-conference process.

To build on the ICARP II effort, chairs and young scientists from the working groups, representatives of the sponsoring agencies and members of the steering group met in Potsdam, Germany, in November 2006 to use the rationale laid out in the working group reports to focus future science activity in the post International Polar Year environment. The original marine working groups were, unavoidably, somewhat arbitrarily divided into shelf, margin/gateways and deep basin regions. Through their membership, each group reflected longstanding differences in scientific disciplines and focus on each of these segments of the Arctic Ocean. These cultural differences are evident in the WG reports as redundancies in and gaps between the WG reports. During the follow-up meeting the three marine working groups were integrated to develop joint, cross-disciplinary ICARP II studies.

To integrate the science activities coming out of the three existing ICARP II marine working groups and to animate their recommendations AOSB has established an ICARP II Marine Roundtable (http://www.aosb.org/programs.html). The ICARP II Marine Roundtable is initially chaired by Bernie Coakley with assistance from young scientists (Karen Frey and Carolyn Wegner). After the first meeting, it is the intention of the Roundtable to turn over this initiative to the early career scientists.  This is a first step to really integrate young scientists into long-term research planning and a great opportunity to actively promote the international interdisciplinary dialog necessary to make the marine science plans a reality. The first meeting will take place in St. Petersburg on 7 July 2008, just preceding the SCAR/IASC Open Science Conference.
To further involve young scientists in Arctic research planning AOSB created funding to support early career scientists in international arctic marine planning meetings. This new initiative entitled NRG (New Research Generation) aims to promote the inclusion of early career Arctic scientists and engineers in the Arctic marine science planning process. This is a great chance to get involved and everybody interested in international science planning should benefit from it!

For more information contact Carolyn Wegner or Hugues Lantuit.