Program

In this session, we highlight practical and emerging technologies that help us understand, monitor, and manage Arctic ungulates in a rapidly changing world. We welcome talks on next-generation tracking and sensing (e.g., biologging, lightweight GPS tags, remote sensing, drones, smart camera traps, eDNA and other non-invasive tools) that link animal behaviour, physiology, and energy use. We especially encourage presentations that share lessons learned, best practices, and tools that others—researchers and practitioners alike—can put to work.

Here, we explore how changes in land use affect ungulate pastures over time. We welcome contributions on assessing and managing impacts from infrastructure, forestry, tourism, industry, renewable energy, and other activities – especially work that shares practical ways to reduce the harmful impacts of land use activities. We encourage presentations that build bridges between reindeer husbandry, conservation and restoration, and land use planning through strong cumulative impact assessment, clear communication, and concrete solutions.

The Arctic is warming rapidly. Slowing that change is critically important, but it is equally essential to consider how people and livelihoods in the Arctic can adapt to it. This session brings together perspectives on what climate change means for reindeer husbandry and wild ungulates. We welcome talks on changing snow and ice conditions (including rain-on-snow and icing), shifting vegetation and forage, phenology, nutrition, parasites, and changes in movements and survival of animals. We particularly encourage solution-oriented contributions; what is working, what we are learning, and how we can support adaptation in practice.

Modern genetic and genomic tools help us understand Arctic ungulates and support conservation and sustainable use. For this session, we welcome presentations on biobanking, non-invasive sampling (e.g., scat, hair, environmental samples), and methods from marker-based studies to SNP panels and whole-genome sequencing, as well as examples of how these approaches inform connectivity, inbreeding, selection, and resilience. We also encourage open discussion of ethics, permitting, and data ownership—including Indigenous rights—so that genetic research benefits communities and ecosystems.

Here, we explore the intertwined dynamics of people and Arctic ungulates —across history, livelihoods, values, governance, and everyday decisions on the land. We welcome contributions on reindeer husbandry as a social–ecological system, and on how land use change, climate change, and development influence practices, rights, and relationships. We encourage talks addressing social and cultural aspects and especially interdisciplinary talks and case studies that connect ecological knowledge with lived experience and knowledge, and practical decision-making.

This session focuses on Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge as a vital source of insight for understanding and sustaining Arctic ungulate systems. We welcome presentations on community-led monitoring, place-based indicators (for example, local knowledge of snow, ice, and forage conditions), and respectful ways to bring knowledge systems together with scientific and technological monitoring. We especially encourage contributions that share good practices for ethics, knowledge ownership, and data sovereignty, and that show how knowledge supports stewardship and adaptation.

In this session, we focus on turning knowledge into action: how Traditional and Indigenous knowledge can inform decisions, planning, and adaptive management. We welcome examples of collaboration among researchers, authorities, herders, hunters, and other stakeholders—such as co-produced monitoring, early-warning approaches, and practical decision-support. We encourage contributions that share tools, frameworks, and lessons learned on how observations become feasible data for decision-making and everyday practice.

Hosted by the Tarandus Network, this session brings a strong focus on reindeer welfare in real-world conditions. We welcome talks on preventing and managing disease, feeding and husbandry practices, and how handling, transport, and other procedures influence stress, behaviour, and overall wellbeing of reindeer. We especially encourage contributions that share practical welfare indicators and solutions that support herders in their everyday work.

In this session, we look at the welfare and health of wild Arctic ungulates—from individual animals to population-level outcomes. We welcome contributions on disease, parasites, contaminants, nutrition and body condition, and on how stressors such as disturbance, extreme weather, and feeding interventions can influence wellbeing. We encourage talks that connect animal welfare thinking to conservation practice and to humane, transparent decision-making in research and management.

This session welcomes research and applied work on the ecology and conservation of wild northern ungulates, including caribou, wild reindeer, muskoxen, and more. We welcome studies and well-documented case work on population dynamics, habitat use, monitoring approaches, land use interactions, and conservation interventions. We especially encourage contributions that translate ecological understanding into practical conservation planning, management, and policy. This session is hosted by LIFEline4Fennicus, a wild forest reindeer conservation project co-funded by the EU LIFE Programme.

In this session, we bring together work on predator–prey relationships involving Arctic ungulates, and how these dynamics are changing under today’s pressures. We welcome observations, data analyses, and syntheses on climate-driven shifts, landscape and land use change, multi-predator systems, and consequences for behaviour, distribution, and population trends. We encourage contributions that help us navigate management trade-offs and support coexistence and conservation.

If you are unsure where your talk fits, you are welcome to submit your abstract under “Outside the box”. This category is meant for relevant and interesting contributions that do not clearly match the themes above—such as emerging topics, new methods and tools, education and outreach, or cross-regional perspectives. We hope this option makes it easy to bring in fresh ideas. The scientific committee will place accepted abstracts into the most suitable session when finalizing the programme.