The Continental Margins Working Group (CMWG) Workshop was held in Shanghai by SKLEC-NIVA Center, East China Normal University (ECNU), on Sep.20-21, 2018. It focused on the continental margins field, to discuss the dilemma and prospects of marginal sea’s research. Prof. Richard Bellerby, the Distinguished Thousand Talents National Expert, and the director of SKLEC-NIVA Centre, hosted this meeting, and around 20 coastal research experts attended.

In the meeting, invited researchers presented current situation and challenges in the continental margins sea of both Pacific and Arctic Ocean regions. Participants discussed the conflicts between socio-economic development and ecosystem balance in the process of natural resources exploitation. Based on the background of interdisciplinary research, experts initiated to apply the socio-economic concepts into natural science analysis, and to meet the demand of the continental margins’ sustainability comprehensively. A preliminary scientific report was formed to guide further research in this field.

The Continental Margins Working Group (CMWG) was established in 2017 with the support from Future Earth Coasts (FEC) and Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR), headed by Prof. Richard Bellerby (SKLEC-NIVA center director, ECNU) and Prof. Sumei Liu from Ocean University of China (OUC). CMWG will bring together scientists with a range of expertise in continental margins research from different regions of the world, to study key systems through services, stakeholders, regulatory institutions and process; coupling environmental and ecological change to service variability and developing scenarios of future marginal seas services.