A document summarizing the first-ever Arctic Science Ministerial that was held in Washington, DC, at the White House on September 28, 2016, is now available at the Arctic Science Portal.
The Summary includes the meeting agenda, a list of participants, a White House “fact sheet” that describes the outcomes from the meeting, a Joint Statement of Ministers, a list of media reports on the event, and also a compilation of two-page descriptions of Arctic science support provided by the ministerial delegations of 24 nations and the European Union.
The White House Science Ministerial Meeting is the first-ever gathering of Science Ministers, or their representatives, of 25 nations and the European Union and representatives from Arctic Indigenous peoples’ organizations to discuss international scientific collaboration in the Arctic. The Joint Statement of the Ministers focuses on the urgent need for increased monitoring and research to better understand the causes and consequences of the rapidly changing Arctic environmental system.
On the Ministerial Meeting, several new initiatives were highlighted, including APPLICATE (Advanced Prediction in Polar regions and beyond: modelling, observing system design and LInkages associated with a Changing Arctic climaTE), the €8 million project, financed by the EU HORIZON 2020 Research and Innovation programme), which kicked off this November. For this project, Arctic Portal will be handling outreach and communications efforts.