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Several scientists, a teacher, a veteran Belgian journalist, a field guide, and the team’s doctor will arrive in Antarctica in a few days, more than doubling the number of people at the station.
The first scientists who will be working on research projects during the 2014-15 season have finally started their journey to Antarctica! Between now and the end of December, nine scientists working on four different research projects will spend several weeks in November and December in the Queen Maud Land in East Antarctica working on their research projects, which focus on ice, earth and the atmosphere.
Two scientific projects will be looking at ice during the first half of the current research season.
Back in September, Jan Lenearts from the University of Utrecht became the fourth laureate of the InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship, the largest research grant in the world awarded to young polar scientists. Over the next two seasons in Antarctica, Jan will use the grant money he received to conduct field research for the BENEMELT project, which brings researchers from Belgian (KU Leuven, Université Libre de Bruxelles) and Dutch (Utrecht University) universities together to study snow melt on ice shelves. BENEMELT scientists will combine Jan’s measurements with satellite data in order to better understand how snow characteristics on ice shelves change as the snow melts, and how snow melt impacts ice shelf stability. Their findings will be used to improve models of mass balance of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which will in turn provide a better understanding of how much ice is melting from the Antarctica Ice Sheet and ultimately contributing to sea level rise.
As ice shelves are found at the coast of Antarctica, Jan will travel out to the coast with Alain and several other scientists working on another reach project collecting data on the movement of ice at the coast. Jean-Louis Tison, Frank Pattyn, Morgane Philippe, and Brice Van Lefferinge from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, along with Nicholas Bergeot from the Royal Observatory of Belgium, will be continuing work on the ICECON project. ICECON scientists want to get more accurate data on ice sheet movements in Antarctica in order to improve models that describe and predict the ice sheet’s behaviour. Over the past few seasons, they've been setting up GPS stations on the ice to track ice movements.
Denis Lombardi from the University of Luxembourg will be returning to Antarctic for yet another season for the GIANT-LISSA project. This season he will continue to add seismometers to the growing the network that monitors seismic activity throughout the Queen Maud Land region of East Antarctica.
Meanwhile, Quentin Laffineur and Alexander Mangold form the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium will spend their weeks in Antarctica setting up a new atmospheric science facility, launch balloons that will take measurements of moisture in the atmosphere, and service the automatic weather station at Utsteinen.
There to help the scientists will be Raphael Richard, an experienced field guide who will accompany many of the scientists on thier field missions. And Swiss doctor Jacques Richon, who has already spent a number of seasons at the Princes Elisabeth over the years, will help make sure everyone stays healthy!
Rounding out the new arrivals is Belgian journalist Jos van Hemelrijck, who spent several years working at the Flemish television station VRT and covered the construction of the Princess Elisabeth station during the 2007-08 season, will return to Antarctica this year to cover the different scientific research projects. We expect to have lots of high-quality reporting from such an experienced and well-respected journalist. No pressure, Jos!
And as mentioned in our last news, Roger Radoux, a Belgian teacher heading to Antarctica for the first time under the Polar Quest contest, will inspire the next generation of polar scientists as he gives lessons to his high school students back home in Belgium while he's at the station.
Weather permitting, they should all arrive at the station in a few days. Fingers crossed!
The BELARE 10 team welcomes a few new members, while an electronics teacher prepares for his first trip to Antarctica, thanks to his students!
Less than a week has passed since the first team arrived at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station, and already the BELARE team has grown. On Thursday morning, everyone welcomed two new members: Julien Lecomte and Nicolas Degand.
Julien is a veteran of the two seasons (2007-08 and 2008-09) during which the station was first constructed. He’s happy to be back in Antarctica to see how the station is holding up against the elements. During the 2014-15 season, Julien will be involved in constructing the new geomagnetic observatory near the station for the GEOMAG project.
Nicolas is a machine operator who's experiencing Antarctica for the first time (it's always nice to introduce a newcomer to wonders of the planet's southernmost continent!). As a profesisonal machine operator, Nicolas will handle the Komatsu crane during construction operations, in particular during the construction of the geomagnetic observatory.
During your school days, did you ever wish you could send your teacher to Antarctica? Thanks to the Polar Quest project, a high school class from Ans, Belgium has managed to do just that!
Roger Radoux, an electronics teacher at the Athénée royal d’Ans, is preparing to leave for Antarctica on November 15th thanks to the hard work of his students. His class competed in and won the second Polar Quest contest, which was organized by the International Polar Foundation and funded by Wallonia and the Brussels Capital Region.
Set up to follow the same spirit as the Princess Elisabeth station - which was designed to run entirely on renewable wind and solar energy and manage the energy produced very efficiently thanks to its smart micro grid - Polar Quest is a contest in which students from different high schools around Belgium are asked to come up with innovative ways to manage energy use more efficiently in their schools.
This year, for the contest’s second edition, five schools made it through the pre-selection process to compete at the Polar Quest final on May 14, 2014. A jury of experts gave top prize to the energy-saving project devised by an electronics class from the Athénée royal d’Ans. Thanks to their efforts, their teacher, Roger Radoux, will spend several weeks in Antarctica learning about how the Princess Elisabeth station works, as well as get a feel of what daily life in Antarctica is like.
During his time at the Princess Elisabeth, Roger will be giving lessons to his students via Skype. Students and teachers from everywhere are encouraged to visit his blog to follow his activities. You can even ask him questions!
The Polar Quest project is a very unique educational opportunity for Belgian students. We wish Roger all the best as he takes his first journey to Antarctica!
With 49 speakers and moderators taking part this year, more than 200 participants attended the fifth edition of the International Polar Foundation's annual Arctic Futures Symposium.
Thanks to the help and support of its 13 sponsors and partners, the 2014 edition of the symposium brought together a mix of familiar and fresh faces over two full days on October 14th adn 15th. Held at the Residence Palace in the European Quarter of Brussels, the symposium focused on the diverse peoples and economies of the Arctic. Speakers included Senior Arctic Officials and policymakers from Arctic Council nations, EU policymakers, representatives from the indigenous circumpolar communities, business representatives, and top academics presented and discussed the latest issues affecting those who live and work in the Arctic.
Continuing to follow the priorities of the two-year Canadian chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the 2014 Arctic Futures Symposium had as an overarching theme the peoples and economies of the Arctic. As no region of the Arctic is uniform in terms of its population, environment, or economic activities, the symposium took at closer look at a number of different regions of the Arctic. The continuing evolution of the Arctic Council, commercial shipping activities, maritime securiy, reindeer herding, the EU's contributions to Arctic research and dialogue with Arctic inhabitatns, oil and gas development, current and proposed mining operations, the EU ban on seal products and even the continued development of an IT cluster in the Barents region were issues brought up during the event.
In addition to featuring a roundtable discussion with senior Arctic Officials and representatives from the foreign ministries of Arctic Council nations and the European External Action Service (EEAS), as well as a hosting a panel of leading scientists discussing key Arctic research topics, the 2014 Arctic Futures Symposium for the first time featured a roundtable discussion between representatives from the circumpolar Arctic indigenous communities and a Member of the European Parliament, Jens Nilsson from Sweden.
Those following the Arctic Futures hashtag (#ArcticFutures) were updated on salient points brought up during the symposium.
In the coming weeks, speaker presentations from the symposium will be published on the International Polar Foundation’s Speaker Deck account. The official proceedings of the symposium will be published on the Arctic Futures Symposium website in a few months.
Once again, Arctic stakeholders and high-profile policymakers will gather in Brussels on the 14th and 15th of October for the 5th edition of the Arctic Futures Symposium. Held at the Residence Palace in the European Quarter of Brussels, the 2014 symposium will focus on "The Arctic, its peoples, and its economies".
The Arctic and its inhabitants are facing several important changes and challenges, and the Arctic Futures Symposium aims to seek solutions to the challenges through dialogue. Over the course of seven roundtable sessions and a series of keynote presentations, nearly 50 speakers will contribute their knowledge and understanding to discuss issues related to the Arctic’s diverse inhabitants and the economies of this increasingly important region of the planet.
In addition to discussing issues of great importance for the Circumpolar North, a photo exhibition sponsored by Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society will be held in the Atrium of the Residence Palace throughout the duration of the event.
Arctic Futures is a free event, but we have limited seating capacity for the event. The only way to guarantee a spot at the symposium is register via the Arctic Futures website. A few dozen seats remain available at writing of this news; however this is not likely to be the case for long.
Dr Jan Lenaerts, a Belgian researcher working at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, has been awarded the prestigious €150,000 InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship for his BENEMELT project.
A joint initiative between the International Polar Foundation and the InBev-Baillet Latour Fund, the InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship Award promotes science and scientific excellence in Antarctica by young scientists. The fellowship, the largest of its kind, recognizes the importance of science carried out in Antarctica for improving the understanding of the Earth system, and encourages scientific research at, or close to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica polar research station.
The BENEMELT project was the unanimous choice of the InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship Committee, based on the recommendations of an international scientific jury. The project aims to improve understanding of snow melt on ice shelves, floating extensions of the massive inland ice sheet which stabilize ice loss, and how melt will impact on ice shelf stability and sea level. It will also provide data for improving climate models to provide an estimate of present-day and future surface melt on East Antarctic ice shelves.
“My fieldwork with the support of the InBev-Baillet Latour Fellowship will shed light on which processes are responsible for this ice shelf breakup, thereby improving the estimates how, when and where East Antarctica is most vulnerable to global warming" said Lenaerts.
The prize was presented on 17th September at the Antarctica – The Next Generation Conference and Award Ceremony at the Palais des Académies / Paleis der Academiën, in Brussels, Belgium, by Jean-Jacques Derwael, a geodetic surveyor who conducted pioneering research in Antarctica in the 1960s.
The conference celebrated the work of previous InBev-Baillet Latour Fellowship laureates Dr Elie Verleyen, Dr Steven Goderis and Dr Reinhard Drews with all three scientists giving presentations of their research activities in Antarctica and most recent results. Meteorologist Dr Alexander Mangold also described his meteorological and climate studies at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station and during his acceptance speech, Dr Jan Lenaerts gave a short presentation about his planned research. Participants at the conference commented on the clear and understandable talks and the enthusiasm of all of the scientists.
Jan Lenaerts will be travelling to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station in November 2014 and you can follow the progress of the BENEMELT project on the station website.
On Thursday 11 September, nineteen top Arctic institutes throughout Europe (including the International Polar Foundation) formally presented the results of the work done to investigate the feasibility of establishing a permanent EU Arctic Information Centre (EUAIC), a "network of networks" designed to provide quick and easy information about the Arctic to policy-makers.
The highly-anticipated all-day seminar entitled "The EU in the Arctic, the Arctic in the EU" welcomed more than 170 participants at the Residence Palace in the European District in Brussels.
Funded by the European Union, a pilot phase to test the capabilities of the EUAIC consortium was launched in February 2013. During one year and a half, the network of expert Arctic institutions undertook several projects aimed at providing key information about the Arctic to policymakers.
The consortium's deliverables include:
Before the network presented their results in the afternoon, two morning sessions were held with high-level speakers form the EU Commission, Members of the European Parliament, and the Finnish Foreign Ministry (including Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Finland's Ambassador to the Arctic Council Hannu Halinen).
The mandate of the consortium, which is headquartered at the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland, is to provide support to the the EU as it continues to develop its Arctic policy. Both the Council of the European Union and the EU Parliament have supported the establishment of an EU Arctic Information Centre.
For more information on the EU Arctic Information Centre consortium and its activities, please consult the consortium's official website.
On September 17, the "Antarctica – The Next Generation" conference will take place in Brussels, Belgium. It will present scientific research projects carried out at Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. The winner of the €150.000 InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship, awarded to young polar scientists, will also be announced.
In 2008, the InBev-Baillet Latour Fund and the International Polar Foundation created a new award for young scientists to facilitate the establishment of a long-term cutting-edge research programme at the Princess Elisabeth Station in Antarctica: the InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship.
The Fellowship aims to promote scientific excellence in Antarctica and underscores the crucial role polar science plays in furthering our understanding of the Earth and how it functions.
Over the past 6 years, it has allowed several scientists to carry out exciting and globally significant research in East Antarctica. This research has contributed new and important information to our knowledge of the planetary systems, the biosphere, the evolving climate and the ice shelves, as well as benefitting the study of meteorites.
The 2014 laureate will be announced live at the conference.
Speakers at the conference include past Fellowship laureates who will present their research:
Dr. Alexander Mangold from the Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute will also present his research in atmospheric science at the Princess Elisabeth research station.
The conference will provide the opportunity to:
The conference is open to everyone interested and the entrance is free.
For more information, including the programme and details for registration, please visit the Fellowship webpage.
To mark UN World Environment Day on June 5th, International Polar Foundation Executive Director Andreas Wagner presented the Gemeentelijk Technisch Instituut, in Londerzeel, Belgium with our annual award for initiatives that make a significant impact against climate change. The school won the award for its project 'The Climate Crisis: Do Something About It! ' at the 9th Belgian Energy and Environment Awards, held in the Brussels landmark venue Tour & Taxis.
The International Polar Foundation has been a partner of the Belgian Energy and Environment Awards since its very first edition in 2006; since then the initiative has honoured about 1700 projects developed by citizens, corporations, institutions, associations, schools and administrations that have provided exceptional contributions to the construction of a sustainable future, at a local, regional and national level. At this year’s ceremony, the jury awarded a total of eight prizes and two special mentions.
Gemeentelijk Technisch Instituut Londerzeel, recipient of the International Polar Foundation award, is a secondary school specialising in technical education. Its project resulted in the collaboration between students and teachers under the coordination of teacher Wim Van Buggenhout, and consists in several climate actions: a polar day was organised at the school during which visiting polar scientists and climate experts talked to the students, an awareness campaign on climate change was launched, students learned to calculate of the amount of CO2 captured by a tree. They also brought together a series of educational lessons in a website and developed a solar tracker as a basis for an international project. The school is currently involved in a European project titled 'Melting away for the climate' . The prize rewards the school's continuous work over the past years to demonstrate concrete activities to deal with climate change.
Many very interesting projects were presented at this year’s awards. Read about the other laureates on the dedicated Website (in Dutch - and in French).
Next year, the Energy and Environment Awards will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The organisers and partners encourage everyone to participate by submitting a project. They are already looking forward to reading about your innovative and creative projects towards sustainable development.
Congratulations from the International Polar Foundation to all the 2014 laureates!
The official proceedings of the International Polar Foundation's 2013 Arctic Futures Symposium are available for download from the Arctic Futures website.
Held every autumn in Brussels, the International Polar Foundation’s annual Arctic Futures Symposium draws a multinational and multidisciplinary group of speakers and participants to Brussels every year to discuss issues the Arctic will be facing in the coming years.
The 2013 symposium featured local, national and EU policymakers, Arctic indigenous peoples, natural and social scientists, academics, and representatives of industries operating in the Arctic to discuss the impacts of resource development and shipping in the Arctic, how the region is being altered by climate change, and issues affecting Northern residents.
The proceedings provide a highly useful reference resource for all those interested in Arctic issues, from seasoned policymakers to journalists and students.
Every year since it first began in 2010, participation in the Arctic Futures Symposium has grown, reflecting the ever-increasing interest in the Arctic. October 2013 saw the fourth edition of the symposium, which was organized with the help of sponsors including the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Statoil, as well as the support of contributors such as the North Norway European Office, the EU Arctic Information Centre consortium and the European External Action Service (EEAS). A shipping workshop on the second day of the symposium was organized in conjunction with the Arctic NGO Forum, an initiative funded by the EU Commission Directorate General for the Environment and coordinated by GRID-Arendal and Ecorys.
Download the final Arctic Futures 2013 report
For press inquiries regarding the Arctic Futures Symposium, please contact press@polarfoundation.org
For all other inquiries related to the symposium, please contact events@polarfoundation.org
This week, the International Polar Foundation celebreates five years of endevour and success since Princess Elisabeth Antarctica was inaugurated on February 15, 2009. However, the journey from the station's concept to its physical reality was a long and challenging adventure - one that we would like to share with you.
Alain Hubert, an experienced polar explorer and engineer, and the International Polar Foundation, the non-profit organisation he established in 2002 along with glaciologist Hugo Declier (Vrij Universiteit Brussel) and climatologist André Berger (KU Leuven), set out to build the world’s first “zero emission” research station, designed to run entirely on renewable wind and solar energy.
Their first challenge was to convince sponsors to come on board. The International Polar Foundation succeeded in establishing a public/private partnership, and persuading businesses, the public sector, and civil society to take part in the project. In February 2004, the Belgian Federal Government commissioned the International Polar Foundation to take care of developing the station from design to completion. The station was to be named after Belgium’s young Princess Elisabeth, daughter of His Royal Highness King Philippe of Belgium.
With a clear vision of the mission ahead, a team led by the International Polar Foundation headed to Antarctica in November 2004 on the first Belgian Antarctic Research Expedition (BELARE) to search for a suitable place to build the new station.
The station had to be built on solid rock, as the ice sheet covering most of Antarctica flows constantly towards the coasts. The ideal location had to be close to an ample supply of snow for drinking water, yet not be vulnerable to burial from too much snow accumulation - an unfortunate fate of previous Belgian stations. It also needed to be located at a place that facilitated logistical operations.
A ridge at Utsteinen in the western part of the Sør Rondane Mountains met all these requirements. The location allows safe access to the coast and is situated on the leeward side of the mountains, giving the ridge protection from storms. Steady katabatic winds from the interior of the continent not only make it an ideal place to use wind power, but they also prevent too much snow accumulation on the roof of the station.
Designing a “zero emission” research station in Antarctica was no easy task, given there were no models to follow. Trial and error is not an option in a part of the world where it is only possible to do serious construction during the short summer between November and March, when 24-hour daylight prevails in the austral summer. Failing to meet a season’s construction targets not only means losing a full year, but also the confidence of sponsors.
Three expeditions to Antarctica were carried out from November 2004 to February 2007 to prepare Utsteinen Ridge for the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica’s construction. The end of the final preparatory season saw a critical moment for the project, in which the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica project was either going to sink or swim - literally.
At the end of the season, snow tractors and equipment were scheduled to be unloaded from a supply ship at the coast and transported to the construction site 220 km inland. As the first container was unloaded form the ship onto the ice shelf, cracks formed around the container and a piece of the ice shelf broke free, still holding the container. But thanks to quick thinking, the captain of the ship pushed the piece of the ice shelf back towards the coast, and Alain and the team managed to pull the container containing €1.5 million worth of equipment off of the collapsing ice shelf just in time.
“If the container and the tractor sunk into the ocean, the project would have been over. The entire project would have been lost in the water, literally.”
- Alain Hubert, President, International Polar Foundation
Before being shipped to Antarctica, the main structure of the station was pre-constructed in Belgium. During the summer of 2007, construction teams completed this task at the Tour & Taxis exposition centre in Brussels. The pre-construction was a much-needed trial run for the builders who would reassemble the station under much more difficult conditions in Antarctica.
International Polar Foundation President Alain Hubert and His Royal Highness Prince Philippe – now King – of Belgium, opened the pre-constructed station to the general public. More than 35,000 visitors came to see the station over four days, September 6 - 9, 2007.
“When we saw the number of people coming to see the station in Tour & Taxis, we realised how popular that project had become, not only for us but also for Belgium and its citizens.”
- Johan Berte, Head Engineer, Princess Elisabeth Antarctica project
Princess Elisabeth Antarctica was shipped to Antarctica during the autumn of 2007, and construction at Utsteinen began during the 2007-08 expedition. A large team braved tough Antarctic conditions to set up the main structure of the station. For several months, the team worked day and night, battling the bitter cold at times, to complete the task on time. On February 14 2008, the team secured the final module of the station’s main structure.
After the station successfully withstood its first eight months of the punishing Antarctic winter, the construction team returned in November 2008 to install the station’s water treatment system, electronics, more wind turbines, and the first field of solar panels. While construction was still taking place, the base already hosted its first scientific research teams starting in November 2008.
On February 15, 2009, Belgian Government ministers and officials, project sponsors and politicians made their way to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica to celebrate the station’s official inauguration. Days before the first guests arrived for the celebration, the whole team redoubled their efforts to make sure all the finishing touches were in place.
Despite facing a number of challenges each season, each time the BELARE team has returned to Antarctica, the station has seen improvements. A satellite dish, which allows the station and its systems to be controlled remotely, was installed in 2010.
More importantly for the station’s concept, engineers set up a smart electrical grid, which manages the use of energy generated by wind turbines and solar panels. A priority-based central computer system determines how energy is allocated in the station. Intelligent energy management in the most extreme environment on the planet is the hallmark of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.
As the appointed Belgian Antarctic Operator, the International Polar Foundation ensures safe conditions for field research by providing experienced polar guides, handling cargo and personnel logistics, and providing accommodation and mobile laboratory facilities for scientists working in the field.
In in addition to a large number of Belgian scientists who have been to the staiton to conduct research since the station first welcomed scientists in 2008, the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica has also welcomed scientists from Japan, Germany, the US, the UK, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. Scientists conduct reesarch in a wide variety of fields, including glaciology, microbiology, geology, geomagnetism, and atmospheric sciences. The Antarctic Plateau, subglacial lakes, dry valleys and ice shelves in the vicinity of the station provide a variety of research possibilities for scientists.
Members of the International Polar Foundation have witnessed some of the most fascinating research:
“While on a field expedition with a group of German geologists, we assisted them as they took rock samples from a site where the African and Antarctic continental plates collided some 500 million years ago, when the Gondwana supercontinent was forming. Seeing the deformed and folded rock where two ancient landmasses collided with my own eyes was a remarkable moment to me.”
- Nighat Amin, Vice-President, International Polar Foundation
In addition to providing logistical support to scientists, every two years since 2008, the InBev-Baillet Latour Fund and the International Polar Foundation award a €150,000 research grant, the InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship, to an early career polar scientist to fund a research project to be carried out at or near the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. The goal is to help young polar scientists in their career while promoting excellence in polar research.
As a scientific research station, the goal of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica is to make sure that as many scientists as possible can take advantage of its facilities and the professional support the station team offers. In order to ensure the long-term success of the station, the next goal is to find ways to cooperate with other countries in order to share the costs of operating the world’s first “zero emission” research station, while continuing to develop this exemplary prototype of sustainable living. The International Polar Foundation believes that Belgium can lead the way towards a low carbon future.
In developing the “zero emission” side of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica project, we have proven that if we can live more sustainably in Antarctica, we can live more sustainably anywhere on the planet.
“The necessary know-how and technologies actually exist; all we need is more confidence that we can confront the future using the tools and experience at hand.”
- Alain Hubert, President, International Polar Foundation
The first 14 members of the BELgian Antarctic Research Expedition (BELARE) are off to a strong start opening and preparing the station for the arrival of scientists in the coming days.
The MAS exhibition 'To the Antarctic' welcomed more than 45,00 visitors over the 4.5 months that it was open to the public.
The International Polar Foundation was again present and active at the annual Arctic Circle Assembly and accompanying Arctic Circle Business Forum in Reykjavik, Iceland from October 17th-19th.
The latest edition of the annual Arctic Futures Symposium organised by the International Polar Foundation and its many Arctic stakeholder partners will take place in early December. Register to secure your spot!
IPF is sad to learn of the passing of glaciologist Professor Roland Souchez, who made important contributions to the fields of glaciology and climate science during his decades-long career.
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.
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 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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
