Date

Announcing the ARCUS 18th Annual Meeting and Arctic Forum 2006
National Association of Home Builders Conference Center
1201 15th Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
25-26 May 2006

For further information, please contact ARCUS at:
E-mail: info [at] arcus.org
Phone: 907-474-1600


The ARCUS 18th Annual Meeting and Arctic Forum 2006 will be held in
Washington, D.C. on 25-26 May 2006. All sessions will be held at the
National Association of Home Builders Conference Center located in
downtown Washington, D.C.

The focus of this year's Arctic Forum is "International Arctic Research
at a Turning Point: Innovations and Collaborations for the Future." The
Forum will be co-chaired by Craig Tweedie of the University of Texas at
El Paso and Volker Rachold of the International Arctic Science Committee
(IASC).

Arctic Forum 2006 will gather scientists, agency personnel, policy
makers, and other stakeholders for a dynamic exchange of ideas and
solutions on innovations and collaborations for the future of arctic
research. See the detailed description of the 2006 Arctic Forum theme
below.

An agenda and further information on registration, abstract submission,
and hotel specifics will be available on the ARCUS website soon:
http://www.arcus.org/annual_meetings/2006/index.html

Information about registration and abstract submission also will be
distributed via ArcticInfo.


Arctic Forum 2006 Abstract

In response to the growing realization that the Arctic is a complex
integrated system of natural, physical, and social domains inextricably
connected to the larger global system, there has been considerable
movement toward new collaborative modes and approaches of science.
Initiatives and programs such as the International Polar Year (IPY), the
Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), and the Second International
Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP II) underscore the
importance of these developments. Arctic science is at a turning point,
the research community poised to develop unprecedented partnerships and
innovations transcending disciplinary, geographical, political, and
mission-related boundaries.

The ability of arctic researchers to successfully forge and maintain
novel innovations and international partnerships will be critical to the
success of arctic science in the near future, especially in view of
likely agency budget constraints. The arctic community, however, is only
beginning to understand how to successfully design research and
education activities to meet these new directions. Issues such as
stakeholder involvement, multi- and interdisciplinary research, training
of the next generation of scientists, technological innovations, and
data management are all issues in which innovation and collaboration are
all critical, yet still remain a challenge in most contexts.

What new methods, approaches, or innovations will prove successful and
sustainable to advance our understanding of the Arctic? What are the
barriers to success in formal and informal partnerships and what is
needed to overcome these barriers? Arctic Forum 2006 will address these
questions with a 1.5-day open forum featuring a combination of invited
and contributed plenary and poster presentations as well as moderated
panel discussions. Arctic Forum 2006 will gather scientists, agency
personnel, policy makers and other stakeholders for a dynamic exchange
of ideas and solutions on innovations and collaborations for the future
of arctic research.