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    Scientific Committee Symposium

    Full Name
    Scientific Committee Symposium 2016
    Location:
    Hobart, Australia
    Meeting Start Date/Time:
    Meeting End Date/Time:

    The Symposium will be held on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the CCAMLR Secretariat, Hobart, Australia. The Symposium will be conducted in the four official languages of the Commission and will be open to all Members and Observers to SC-CAMLR-XXXV.

    Detailed information is provided in the Scientific Committee Symposium 2016 information (95.34 KB) document.

      Preliminary Agenda

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      1     Introduction – scene setting and objectives

      The Scientific Committee is holding a two-day symposium immediately prior to SC-CAMLR-XXXV in order to review the strategic direction of the Committee and its working groups (SC-CAMLR-XXXIV, paragraph 13.7). The Symposium will be conducted in the official languages of CCAMLR and will be open to all Members and Observers to SC-CAMLR-XXXV. Rather than having an adopted report, the outcomes of the Symposium will be reported by the Scientific Committee Chair to SC-CAMLR-XXXV and incorporated, as needed, in the SC-CAMLR-XXXV report.

      Day 1 of the Symposium will focus on priorities for scientific research and advice, and day 2 will consider processes needed to achieve delivery of strategic work and advice.

      2     Identifying priorities for the Scientific Committee

      The Symposium is a continuation of the work that was started in 2015 at the Scientific Committee (provided here in Appendices 1 and 2) and aims to use a risk-based framework to identify what the Scientific Committee needs to deliver to the Commission annually and also what other scientific advice will be required by the Commission at annual or greater timescales. The Symposium will also consider how to set realistic expectations and timetables for delivery.

      3     Delivery mechanisms

      Having identified the priority science and timetable required by the Scientific Committee, the Symposium will consider the mechanisms required to deliver that advice. This will provide an opportunity to review normal operating practice and the terms of reference of the existing working groups.

      The Symposium will also review the role of Members and Scientific Committee representatives in determining the level of expertise and participation at working group meetings and how responsive Members are to changing agendas etc. The Symposium will also consider ways to increase scientific engagement through outreach and capacity building, including the CCAMLR Scientific Scholarship Scheme, as well as reviewing the working group terms of reference and meeting formats. Understanding how Members view engagement in the work of the Scientific Committee will be essential in determining strategic direction and realistic objectives and timelines.

      4     Challenges for the future

      The Symposium will consider how to better engage with the broader Antarctic scientific community through regional bodies such as SCAR, SOOS, ICED, IWC etc., as well as NGOs in order to promote engagement and transparency in the work of the Scientific Committee. Options include publishing comprehensive metadata of CCAMLR data holdings to promote discoverability of data, and publication (with other stakeholders) of a ‘state of the ecosystem’ report.