Conference: Convergence Approaches to Arctic Coasts

The Arctic is experiencing rapid environmental changes that present challenges to the natural environment, built environment, and social systems that have sustained Arctic peoples and ecosystems for generations. These changes are strongly evident in Arctic coastal systems. New research on Arctic coastal systems has been supported through both the Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) program and the Coastlines and People (CoPe) program. However, coordination and synthesis among these Arctic coastal projects and new perspectives are needed to fully understand these rapid changes. The project team will convene an Arctic Coasts workshop to bring together several large, convergent research project teams, Indigenous and local community members, and decision makers focused on Arctic coasts. The goal of the Arctic Coasts workshop is to bring together a diverse set of people to exchange knowledge and information about coastal hazard impacts, enhance collaborative networks, and deliver tangible products that support community priorities and lead to outcomes beyond the single workshop. The workshop will produce a report that: (1) enhances knowledge exchange across multiple groups for effective communication and collaboration; (2) identifies and documents key strategies to address natural/social/engineering issues resulting from environmental changes in the Arctic; (3) builds collaborative teams and identifies convergent research topics prioritized by community members; and (4) identifies educational needs, challenges, and opportunities for students in Arctic coastal communities. Ultimately, the Arctic Coasts workshop contributes to the NNA goal of empowering new research partnerships from local to international scales, diversifying the next generation of Arctic researchers, enhancing efforts in formal and informal education, and integrating the co-production of knowledge where appropriate. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.