Russian contributions to an integrated impact assessment of global changes in the Barents Sea region

The First International Research Conference of the Barents Sea Impact Study (BASIS) will take place in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 23 to 26 October 1997. The conference, which will address "Russian contributions to an integrated impact assessment of global changes in the Barents Sea region, is supported by the European Commission within the context of the European Network for Research into Global Change (ENRICH). It is also supported by the International Arctic Science Committee and the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

The main objectives of the conference are to:

- Delineate possible impacts of global changes on the Barents Sea region for the next 20 to 50 years based on expert judgements of participating specialists;
- Identify knowledge gaps that currently prevent an assessment of global change impacts in this region with a particular focus on large-scale mineral, oil and gas developments in the Barents Sea region;
- Outline major steps/elements in/of an integrated assessment in the Barents Sea region;
- Highlight Russian expertise relevant to an integrated assessment of global change and map out Russian contributions to the Barents Sea Impact Study (BASIS).

The conference will consist of invited lectures, poster sessions, plenaries and working groups. The following themes have been specified for working groups and poster sessions:

- Climate and other external forces of global changes;
- Terrestrial environment, ecology and forestry;
- Marine environment, ecology and fisheries;
- Freshwater and estuarian hydrology, ecology and environmental threats;
- Socio-economic structure, indigenous issues and major economic development.
For further information, please contact:

First International BASIS Conference
Dr. S Priamikov
Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
38 Bering str.
199397 St. Petersburg
Russia
Tel. +7-812-3520319; Fax +7-812-3522688
E-mail: aaricoop@aari.nw.ru