Special Sessions
(S2) MOSAiC and Beyond: Cross-Cutting Results and Future Plans for Icebreaker-Based Arctic Research
Main convener: Yusuke Kawaguchi; Co-conveners: M. Granskog, D. Nomura, J. Inoue
This session invites contributions presenting recent findings and upcoming plans from Arctic field campaigns supported by icebreakers, focusing on interdisciplinary work encompassing meteorology, oceanography, biogeochemistry, and environmental technology. A key emphasis is the MOSAiC expedition aboard Polarstern (2019–2020), which produced unprecedented datasets revealing intricate atmosphere–ice–ocean interactions. We also welcome results from other Polarstern cruises (e.g., ArcWatch) and studies around Svalbard, marginal ice zones, and fjords, where localized processes reflect broader environmental change. Presentations featuring innovative methods, emerging sensor technologies, autonomous platforms, and integrated modeling approaches are especially encouraged. By bringing together researchers involved in current and planned Arctic campaigns, this session aims to deepen scientific understanding, foster collaboration, and help shape the future of Arctic research.
(S3) Toward the second Synoptic Arctic Survey in 2030 – a springboard for the 5th International Polar Year 2032–33
Main convener: Shigeto Nishino; Co-conveners: C. Ashjian, K. Azetsu-Scott, K. Cho, J. Grebmeier, M. Hatta, J. He, S. Kang, A. Olsen, Ø. Paasche, W. Williams, E. Yang
The Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS) is a coordinated multi-ship, multi-nation, pan-Arctic, ship-based sampling campaign that was conducted during 2020-2022 to study pan-Arctic ocean-circulation, biogeochemical cycles, and marine ecosystems. The SAS project is planning for a second ship-based sampling campaign (SAS II) in 2030. In this session, we will discuss the results from the first SAS project and plans for the success of SAS II. A side meeting focused on the SAS II Science and Implementation Plan will be held. This session is in-person, but the side meeting will be hybrid (in-person and online meeting by Zoom).
(S4) Arctic Observing Network and international collaboration – perspectives from Asia, Europe and North America
Main convener: Jeremy Wilkinson; Co-conveners: M. Karcher, A. Sundfjord, T. Sueyoshi, T. Kikuchi, M. Murray, C. Lee
The Arctic region is experiencing dramatic environmental, economic, and societal changes that not only have implications for the high latitudes, but are likely to lead to profound global consequences and risks. Because of these global connections a comprehensive Arctic observational network is needed now more than ever. Over the past decade great strides have been made to co-design and co-produce a coherent, integrated Arctic Observing Network. Such efforts have been undertaken in Europe with projects such as INTAROS and Arctic PASSION, as well as in Asia and North America as part of their research programmes.
What is needed is an observing system that removes known barriers, is inclusive of different knowledge systems and is sustained by adequate funding. This requires intense cooperation and coordination across cultures, countries and sectors. We welcome contributions that provide an up-to-date overview of the present status of the observing network, the challenges that still need to be overcome and the programmes and organisations that are involved in this process. A focus should be on the way forward and what is needed to implement a functional, useful and equitable Arctic Observing Network structure moving towards the IPY and beyond.
Joint Session (S5)(S6)
(S5) Approaches to Sea Ice and Climate Predictions, Process Studies for Advancing Understanding and Forecasting, and Their Utilization for Stakeholders
Main-convener: Jun Ono; Co-convener: Y. Niwa
Sea ice is one of the key components of Earth’s climate system and plays a critical role in shaping climate through its influence on the global energy, heat, and water budgets. Satellite observations have revealed a decreasing trend in sea ice extent in the Arctic and also drastic sea-ice reduction in the Antarctic (since around 2016), enhancing scientific and societal interest in sea ice variability and its implications. This session invites contributions to diverse approaches to sea ice prediction and process studies aimed at improving forecast accuracy, leveraging observations, modeling, and theory. Additionally, the session explores the practical utilization of sea ice forecast information, underscoring its relevance to the scientific community and socio-economic sectors, particularly in relation to Arctic marine ecosystems and shipping routes. We also encourage studies from humanities, social sciences, and interdisciplinary perspectives to address these pressing challenges.
(S6) Sea ice research and machine learning: Opportunities to fill knowledge gaps
Main convener: Gaelle Veyssiere; Co-conveners: L. van Zeeland, J. Wilkinson
Monitoring and modelling of sea ice are crucial aspects for understanding the changing Arctic and Antarctic environments, especially if we are to reduce uncertainty in predicting future system changes, inform and guide mitigation and adaptation measures, support risk assessments, and sustainable development. However, due to the limitations of current observational and predictive techniques and model uncertainties significant gaps remain. Machine Learning (ML) is emerging as a transformative approach for addressing these research challenges by enhancing predictive capabilities and filling voids in our observational network. By integrating ML-driven approaches, researchers can fill data holes, correct biases in models, and generate more robust forecasts of sea ice properties under different climate change scenarios. This interdisciplinary session aims to bring together the many different ML methodologies that are being applied to sea ice including remote sensing data, in-situ measurements, and physical models. These ML techniques are advancing our understanding of key sea ice features and to generate more reliable forecasts of sea ice behaviour. By convening this interdisciplinary session, from sea ice (physics, biogeochemistry and biology), remote sensing, and machine learning disciplines, this session will promote interdisciplinary dialogue, explore recent efforts and highlight the challenges and future directions in this rapidly evolving field.
(S8) Indigenous ontologies and ecological knowledge: perspectives from Sakha Sire
Main-convener: Stanislav Ksenofontov
Indigenous people in the Arctic comprise only 4% of the total world population. They heavily rely on their land, water for food, shelter, and their livelihood, as well as for their cultural and spiritual well-being. In current climatic upheavals such livelihoods are becoming more under threat. Sakha People of the Northeastern Siberia are the largest Indigenous group in this region with a population numbering half a million, yet many rural Sakha struggle with effects of climate change and thawing permafrost that surrounds them. This session will bring together Sakha scholars from different academic backgrounds to present a range of perspectives focusing on traditional understanding of tight/close/synonym relations between people and environment. We aim to shed light on the ontologies and epistemologies of Sakha people with a special emphasis on Indigenous ecological knowledge, ever so important at the time of ecological precarity.
(S10) Myth, Memory, and Mobilization: Interdisciplinary Insights into Indigenous Experiences of War
Main convener: Hiroki Takakura; Co-convener: D. Brandišauskas
This session aims to explore the multifaceted experiences and representations of war from Indigenous perspectives through an interdisciplinary lens, combining history, anthropology, folklore, law and political science. The session will also focus on the symbolic and spiritual dimensions of war, exploring heroic epics, storytelling traditions, offering insights into the deeper cultural meanings of conflict. Contemporary issues, such as Indigenous mobilization in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict and other instances of forced or voluntary participation, will be addressed.
Joint Session (S11)(S12)
(S11) Indigenous Food Security, Sovereignty, and Lifeways in the Northern Communities
Main-convener: Yoko Kugo
This session invites projects relating to Indigenous food security, sovereignty, and lifeways due to climate and socioeconomic changes in the Arctic and sub-Arctic communities and its related areas and from local/Indigenous perspectives. Indigenous food sovereignty topics in this session includes relationships between humans and non-humans, cultural skills of harvesting, sharing, and storing food, Indigenous knowledge of the land, and how northern communities have maintained their lifeways while adapting to these changes wrought by colonialism and other factors.
(S12) Food Sovereignty and Food Security in the Arctic
Main convener: Jun Akamine; Co-convener: D. Anderson
The Arctic’s ecological, cultural, and geopolitical significance faces rapid changes from global warming, increased connectivity, and shifting political dynamics, affecting food sovereignty and security. Food sovereignty refers to the right to shape and manage food systems, emphasizing local production, cultural traditions, and environmental sustainability. For Arctic Indigenous populations, it highlights ancestral wisdom, subsistence practices, and foraging, crucial to cultural identity and self-determination. In contrast, food security ensures access to adequate, safe, and nutritious food for a healthy lifestyle, evaluated by availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability. Arctic food security is shaped by environmental, economic, and social factors. This discussion explores the relationship between food sovereignty and security, underscoring their importance in addressing sustainability, fairness, and resilience in the Arctic.
(S13) Designing Quality of Life in Arctic Communities Amid Global Transformations in Environmental, Political, and Economic Processes
Main-convener: Naotaka Hayashi
This panel proposes to explore the quality of life (QOL) in Arctic communities amidst the global transformations in environmental, political, and economic processes. Research solely focusing on climate change impacts can sometimes fail to capture community dynamics from a broader perspective. We will view these global changes as a backdrop that shapes the lives of Arctic residents. The QOL approach can help provide a more holistic understanding of community building in the Arctic. We invite papers that address challenges facing local communities, analyze them, and offer food for thought on potential solutions. This approach aligns with the concept of “social design,” which broadly refers to thoughtful community development or the mobilization of community assets to improve well-being and enhance the community’s QOL. This session will focus particularly on social capital—the quality of connections within and between individuals and communities—rather than solely on economic development.
(S15) Advancing Arctic Urban Sustainability through Diversity and Inclusion
Main-convener: Aileen Aseron Espiritu
Our Special Session aims to analyse how Arctic Urban Sustainability may be advanced through diversity, inclusion, and international cooperation.
(S17) Asian-Arctic collaboration for research and education
Main convener: Takafumi Hirata; Co-conveners: F. Ohnishi, S. Uto, Y. Kodama
We would like to solicit research results or plans of inter- and trans-disciplinary studies, for example, disruptive Arctic climate change, its linkage with mid-latitudes, permafrost degradation, sea ice loss, ecosystem restructuring, shipping, economy, and international relations between Asia and the Arctic. This session will be a gathering of the extended “Asia-Arctic Network for Research and Education (AANRE).”
(S18) Asian geopolitics in the Arctic. Motives, cooperation and conflict
Main convener: Timo Mohr; Co-convener: F. Ohnishi
This session explores the Arctic’s rising significance in geopolitics, focusing on Russia’s strategic energy projects, the Northern Sea Route, and shifting alliances with Northeast Asian countries. Discussions will address the interplay between normative aspirations and realpolitik, highlighting the region’s potential as a hub of global cooperation and competition.