Proposal to the Svalbard Strategic Grant for the realization of a side meeting prior to the Svalbard Science Conference in Oslo 2019

The Ny-Ålesund Terrestrial Flagship program is one of four NySMAC flagship programs that aim to coordinate and integrate international and national research and monitoring. The Terrestrial Ecosystem Flagship focus on ecosystem-based research on tundra, fresh water and soil in and around Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (Coulsen et al. 2010; Pedersen et al. 2016). This proposal will specifically target the Terrestrial Flagship by providing a side meeting on November 4, 2019 prior to the second Svalbard Science Conference on November 5-6, 2019 in Oslo. Before the planned meeting in Oslo, two workshops have been organized, one in Ny-Ålesund (2018) and the second in Longyearbyen (2019) to further develop the collaboration and cooperation between groups, identify knowledge gaps, and write joint research manuscripts and proposals. The side meeting in Oslo will further enhance cooperation and quality within Svalbard research, build and strengthen interdisciplinary and international networks and consolidate Svalbard as an attractive platform for Arctic research. This project will finalize the text of the first scientific publication of the Terrestrial Flagship, discuss the future working plan for the various working groups in the Flagship, discuss intensive contact and collaboration with other terrestrial programs in Svalbard and beyond, and further develop and re-inforce the structure of the group by preparing a joint grant proposal. The outcome of the side meeting will contribute to 1) increase the scientific cooperation within terrestrial studies in Svalbard, 2) help to increase the coordination of activities and 3) provide a published article that sums up ecological studies conducted in Ny-Ålesund, identifying gaps and new links to combine studies within an ecosystem-based framework.