The Arctic marine environment is under rapid change, both in its physical and biotic conditions. The gradual loss of sea ice, increase in temperature, invasive species and compounding effects of additional ecosystem stressors are identified as likely causes of the observed turnover of Arctic species. Other issues of concern are the climatic tipping elements that are known to have affected the region in the geologic past, and that could well affect the region in the future, precipitating a regime shift of unprecedented magnitude. Predicting these changes in the Arctic ecosystem is hindered by several knowledge gaps, particularly in terms of mechanistic understanding of the coupling between drivers and responses. At stake are two important marine ecosystem services that human societies rely on; carbon sequestration with its feedback to global climate, and fisheries production that is the economic lifeblood of many of the local societies of the Arctic. ECOTIP will map out past and present Arctic biodiversity and its response to external drivers, and the effects of expanding commercial activities in the Arctic under expected climate change. It will investigate the resistance, resilience and persistence of key ecosystem components to multiple anthropogenic stressors, and estimate their potential tipping dynamics. It will use a trait-based approach in process studies, empirical analysis and numerical models as a novel means of quantifying functional diversity to predict how different anthropogenic forcing scenarios (including climate, invasive species, pollution, exploitation) change biodiversity, productivity and ecosystem services. ECOTIP will engage with indigenous societies and European citizens to provide recommendations for optimizing the monitoring of Arctic biodiversity and ecosystem services, identify adaptation strategies, promote international collaboration and support Europe's endeavors to implement the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

CAPARDUS is a CSA project under H2020 with focus on capacity-building to develop guidelines, practices and standards in selected Arctic topics. These include data collection and management related to natural resource management, tourism, safety, community planning and decision making. The project develops a framework for development of standards as a collaborative effort between scientists, local communities and other stakeholder groups involved in the case studies in Greenland and Svalbard, with contribution from studies in Alaska and Yakutia in Russia. The project organizes a number of workshops, dialogue meetings and research schools as part of case studies in local communities, showing how the social-environmental systems are changing Arctic communities and what are the drivers for these changes. The climate change and its consequences in the Arctic leads to new requirements for planning and decision-making based on scientific and economic data, assessments and predictions. A prerequisite for good planning is access to data and information of relevance to the operators in the Arctic. CAPARDUS promotes and supports the Community-Based Monitoring and Citizen science as a contribution to data collection and knowledge building. The project will provide requirements and recommendations for an Arctic Practice System to the benefit of both local communities and other actors in the Arctic. At the end CAPARDUS will summarize the emergence of guidelines, practices and standards, supporting a sustainable development in the Arctic.