With November 1, 2020, we started the EU project FACE-IT (“The Future of Arctic coastal ecosystems – Identifying transitions in fjord systems and adjacent coastal areas”). FACE-IT is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Kai Bischof and Dr. Simon Jungblut from the University of Bremen. Marine Botany Group at the Department of Biology/Chemistry of the University of Bremen and compares Arctic fjord systems at different stages of glacial and sea-ice retreat in Greenland, Svalbard and the Norwegian Finmark.

FACE-IT brings together an interdisciplinary team of experts from the natural and social sciences from 14 institutions and eight nations. The project team is also characterized by a strong involvement of the indigenous population and other local actors in the Arctic.

The project with a duration of four years and a budget of 6.4 million euros is intended to provide the first large-scale systematic comparison of changes in the biodiversity of the Arctic seas and the livelihoods of human inhabitants in Arctic coastal areas.