YOPP Special Session at the 9th International Congress on Arctic Social Science (ICASS IX)

The Societal and Economic Research and Applications (SERA) sub-committee of the Polar Prediction Project (PPP) will hold a special session at the upcoming ICASS (International Congress on Arctic Social Science) conference. ICASS IX takes place from 08-12 June, 2017 in Umeå, Sweden.

The session entitled Exploring the user-producer interface of weather and sea ice information in support of Arctic marine mobilities: defining social and interdisciplinary science contributions to the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) will explore the complexities of actors, information needs, information systems and infrastructures, funding structures, data management approaches, and applications of weather and sea ice prediction services in the polar regions. For more information see on the workshop website http://iassa.org/icass-ix and the session overview (pdf file).

Session Overview:
The Polar Prediction Project (PPP) is a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) initiative to support coordinated international research efforts to improve weather and environmental prediction services for the polar regions. The Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) is one of the flagship activities of the PPP, with a core phase from mid-2017 to mid-2019. This session is organized by members of the Societal and Economic Research and Applications (SERA) sub-committee of the PPP, in an effort to ensure that considerations around translating scientific success into societal value are incorporated within YOPP to inform and guide scientific and technological improvements.

In this session we seek to better understand the complexities of actors, information needs, information systems and infrastructures, funding structures, data management approaches, and applications of weather and sea ice prediction services in the polar regions. This session aims to discuss priority themes emerging from recent SERA meetings (please refer to the attached document for more details).

We encourage contributions from a diversity of social science and humanities disciplines, from a range of career stages, and from Indigenous Peoples, northern residents, decision-makers and politicians, as well as academics, working on issues related to this user-producer interface of weather and sea ice information. We are particularly interested in those related to Arctic marine mobilities, although we are open to diverse experiences and applications.

We hope that this session will start to bring together a broad network of researchers interested in these issues, and that presentations and discussions in this session can help to guide SERA activities and encourage more involvement of social science and humanities research in the YOPP.

Abstract submission:
The deadline for abstract submissions is 16 December, 2016. Please visit the conference website to submit your abstract. Under the "Themes, Sessions, & Submission" tab, click on "Theme 17 - Research Methodologies". Click the green “Submit” button, and then select session 17.15 to be included in the YOPP session.

For any questions, please contact Gita (gita_ljubicic@carleton.ca) or Machiel (machiel.lamers@wur.nl).

Session Organizers:
Dr. Gita Ljubicic (Carleton University), Dr. Machiel Lamers (Wageningen University), Dr. Jackie Dawson (University of Ottawa), Dr. Maaike Knol (University of Tromsø)