Nordic Climate Change Adaptation Conference: Registration and call for abstracts

29 August 2012 — 31 August 2012 Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Location: Helsinki, Finland
Venue: Conference Hotel Rantapuisto
Call for submissions: 3/30/2012

Are societies sufficiently aware of and prepared for unprecedented changes due to climate change? This is a central question being posed at the Second Nordic International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation, which will be held in Helsinki on 29-31 August 2012. The website for submission of Abstracts (Deadline 9 March) and Registration has now been opened.

The conference is the second being organized by two Nordic Networks of Excellence operating under the umbrella of a NordForsk initiative on "Effect Studies and Adaptation to Climate Change". the local organizers are the Finnish Environment Institute and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.Leading international researchers have been invited as keynote speakers to provide overviews of the major Conference themes.

Adaptation Research meets Adaptation Decision-Making

The Conference, seeks to identify common ground between adaptation research and adaptation decision-making by comparing experiences, reporting new insights and revealing key gaps in knowledge. Some of the other questions being asked include:

- Many countries have developed climate change adaptation strategies, but do decision-makers really have the appropriate information, expertise and tools available to them to implement adaptation decisions?
- What adaptation research is underway and where is information currently lacking?
- Is it more sensible to wait and see what happens, or to implement adaptation measures right away?
- How should adaptation policies be targeted – where are they needed most and who should be responsible for implementing them?
- Do the adaptation decisions of today need to be effective in 30 years time? In 100 years time?
- What is the cost of climate change to the environment and society, how do we measure that cost and who foots the bill?

The organizers have identified five themes for the Conference:

1. Risk assessment and impact response
2. Vulnerability and adaptive capacity
3. Building resilience
4. Policy development and implementation, and
5. Cross-cutting issues.

Call for Abstracts

You are invited to submit abstracts for oral presentations in the parallel sessions, as well as abstracts for posters. We seek relevant and high-quality contributions from researchers, practitioners and decision-makers. Abstracts will be evaluated by a scientific committee comprising Nordic and external experts.

Accepted abstracts will be published in the abstract book given to all delegates attending the Conference upon registration in Helsinki. The dead line for submitting abstracts is March 30 2012.