The International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is a non-governmental, international scientific organization. ASC was founded in 1990 by representatives of national scientific organizations of the eight Arctic countries - Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia (at that time Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), Sweden and the United States of America. The Founding Articles of IASC were signed in Resolute Bay, Canada.
Over the years, IASC has evolved into the leading international science organization of the North and its membership today includes 23 countries involved in all aspects of Arctic research, including 15 non-Arctic countries (Austria, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the UK).
ASC has been an accredited Observer of the Arctic Council from its very beginning and is supporting the work of the Arctic Council, its Working Groups (WGs) and Permanent Participants (PPs) by providing scientific expertise from all its members, including the non-Arctic countries. IASC´s contributions so far have resulted in a number of very successful joint activities, such as the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), the Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA) report, and the Adaptation Actions in a Changing Arctic (AACA) assessment.
