For the purpose of publication of these Proceedings, the original
conference programme has been rearranged to provide a more logical
sequence of presentation. The beginning sections give the inaugural
speech and the six keynote addresses which were delivered at the opening
plenary session. Following these are the working papers, published more
or less in the same sequence in which they were presented in the
original programme. The order of presentation does not necessarily
emphasise the importance of any one aspect of the Arctic Systems over
others. The final reports of the six working groups and their
conclusions and recommendations are edited in such a manner as to
present them in a standardised format for easy comprehension. The
editors accept responsibility for any distortion inadvertently
introduced in the summarising and editing processes. Later sections of
the Proceedings give a background to the Conference organization and
deliberations, and an independent critique of the meeting. The directors
and those who attended the Conference were conscious of the debt of
gratitude owed by them to the Conference chairmen, rapporteurs, authors
of working papers, and many individuals for their contributions to the
success of the meeting. We wish to thank them and it is a pleasure to
record their names in these Proceedings. Inaugural Speaker Dr. J. Rennie
Whitehead, Canada Banquet Guest Speaker Honourable Mr. T. Alex Hickman,
Canada Keynote Addresses Mr. C. Bornemann, Denmark Dr. A.E. Collin,
Canada Dr. R.E. Francois, U.S.A.