The Symposium invites the international research community to set focus on the pan-Arctic Ocean. It marks the end of the Norwegian national project “The Nansen Legacy”, focusing on advancing the understanding of the marine and climatic system and the technological development of new observation systems in the northern Barents Sea and the European Arctic. Under the title “Towards a new Arctic Ocean – Past, Present, Future”, the Symposium aims to integrate results across the international, pan-Arctic efforts to close central knowledge gaps in understanding the climate and the ecosystems in the Arctic.