The 6^th NRF Open Assembly will be held in Hveragerði, Iceland in the beginning of September. From 3^rd - 6^th of September the theme "Our Ice Dependent World" will be addressed.

Representatives from Canada, USA, Russia, China, India and Nepal are amongst others joining forces to discuss this issue. It regards not only the Arctic and Antarctica, but also the Himalayas.

Arctic Portal will record the Assembly and webcast it.

The overall objective is to address the impact of dwindling ice – terrestrial as well as ocean bound - on the complex interface of nature and society in all climatic zones of the world. In light of the man-made part of climate change, particularly meaning global warming, and the natural phenomena of ice is gradually becoming a concept of global politics – a common heritage of humankind- affecting societal life in quite dramatic ways on a global scale.

This turn in the interrelationship and working of the society/nature interface is the focus of the Assembly requiring two intertwined questions to be addressed:

• First, what will the economic, industrial, cultural and political consequences of the accelerating global ice melt be in different time spans, i.e. in the short (5-10 years), medium (10-20 years) and long term (20- years)?
• Second, what economic, industrial, cultural and political possibilities and challenges are facing human kind in light of global ice reductions?

There are also more subthemes which can be seen at the Assemblies website along with more information about the Assembly.