The International Conference on Arctic Research Planning II (ICARP II) set the agenda for arctic coastal research for the last decade in a science plan on arctic coastal processes. It identified three sets of key research questions in the physical science, ecology and socioeconomics, and proposed the establishment of a circumpolar network of observatories to pursue these questions in a co-ordinated manner. Research highlights of the last ten years included: (i) A cluster of 16 International Polar Year (IPY, 2007-2009) projects focussed on the Arctic coast; (ii) the State of the Arctic Coast report1 and the Arctic Coastal Dynamics database2; (iii) A better understanding of the link between environmental forcing and coastal geomorphodynamics was generated by multiple groups looking at linkages between observed and projected climate change and observation of coastal change; (iv) This has led to the emergence of the coast as an important and climate-sensitive component of arctic shelf ecosystems, particularly with respect to land-to-ocean fluxes of sediment, carbon and nutrients; (v) There was a growing recognition that the role of coastal communities in gene- rating and applying knowledge should be intrinsic to scientific inquiry. The advances in the past decade of arctic coastal science provide opportunities for future progress.