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The 2024–2025 austral summer research season is off to a strong start! The 14 lead members of the BELgian Antarctic Research Expedition (BELARE) team arrived at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica - the world’s first and to date only zero-emission polar research station - from Cape Town, South Africa, to start the 2024-25 austral summer research season.

Soon after their arrival at the station last week, the BELARE team began clearing  away snow around the station that had accumulated over the winter, switched the station’s energy production and management system from winter mode to summer mode, started melting snow for drinking water, and started up the station’s, new water treatment system.

After about a week of hard work getting the station up and running, the lead members of this year’s BELARE team have settled in and are already working hard on supporting this season’s scientific research projects.

Team members have been starting up, checking and reinstalling scientific equipment that collects data during the four months the station is occupied, including the CIMEL sunphotometer on the roof of the station, which measures direct sun and diffuse sky radiances from which aerosol depth, precipitable water vapour and albedo can be derived for the BIRA-CLIMB project.

Technicians and engineers have started preparing equipment and the living containers for scientists from the ULTMO and FROID projects, who will head deep into the field in the vicinity of Mount Belgica and south-west of the Sør Rondane Mountains respectively. These expeditions will spend several weeks in the field later this season. The FROID project will be focusing on finding the oldest ice while the ULTIMO team will be searching for meteorites and extra-terrestrial particles. The containers will give the scientists access to comfortable living quarters with a kitchen, showers, and modern communication links. Life in the field could be a lot worse!

At the same time, the team’s field guides are already mapping out routes for the scientists before they head into the field. A reconnaissance mission to find the safest path for scientists to take will be done before the scheduled arrival of scientists on November 28th.

Meanwhile, BELARE Expedition Leader Alain Hubert and mechanic Tim Grosrenaud headed to the coast to retrieve the last fuel drums that the cargo ship from last season had left at the coast in February. On the way, they stopped at Perseus Intercontinental Airfield to assess the condition of the runway. A lot of snow accumulated in the region over the winter, so a lot of work will need to be done to get the airfield ready for the arrival of the first cargo plane bringing the first teams of scientists, equipment and fresh supplies at the end of November. Today, a team of engineers and plumbers are heading to Perseus Airfield to start up the communication and heating system. Once this has been done, the team will get to work ploughing and grooming the runway so a cargo plane can land safely.  It will be at least 10 days’ work to get everything ready for the arrival of the plane. It’s a considerable task!

As it’s still early in the season, temperatures outside can drop down to -20°C, with wind chill factor down to -32°C. So the team has to be careful when spending a long period of time outside. Next month, the average daily temperature outside will climb to a “balmy” -10°C and even -5°C.

As it’s springtime in Antarctica, snow petrels (Pagodroma nivea) are back making colonies on several nunataks around PEA including Utsteinen, where these seabirds have been coming for millennia to find a mate for life and a natural cavity under fallen rocks in which to lay their one egg for the season. Our resident biologist Henri Robert will be interested in tracking their progress in the coming weeks and months.

With several team members at Perseus, the station will be relatively quiet for the next two weeks.  Of course, when the first scientists and additional IPF support staff arrive, the station will become a lot busier. In the meantime, we are all looking forward for the beginning of the field work. Stay tuned for the story on these exciting expeditions!

The “To the Antarctic” Exhibition at MAS /museum in Antwerp, which ran from June 21st until November 3rd, was very popular among the general public, receiving more than 45,000 visitors during its more than four-month run. 

The exhibition featured Belgium’s history in Antarctic exploration and research, starting with the extraordinary overwintering of Adrien de Gerlache and his crew on the Belgica ship in 1897-1899. Visitors were completely immersed in the daily lives of all crew members onboard and learned along the way about the many scientific findings from the exhibition, the Antarctic environment, and particularities of the Antarctic Peninsula. 

Following the chronology of De Gerlache’s endeavour, visitors learned about Belgium’s research expeditions in Antarctica in the 1950s and 1960s, during which Belgium’s first Antarctic research base, the King Baudouin station, was constructed. 

From the past to the present

A scale model of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA) station welcomed the visitors into the contemporary part of the exhibition, which was largely developed by the IPF for MAS. Visitors enjoyed the beauty of Antarctic landscapes on a large screen, and explored a topic of their choice (ocean, air, space, earth, ice, life) on wall-mounted touch-screens that explained all aspects of research currently going on in Antarctica, much of which is taking place at Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. Before leaving, visitors were invited to reflect on the presence and activities of humans in Antarctica, and  were treated to an art installation by Dutch artist Esther Kokmeijer called Terra Nullius, which drew attention to Antarctica's unique protected geopolitical status and uncertain future. 

“The International Polar Foundation has a long history in education, outreach and awareness-rising about the polar regions and their important role in the global climate,” commented Dr Mieke Sterken, who was in charge of the contemporary contributions to the exhibition. “We have organised exhibitions about Antarctic science, Arctic climate change and environment-related topics.”

The Belgian zero-emission Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station is a good example of how polar research can be made more environmentally friendly, and offers a wide range of possibilities in terms of scientific research. It was successfully used as a hook to get people interested in learning more about the polar regions. We are very pleased that MAS has chosen us as a partner to help develop the recent past and contemporary parts of the exhibition."

The MAS gift shop formed a creative extension of the exhibition, showcasing a large LEGO scale model of the station, built by LEGO enthusiast Daniel Vermeir. The IPF offered books, gadgets and postcards with photos of the station, beautiful Antarctic landscapes, and the incredible fauna of the region.

Broad appeal

We received a lot of positive feedback from visitors, who said the exhibition felt like discovering a new continent by themselves. They came for both the epic story of the Belgica and to learn about Antarctica as a whole. They were very touched by the personal stories of the Belgica crew, whose diary excerpts were displayed throughout the exhibit. 

“You have the gift of explaining difficult things in a very easy to understand and enthusiastic way, it was a true pleasure to visit the exhibition and I'm happy I went," one visitor said.

The exhibition also enjoyed media coverage in local and national Belgian media outlets, including on VRT news and radio, which did a live on air session from the exhibition, as well as the Brussels Times and many other publications and outlets. 

Visitors can still submit their feedback or test their knowledge through a quiz (in Dutch) via via this link: https://www.ipf-education.org/mas 

Now the attention shifts to Antarctica, where the 2024-25 BELgian Antarctic research Expedition (BELARE) has just begun.

One of the International Polar Foundation’s board members, former EU Arctic Ambassador and Egmont Institute Senior Fellow Marie-Anne Coninsx, participated in a high-level panel discussion organised by the Egmont Institute on Thursday, October 17th entitled “Navigating the New Arctic: The Role of Non-Artic State in Shaping the Future”. The panel also featured Arctic Economic Council Director Mads Qvist Frederiksen, an academic perspective from Andreas Østhagen of the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, and representatives from the foreign ministries of Finland, Japan, Ireland, and Germany.

Additionally, IPF systems engineer Aymar de Lichtervelde, a multi-year veteran of the Belgian Antarctic Research Expeditions (BELARE) and one of the engineers who co-designed the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica’s new water treatment system, took part in a panel discussion co-organised by Battelle, Arctic Trucks and ArkTiKa on Friday, October 18th. The panel, “Emerging Technologies for Better Human Health and Safety in Remote Polar Regions” was an opportunity for Aymar to showcase how the first (and to date only) zero-emission polar research station goes above and beyond the Madrid Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty System when it comes to treating and reusing wastewater.

During the three days of the assembly, Aymar also manned a booth exhibiting a scale model of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica’s new water treatment system on the second floor of the assembly’s main venue, Harpa. Aymar gave several mini-presentations to attendees who were curious to learn more about the groundbreaking innovative water treatment system and other solutions used at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica to reduce the environmental footprint of conducting polar research. With a few thousand people in attendance, it was an excellent opportunity to showcase what IPF is capable of achieving!

The topical themes of this year’s symposium will include:

• The Arctic Council: A Practical Vision Moving Forward
• Transatlantic Cooperation in the Arctic in 2025 and Beyond
• Keeping the Arctic an Area of Low Tension
• Building and Maintaining an Arctic Workforce and Resilient Arctic Communities
• Innovation and Regional Collaboration to Meet Arctic Challenges Sustainably
• Critical Raw Materials and Resource Supply Chains: Tensions and Trade-offs

A draft programme for the symposium will be released in the coming weeks. Please keep checking the symposium website regularly for updates.

The symposium is free of charge, which allows anyone including students, teachers, experts and anyone with an interest in the Arctic to attend.

Registration for the event is now open and can be done via the symposium website.

Several side events to the symposium will also take place this year, including the annual Arctic Shorts film evening on December 3rd, a half-day event on coastal management hosted by Arctic Frontiers and the University of Bergen on December 4th, and a screening of the feature-length Greenlandic film “Twice Colonized” the evening of December 4th. Please note that registration for the symposium does not automatically register you for all side events. Registrations for side events are managed separately from the registration for the symposium by the organisations managing the side events.

In the meantime, if you would like to be put on our distribution list to receive updates about the symposium and its side events, please don't hesitate to contact us via email at events@polarfoundation.org and ask to be added.

We look forward to seeing everyone in early December!

Photo © Nordland County, Norway

The International Polar Foundation (IPF) is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of glaciologist Professor Roland Souchez on July 30th, who made important contributions to the fields of glaciology and climate science during his decades-long career. A Full Member of the Science Class of the Royal Academy of Belgium, and Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Professor Souchez made important contributions to the fields of glaciology and climate science during his decades-long career.

Roland Souchez was born in the borough of Uccle in Brussels in 1938. He earned his Doctorate of Science at the ULB in 1963. His area of expertise was isotopic glaciology, which studies the isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in an ice core sample to reconstruct temperatures of the polar regions in past climates, contribute to determine its age and decipher potential phase changes. Roland Souchez also looked at gas trapped in ice cores (content, composition and their isotopic ratios) to  decipher past atmospheric conditions and post-deposition alterations. He was particularly interested in studying basal ice, which is created from the interaction between ice sheets and bedrock below it.

From an early stage, he became deeply involved in the development of Antarctic glaciological research, participating in dozens of research expeditions to both poles and alpine regions.

His first foray into Antarctica was as a member of the 1964-65 Belgo-Dutch Antarctic expedition to study ice-cored moraines in the Sør Rondane Mountains, not far from the present-day Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station. From there he participated in a number of international research expeditions, including with the United States Antarctic Program (1965-1966 and 1966-1967), the Italian National Antarctic Research Program in Antarctica (PNRA). He took part in expeditions with the Geological Survey of Canada, the University of Aberdeen (UK), and the University of Edinburgh (UK) to Greenland and the Canadian Arctic to study basal ice outcrops. Due to his extensive expertise, he was asked to lead research efforts on basal ice sequences retrieved from most of the international deep ice core drilling efforts, both in Greenland (GRIP, North GRIP, NEEM) and in Antarctica (EPICA Dome C, EPICA DML, Vostok). He also studied basal outcrops in glaciers in the Swiss Alps with the University of Cambridge (UK) and the Institut des Geosciences et l'Environment (IGE - formerly LGGE) in Grenoble (France).

“Roland was a reference in his field,” commented IPF Founder and President Alain Hubert, who was nominated for the prestigious 2024 Belgica Prize by Professor Souchez. “His contributions to glaciology and climate science, and not to mention his contributions to the Belgian and international scientific community, were truly impressive. He will be greatly missed.”

Professor Souchez handed Alain Hubert the Belgica Prize at a ceremony at the Royal Academy of Sciences of Belgium only a few weeks ago on June 10th.

Of course, fellow glaciologists who had the privilege of working with him over the years feel his loss.

“Roland was a pioneer glaciologist in Belgium,” stated fellow glaciologist at the ULB and IPF Board Member Professor Jean-Louis Tison, who has been on several missions to Antarctica himself over the years. “He has been a mentor to three generations of Belgian glaciologists after his first stay with the Belgian-Dutch expedition in the Sør Rondane Mountains in 1964-1965, where he studied the dynamics of ice cored moraines. Since then he specialised in basal ice studies and, in that context, he visited a great number of glaciers in the Alps, Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, and the Antarctic. He was internationally renown for his seminal work on water stable isotopes in ice, and how it can be used to trace phase changes in glaciers, understand the complex dynamics of the basal part of ice sheets, how it affects the preservation of paleoclimatic signals, and how it can record the extreme environmental conditions, coupled with gas measurements in ice bubbles. For this, he was invited to join many of the international deep drilling projects as an expert and leader in the study of their basal part. Roland was a hardworking scientist fully dedicated to his passion.”

“Roland Souchez's career fits perfectly into the spirit and tradition of the Glaciology Laboratory of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the Faculty of Sciences of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, which he directed for several years,” commented glaciologist Professor André Berger from the Université catholique de Louvain, co-founder of the International Polar Foundation and Member of the Class of Sciences at the Royal Academy of Belgium. “Both passionate about ancient climates, we became friends, and in  particular we worked to award the ARB Belgica medals from 1989 to the present. His work on the interface between glacial ice and rocky or aquatic bedrock makes it possible to indicate up to what depth glacial soundings are reliable and therefore up to what time in the past we can reconstruct the evolution of ancient climates. It also allows us to better understand the dynamics and instability of glacial masses.”

Over the six decades of his career, Professor Souchez created an impressive body of work, co-authoring 96 publications and a few books. He earned many distinctions and achievements, including becoming the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the ULB between 1981 and 1984. He also spent several years abroad as a Visiting Professor at other institutions, including at the University of Maryland in 1970 and the University of Ottawa in 1971. He was Associate Professor at the University of Paris between 1984 and 1985.

Professor Souchez also served as a Visiting Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) for two years between 1998 and 2000, where he held the Francqui Chair during his second academic year there. The Franqui programme facilitates academic exchanges from different Belgian and international academic institutions.

He was elected correspondent of the Class of Sciences at the Royal Academy of Belgium in 1999 and became a Member of the Academy five years later in 2004. He also served as Director of his Class in 2007.

Professor Souchez also received the Antarctic Medal from the United States Government, and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names officially named Souchez Glacier after him in West Antarctica.

His lasting impact was, needless to say, enormous.

You can listen to Professor Souchez discuss polar ice and its connection to the global atmosphere in an interview from 2016 (in French).

To celebrate the opening of the exhibit “To the Antarctic: Belgica’s Polar Pioneers”, Antwerp resident and LEGO enthusiast Daniel Vermeir built an amazing scale model of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, the world’s first and to date only zero-emission polar research station.

The exhibition, which looks at Belgium’s history of exploration and research in Antarctica from the Belgica ship’s first overwintering expedition in 1897-99 to the present day, features information about the groundbreaking polar station and the scientific research projects that take place there every austral summer. The exhibition will be open to the public until November 3rd.

Mr Vermeir was happy to answer some questions about the scale model, which is currently on display in the MAS Museum’s gift shop, MASshop.

This is a very impressive piece of work. How long did it take to build? How many lego bricks did you use?

The model consists of about 6000 bricks. I estimate that the construction took around 70 hours, although I often underestimate how long it takes!

How big is the model? To what scale has it been built?

The model is in LEGO minifigure scale, which is somewhere between 1/40 and 1/43. It measures 75x75cm including the “snow” plate on which the station has been built.

What photos or images did you use as a reference for building the model of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica?

I used images of the station on the IPF website, as well as cross-sections of the station that can be found online in PDFs and in books.

Was this on your own initiative or was there a specific reason why you decided to build a scale replica of the station? What inspired you?

The idea came to me in April when I was talking to Wim, the manager of the MASshop, the gift shop to the MAS Museum in Antwerp.

Wim knows about my interest in LEGOs and said that it would be nice to have a scale LEGO model for the upcoming exhibition, either the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station or the Belgica ship. I told him that I would see what I could do.

What challenges did you encounter when building the scale replica of the station?

The time I had available was the most difficult thing about building the replica of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. Usually I first take a few months to let ideas mature. But since I only had two months to build it before the opening of the exhibition in June, I chose to only do a model of the outside of the station and not worry about building its interior. If I had had more time, it might have been possible to do the inside as well.

The unique octagon shape of the station did not make it  easy, either. LEGO tends to think in squares.

Were there any rare LEGO pieces that you needed to make the model?

The most unique blocks are the solar panels. There are about 320 in total on the model!

Have you done any similar projects?

I’ve been building scale replicas with LEGO bricks for about ten years. The Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station is not my first work, although in terms of construction style it’s not what I typically build. Normally I prefer building mediaeval structures like castles, Tudor houses, ruins, and so on.

In addition to making a scale replica of Het Steen mediaeval fortress in Antwerp, I’ve also done a zoo project, a skyline of the City of Antwerp, and much more.

I’ve put most of my creations on my Instagram page.

Did you use any special software from LEGO to design the model of the station?

Indeed, there’s software to help you make LEGO models, but I didn’t use it to build the replica of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. Making a digital version of a LEGO building takes time, which I didn’t have for the station project.

When I made a LEGO replica of Het Steen, I first made it digitally to get a better idea of ​​the number of bricks I would need and how much it would cost. Of course, it takes time to make a digital version of the building. I started working on a digital version of Het Steen at the beginning of 2021, and I finished building the LEGO replica a few months ago.

Do you think LEGO might one day be interested in releasing a Princess Elisabeth Antarctica set for the general public to purchase?

LEGO usually takes two years to bring a building set to market, from design to final product. Given the international nature of the station, I would suspect that LEGO might be interested in making a Princess Elisabeth Antarctica set. Of course, everything depends on whether they would see good revenue from releasing one.

What will happen to the replica of the station once the exhibition is over? Will you take it home, or will it be displayed elsewhere?

Probably I’ll take it home afterwards, and perhaps display it at a few LEGO fairs. In the meantime, I can add even more details or even add an interior.

Next year in September perhaps I could display it at the Skærbæk Fan Weekend in Denmark, so the model can be displayed to an international audience.

Afterwards, the model will be taken apart so the bricks can be reused in other LEGO projects of mine.

The International Polar Foundation has been part of creating a fascinating new exhibition on Belgium's contributions to Antarctic exploration and research, opening at the MAS Museum in Antwerp starting from Friday, June 21st.

A free special pre-opening evening open to the general public will take place on Thursday, June 20th from 9:00 pm until midnight.

The exhibition, entitled "To the Antarctic: Belgica's Polar Pioneers" focuses on Belgium’s history of polar exploration and research in Antarctica. It begins with the 1897-99 overwintering expedition of Belgian polar explorer Adrien de Gerlache and his crew on the Belgica research vessel. The exhibit then takes the visitor right up to what's happening today at Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, the world’s first zero-emission polar research station!

After leaving from the Port of Antwerp, De Gerlache and his international team sailed to Antarctica on the Belgica. After their ship unexpectedly became stuck in the ice, the team made the first ever overwintering in Antarctica. The team made the best of the situation to map parts of Antarctica, carry out scientific research, and collect samples of Antarctica’s unique biota.

The International Polar Foundation has partnered with MAS for this project, assisting in the conceptualisation and creation of content for the exhibition, with a particular focus on the broad array of science fields covered in today’s Antarctic research. This is covered in a section of the exhibition called Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, which showcases some of the research carried out today at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, the world's first zero-emission polar research station. As the designer and designated operator of this unique station, and as a public utility foundation dedicated to educating the general public about the importance of the polar regions, Education and Outreach Coordinator Mieke Sterken and her colleagues at the International Polar Foundation drew on their extensive knowledge about Antarctica and the scientific projects taking place at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station. They are grateful for the input provided by many Belgian and international scientists and institutions, who contributed by sending relevant photos and information. The general public will learn a lot from their input.

Running until November 3rd, the exhibition will be a great place to visit with family or friends who are interested in learning more about Belgium’s history in Antarctica, appreciate the wealth of knowledge polar research can offer, or simply enjoy the beauty and wonder of the planet’s southernmost continent!

For more information about the exhibit, visit the MAS Museum website.

To purchase tickets, please visit the online booking system.

After much anticipation, on Thursday, June 20th, the exhibition “To the Antarctic: Belgica’s Polar Pioneers” at Antwerp’s MAS Museum officially opened its doors.

The long-awaited exhibition presents the origins of Belgium’s long history of polar exploration and research in Antarctica.

The exhibition begins by recounting Adrien de Gerlache’s historic overwintering expedition of 1897-99, the first ever scientific research expedition that allowed scientists to conduct experiments and collect samples and data during the austral winter. Several original artefacts from that legendary voyage are on display in the exhibition, including the Belgica's original steering wheel, the vessel's crow's nest, the polar gear the crew wore, the saws the crew used to free the vessel from the sea ice, and the crank organ that played Belgium's national anthem, the Brabançonne, which lifted the spirits of the crew during the long polar night of 1898.

The exhibition then shifts its focus to the modern era of Belgian involvement in Antarctica, featuring videos and materials from BELgian Antarctic Research Expeditions (BELARE) in the 1950s and 60s during which Belgium’s first Antarctic research station, the King Baudoin, was built.

The next part of the exhibition focuses on research taking place in Antarctica today, in particular research at the first (and to date only) zero-emission research station, Belgium’s very own Princess Elisabeth Antarctica (PEA). Put together by IPF Education and Outreach Coordinator Mieke Sterke, this part of the exhibition features information about the wide variety of scientific research projects taking place at PEA, videos of breathtaking landscapes in Antarctica, and interactive screens visitors can use to learn more about what scientists are learning from their research.

The exhibition wraps up with an installation from Dutch artist Esther Kokmeijer. Entitled Terra Nullis, her work calls attention to Antarctica's unique protected geopolitical status under the Antarctic Treaty System.

A grand opening

The day began with an exclusive tour of the entire exhibition for journalists lead by exhibition curator Waander Devillé. The intimate tour of the exhibition allowed journalists to get a first glimpse of the artefacts without the crowds.

Later in the evening, Lies Buyse, Director of the MAS Museum, Nabilla Aït Daoud, Alderwoman for Culture for the City of Antwerp, and Waander Devillé officially opened the exhibition, each delivering a keynote speech. Then at 9:00 pm, the exhibition officially opened to the general public. Hundreds of people enjoyed drinks served in the foyer just outside the exhibition while DJs created a festive ambiance.

It was a memorable night for all involved!

The international Polar Foundation would like to thank the MAS Museum and the City of Antwerp for the opportunity to contribute to such an important exhibition, to all of the scientists and experts who contributed materials to the exhibition (and who are too numerous to mention here), and to the general public who will visit the exhibition and come away knowing a lot more about Belgium’s history in Antarctica and and all of the important scientific research happening at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica!

Stop by

The exhibition is open until November 3rd. Whether you're a passing tourist in Antwerp or a local looking for something fun to do with the family, this exhibition is certainly worth a visit!

Visit the MAS Museum website to learn more about the exhibition and how to buy tickets!

On Tuesday, June 11th, IPF Founder and President Alain Hubert was invited to participate in the “Debate with Ambassadors” panel at European Sustainable Energy Week 2024 (EUSEW24).

Billed as “a dynamic exchange between EUSEW Digital Ambassadors from different sectors,” participants on the panel exchanged views on topics related to the EU’s clean energy transition, increasing the implementation of technologies with net-zero impact, improving opportunities to develop renewables and energy efficiency, and the need to cooperate globally to enact meaningful climate action.

Alain’s experience as an engineer, polar explorer, and initiator of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, the world’s first (and to date only) zero-emission polar research station, helped bring insightful perspective to the discussions.

Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director-General for Energy in the European Commission, moderated the panel, which also featured two other highly accomplished experts in their respective fields: Claire Roumet (Secretary General of Energy Cities - a network of local authorities, city officials and technical experts from over 30 countries who are leading the energy transition), and Tuomas Hooli (Chief Executive Officer of Winda Energy - an SME renewable energy project developer in Finland with a particular focus on local engagement in developing renewable energy projects).

In his first remarks to a full-capacity Alcide de Gasperi Room at the European Commission, Alain reminded attendees that even though our activity is the cause of the climate problem, we are also part of the solution.

The panel of experts fielded questions from attendees both in-person and online during the hour-long discussion.

Alain, Claire, and Tuomas proposed several approaches to consider during the panel discussion, including:

• Developing and implementing ideas to reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency on a local level, as this is where changes can happen more easily and a real difference can be made (for example, Working with local experts such as engineers to find ways to address energy needs on a local level). 
• Diversifying energy solutions. Organising more citizen assemblies to involve the general public in creating solutions and educating them about how they cna take action themselves. Investing more in research and development. 
• Investing in making cities more resilient to the effects of climate change as they become more intense. Investing in infrastructure (buildings, heating solutions, transport, etc.) to make them more energy-efficient, as well as infrastructure for electric vehicles (charging stations, service points, etc.) and other ancillary services. 
• Securing the raw material supply chains to develop the technologies needed for the Green Transition. 
• Implementing policies on the EU, national, and local level that help fund startups and entrepreneurs working on finding solutions to our energy issues, including using market design to help new startups gain a foothold. 
• Making the best use of the EU Single Market to increase European competitiveness. Implementing existing technologies and solutions more effectively.
• Optimising existing funding schemes.
• Creating programmes for those with fewer means to participate in the upscaling needed to realise the green transition to make sure they stay on baord for further steps that may need to be taken to meet the EU's net zero by 2050 goals.
• Investing more in scientific research to inform policymakers about what needs to be done.

You can watch the entire panel discussion on the EUSEW24 interactive platform.

The International Polar Foundation would like to thank the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and the Directorate-General for Energy at the European Commission for the invitation to contribute to such a highly important discussion.

At a ceremony held the afternoon of Monday, June 10th at The Royal Academy of Sciences of Belgium, Alain Hubert, Founder and President of the International Polar Foundation, received the prestigious Belgica Prize alongside French glaciologist Professor Jérôme Chappellaz.

The ceremony took place in front of a full room in the auditorium at the Royal Academy. Both laureates were introduced by members of the Royal Academy: 

After both Alain Hubert and Professor Chappellaz received their medals from the Academy, both laureates gave presentations about their work. First, Professor Chappellaz spoke about his decades-long research tracking methane (one of the most powerful greenhouse gases) in Earth’s atmosphere in his work researching atmospheric gases trapped in ice cores taken at the poles. Afterwards, Alain Hubert recounted how his polar expeditions inspired him to establish the International Polar Foundation and to build the world’s first zero-emission polar research station, the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.

“The Princess Elisabeth Antarctica is not only a first-of-its-kind research station, which has welcomed scientists from Belgium and internationally, but it also forces us to rethink our relationship with energy,” he stated during his acceptance speech. 

The ceremony ended with a memorable 15-minute film that highlighted all of the research projects that have taken place at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica over the last 17 years it has been operating.

The entire event was recorded and will be made available on the Academy’s website in the coming weeks.

“The Class of Sciences at the Royal Academy is very happy to award the Belgica Prize to Professor Jérôme Chappellaz and Alain Hubert,” commented the Academy. “In this the 125th anniversary year of the overwintering of the Belgica in Antarctica, we wanted to also recognise a modern explorer who has contributed so much to polar research, not only to the Belgian scientific community, but also to the international scientific community.”

The prestigious Belgica Prize is awarded every five years to persons who have made exceptional contributions to polar science during their careers.

Alain Hubert was awarded the prize in recognition of his record-breaking expeditions to the poles, realising the world’s first zero-emission polar research station, the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, and helping to establish important scientific research programmes at this groundbreaking station.

The construction of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica has breathed new life into Belgian polar research. The zero-emission station not only significantly reduces the environmental footprint of conducting scientific research in Antarctica, but it also regularly attracts world-class scientists from both Belgium and around the world, working in close collaboration to better understand our planet and its climate in fields such as glaciology, atmospheric sciences, biology, and the geosciences.

“It has been an honour and a privilege to have been able to contribute to the tradition of Belgian polar exploration and international polar research begun by Adrien de Gerlache, and to have helped Belgian polar researchers to benefit from a platform that fully exhibits their very considerable scientific prowess,” Mr Hubert commented about receiving the prize.

Dr Jérôme Chappellaz, who is currently affiliated with the EPFL (Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland, received the award for his analysis of ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica, which have made it possible for scientists to reconstruct atmospheric methane concentrations over the last 800,000 years. 

The EPFL is currently involved in a number of research projects being undertaken at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.

This year was the twelfth time the Belgica Prize has been awarded. It was initially established in 1904 by royal statute to commemorate the first overwintering expedition to Antarctica aboard the Belgica research vessel, led by Belgian Navy Lieutenant Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery in 1897-99, which was also the first international research expedition to Antarctica. The first recipients of the prize were members of the Belgica expedition crew and the diverse team of scientists who contributed to the quantity of scientific information collected during that voyage and during the year the ship spent in the sea ice in Antarctica.

Since 1963 the prize has been awarded every five years in recognition of the work of polar scientists active in Antarctica. A variety of researchers from Belgium and other countries have received the prestigious award. Notable winners include the Belgian Antarctic research expedition of 1957-58 (which began construction of Belgium’s King Baudouin research station), Edgard Picciotto (Geologist from the Université libre de Bruxelles who took part in several Belgian and American Antarctic research expeditions in the 1950s and 60s), Claude Lorius (Glaciologist and former President of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research), David John Drewry (former Director of the British Antarctic Survey),  Dominique Raynaud (Glaciologist at the Centre national de recherche scientifique in France and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner), and Thomas Stocker (climatologist at the University of Bern).

Have a look at photos from the ceremony here.

Read the full press release in three languages.