
As the sea ice retreats and the Arctic Ocean becomes increasingly accessible, pressures from human activities are also increasing. These growing pressures increase the risks marine ecosystems and biodiversity are facing and threaten current approaches to marine management and conservation.
Ecosystem-based Management (EBM) is endorsed at the highest level, including UN bodies and states. The Arctic Council embraces Ecosystem-Based Management of human activities in the Arctic to achieve sustainable use of ecosystem goods and services and maintenance of ecosystem integrity and is issuing guidance for its implementation that involve Indigenous peoples, local communities and industry stakeholders. Likewise, EBM is increasingly a topic of interest in universities and academia.
Arctic Council Ministers agreed in 2013 (Kiruna Declaration) to the following definition for EBM:
In the Arctic, we are faced with applying EBM in a situation where marine ecosystems are changing fundamentally. How should EBM be pursued when future environmental conditions are increasingly uncertain, rendering data on past conditions are questionable as guides to future dynamics? How should EBM be pursued when the use of Arctic seas for transport and industry is continuously expanding, creating new and expanded pressures in the Arctic?
What We Like to Do:
This conference will exchange current lessons and best practices for the implementation of EBM in the Arctic and examine how these practices reflects the knowledge, the goals, the advise, and the voices of the people living in and from the Arctic. We explore pathways toward a future with a holistic perspective in managing the regions fast changing marine ecosystem.
Who do we Invite:
Through three sessions, that encapsulate different parts of the EBM we invite:
- Keynote speakers to inspire and challenge us.
- Scientists, early career scientists, students (and youth) to present their fields of study (or questions).
- Indigenous Knowledge holders to share and provide guidance based on their cultural values, worldviews, and perspectives.
- Governing bodies to disentangle the challenges of cross-sectorial approaches and explore how they can contribute to apply holistic ecosystem knowledge to decisions, management, and operations in an evolving Arctic.

We will begin each day with a series of relevant presentations followed by questions and a panel debate convened by the Arctic Council working groups. After the presentations and the Panel debate, we will continue the discussions and knowledge exchange during Poster sessions, World-cafes and Fish-bowls and other university-level happenings. We will also summarize lessons learned and making this public available after the conference, continue to build on experiences from the Conferences and ongoing work within the Joint EA Expert Group (PAME, CAFF, AMAP and SDWG) in the Arctic Council (use link above for more info). We will use all experiences and lessons in planning the next EA Conference.
Co-conveners and Organizing Committee
The organizing committee consists of the Arctic Council working groups PAME, AMAP, CAFF and SDWG, as well as the experts from Arctic Council member states, Permanent Participants and Observer organizations ICES and WWF.
The financial sponsor of this conference is the Norwegian Chair-ship of the Arctic Council, the Institute of Marine Research in Tromsø, Norway, and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and Tromsø Municipality.
The Universities in the Arctic will support and facilitate the Conference with early career scientists and events.
Background of the Ecosystem Based Management
The Ecosystem Based Management (also called Ecosystem Approach “EA”) have been considered within governance for the last two decades and considered by indigenous knowledge holders from time immemorial. In 2004, as a part of the Arctic Marine Strategic Plan (AMSP), the Arctic Council Ministerial approved the Ecosystem Based Management as an overarching principle and approach to Arctic governance. The definition of Ecosystem Based Management (see above) along with principles and recommendations were adopted (Kiruna Declaration 2013). In its 2015 and 2017 ministerial declarations, the Arctic Council requested and encouraged the development of practical guidelines for Ecosystem Based Management implementation in the Arctic. The Ecosystem Based Management expert group in PAME became the Joint EA Expert Group with three other Arctic Council working groups (AMAP, CAFF, and SDWG). The Guidelines for implementing Ecosystem Based Management of Arctic Marine Ecosystems were welcomed by the 2019 Arctic Council ministerial.
For more than a decade The Joint EA Expert Group have developed the scientific, policy, and indigenous and local knowledge foundations to enable the implementation of the ecosystem approach. This work includes several Reports, a number of Workshops, and two international conferences.
Key background documents and further information
- The first international conferences on EA implementation in the Arctic (Fairbanks, Alaska, 2016) https://pame.is/projects/ecosystem-approach/ea-conferences/ea-conference
- The second international conference on EA implementation in the Arctic (Bergen, Norway, 2019) https://pame.is/projects/ecosystem-approach/ea-conferences).
- Kiruna Declaration (2013) http://hdl.handle.net/11374/93) https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/bitstream/handle/11374/93/MM08_Kiruna_Declaration_final_formatted.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y
- Rovaniemi (2019) https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/bitstream/handle/11374/2418/Rovaniemi_Ministerial_Statements.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
- The EA working group in PAME: https://pame.is/projects/ecosystem-approach
- The MPA working group in PAME: https://pame.is/projects/marine-protected-areas
- 5th EA Workshop (2015). Methodology and status of development of ecological (quality) objectives for Arctic Large Marine Ecosystems: https://pame.is/protected-area-ea/2015/5th-ea-workshop-bergen
- 6th EA Workshop (2018). The 6th EA Workshop on Ecosystem Approach Guidelines and Integrated Ecosystem Assessment, co-sponsored by the Joint Ecosystem Approach Expert Group (PAME, AMAP, CAFF, SDWG) and the ICES. https://pame.is/projects/ecosystem-approach/ea-documents-and-workshop-reports/6th-ea-workshop
- 7th EA Workshop on Value and Valuation (delayed) Values and valuation of the cultural, social and economic goods and services produced by the ecosystems: https://pame.is/projects-new/ecosystem-approach-to-management/ea-workshops/432-7th-ea-workshop-on-value-and-valuation
- The CBD Global Biodiversity Framework. https://www.cbd.int/article/cop15-cbd-press-release-final-19dec2022
- The IPBES Summary for Policy Makers from their 2022 Values and Valuation Assessment. https://www.ipbes.net/the-values-assessment
- The SPM from the IPBES Sustainable Use Assessment. https://www.ipbes.net/sustainable-use-assessment