Sea ice poses significant challenges to human activities in cold regions. These activities include, for example, winter navigation and offshore wind energy developments. Designing vessels and structures to withstand loads caused by sea ice requires a deep understanding of the mechanical behavior of sea ice. Ice engineering and ice mechanics provide the understanding that enables the development of safer and more efficient structures for operations in icy environments. This chapter introduces key topics in ice engineering, focusing on the engineering properties of sea ice and the mechanics of ice failure processes during ice interactions with structures. Various types of ice failure processes, each often associated with specific types of offshore structures, are described in detail. The chapter also describes how experimental research is conducted at both full and laboratory scales. In addition, the chapter highlights typical modeling techniques used in ice engineering simulations and summarizes essential features of ice engineering simulation tools. The chapter concludes with a discussion on future directions for ice engineering research, emphasizing its links to geophysical-scale sea ice dynamics. From the aspect of future sea ice cover and its behavior, one of the strengths of ice engineering is that it relies on ice properties, which can be measured. This allows for accounting for the effects of climate change on ice cover reliably.

EU urgently needs to increase the development of secure and green energy, and this includes renewables such as Offshore wind energy. An expansion of Offshore wind will include the Baltic where sea ice is one of the major uncertainties. To ensure that the wind turbines are safe for people and the environment, while keeping them economically competitive betterguidelines and regulations should be developedcollaboratively by European industry and academia. There are unsolved challenges with respect to ice action on structures for offshore wind. However, in the current draft for Horizon Europe WorkProgramme 2023-2024 on Climate, Energy and Mobility1, the challenges related to sea ice with regards toOffshore wind energy are not mentioned. In order to meet the crucial green energy goals, it is our statement that it is imperative to include sea ice in the final version.

EU urgently needs to increase the development of secure and green energy, and this includes renewables such as Offshore wind energy. An expansion of Offshore wind will include the Baltic where sea ice is one of the major uncertainties. To ensure that the w ind turbines are safe for people and the environment, while keeping them economically competitive better guidelines and regulations should b e developed collaboratively by European industry and academia. There are unsolved challenge s with respect to ice action on structures for offshore wind. However, in the current draft for Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2024 on Climate, Energy and Mobility1, the challenges related to sea ice with regards to Offshore wind energy are not mentioned. In order to meet the crucial green energy goals, it is our statement that it is imperative to include sea ice i n the final version.