Kongsfjorden System Flagship Program - Creating a network for further enhancement of marine related research and monitoring in Ny-Ålesund

The Kongsfjord Flagship Program (KFP) is one of the four Ny-Ålesund flagship programs and coordinates marine research in and around Kongsfjorden and Ny-Ålesund. As marine research activities have increased lately both in scope and magnitude, and many of these activities are campaign or project based, coordination of these activities is vital in terms of achieving a broader and more in-depth study outcome, new research opportunities through joint research, and a minimized environmental impact through joint field work and data sharing. The Kongsfjord Flagship aims at setting up yearly meeting places to plan and coordinate present and future research ideas. To broaden the scope of the Kongsfjorden Flagship, corporations with the three other Ny-Ålesund Flagships are planned, as well as corporations with the other research bases on Svalbard (Longyearbyen, Hornsund, and Barentsburg). The Kongsfjord Flagship is divided in seven thematically working groups. The WGs are not structurally rigid and links between the WGs are sought to be made in order to deepen and broaden the attempts to answer research questions. The Kongsfjorden Flagship initiative operates in a bottom-up approach, meaning that the network is open to all scientists interested in or working on marine science questions in Ny-Ålesund, on Svalbard, and beyond.