Project Eco-Light has the possibility to bring about a step change in our understanding of the climate induced changes taking place in the Arctic ecosystem. Given the seriousness of the impacts of Arctic change, enhanced knowledge of the Arctic marine environment has a high socio-economic impact. Consequently ultimate beneficiary of this work will be the academic community, communities around the Arctic, Industry, governments and policy makers. This broad interaction is achievable as our team have a long history of high-level representation at science, industry and policy events, thereby reaching a wide range of Arctic stakeholders. We describe the main academic beneficiaries below.
To ensure the widest dissemination and the involvement of a broad range of stakeholders, we will work in close contact with our Partners, and with the UK and German Arctic Offices. We will implement a range of activities with the aim of achieving the greatest potential for knowledge dissemination and socio-economic impact.
Government
These include the UK and German Ministries, European Union and others, all have an interest in the Arctic Ocean and the opportunities and threats presented by a changing Arctic marine environment. They will benefit from the improved understanding and predictive capacity with respect to the Arctic marine system brought about by this project. This will affect policy development and economic decisions in the UK, Germany and beyond, and contribute to the economic competitiveness of both countries. The research conducted in Eco-Light will improve the scientific knowledge on Arctic ecosystem function, and thus will contribute to the scientific grounds for discussions. In Germany, AWI is directly involved into the ‘Arctic Dialogue’, an interface tool between ministries and research institute.
Workshop
In the later stages of our project we will run a 2-day international impact workshop on Ecosystem function in the Arctic. Beside our international invitees we will provide dedicated space for key UK and German modelling and observational groups. This workshop will consolidate current understanding and include the new insight from this project, and identify the pathways to incorporating the new parameterisations in earth system models.
Outreach
Wider interest groups include school children, students and the general public. We will engage with them via outreach channels available to BAS, UCL, and AWI, including the press offices, websites and publications such as NERC’s Planet Earth magazine, and presentations to the local community. Our cruise blogs will be of particular interest, as will our real time imagery from our autonomous platforms. We will use the knowledge gained within our project to develop new and innovative outreach activities to educate and enthuse a broad range of audiences about the importance of the Arctic in the climate system.
