Where: Bergen, Norway
When: 25-27 June
Program: Download (24. June - final version)

The Ecosystem Approach to Management (EA) is a widely adopted management principle that requires integrated management across sectors of human activities to achieve sustainable use of natural resources while maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem. The EA approach has been acknowledged, defined and adopted by the Arctic states working under the Arctic Council. In 2013 (Kiruna Declaration), the Arctic Council agreed that there was a need for periodic reviews of EA implementation in the Arctic to exchange information on integrated assessment and management experiences. A first international conference was held in Fairbanks, Alaska, in August 2016 to review status of EA implementation. A second Arctic EA conference will be held in Bergen, Norway, in early summer 2019.

Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) have been recognized as appropriate scale and units to apply the EA to management of the Arctic marine and coastal environment, with due recognition of their open boundaries and the need to integrate information and management across different scales within and beyond an LME. The second conference to review EA implementation in the Arctic will focus on the scale integration issue. Scale integration in the context of EA implementation applies equally to the natural and social sciences that provide the knowledge base for decisions (e.g. through Integrated Ecosystem Assessment), and the management structures and processes where management decisions are made. Local and Traditional Knowledge (LTK) provides equally important information and insight about scale integration, EA implementation and management. LTK will be an element of all topics and discussions during the Conference.

Program with abstracts and links to presentations.

Presentations: