Integrated approach to the coronal heating problem

Solving the coronal heating problem involves dealing with a number of theoretical and observational steps. These include designing instruments, deriving required observables from observations, developing theories and finding the unique footprints of theoretical models. Each of these steps poses its unique challenges to theoreticians and observers. It is important to treat the heating problem in an integrated manner, whereby each component of the problem is treated in its relationship to the other parts rather than in isolation. The paper presents a brief review of recent developments in the field with an emphasis on forward modeling and inversion which play a central role in solving the heating problem by providing the necessary interaction between theories and observations.