international
polar
foundation

Since the International Polar Year in 2008, the IPF has gained a lot of experience in keeping polar science outreach and education activities alive and prospering. Because of this leadership role, the IPF has been invited to convene a session at the final IPY conference taking place in Montréal in 2012.

The IPY 2012 conference - From Knowledge to Action - is taking place in Montreal, Canada from April 22-27, and will be one of the largest and most important scientific conferences for polar science and climate change, impacts and adaptation.

The International Polar Year also raised the bar on science education and outreach. Sandra Vanhove, Head of the education department at the International Polar Foundation, is now seeking abstracts on educational and outreach practices during and after the International Polar Year from teachers and educators everywhere. The Call for Abstracts for the E&O program is available on the IPY Montréal 2012 website. Abstracts submission closes on September 30, 2011.

For the IPF led session - Teaching Polar Science: IPY and Beyond - particular emphasis will be put on multidisciplinary projects that were highly successful in formal education settings during the IPY, and how these lessons and experiences continue to improve outreach efforts in schools into the future. Sessions will include evidence from case studies from a variety of educational areas.

We are seeking a combination of geographically spread educational practices, from different levels of education (local class-school, inter-school, national level, international level), with the final aim of creating a debate on the success of the project and how to continue.

In November 2007, Dominique Kopp and a film crew boarded the Russian icebreaker Ivan Papanin to shoot a film about the Earth's ultimate frontier, Antarctica. While produced within the framework of the 4^th International Polar Year 2007-2008, “Par-delà les banquises” (Beyond the Sea Ice) offers a different view on a continent that is most often described as a place of science and exploration.

Windswept white landscapes are bleak and yet beautiful, and ever changing in the light and elements. This film shows the changing environment, and people within in, studying the region and the secrets it hides.

Directed by Dominique Kopp and supported by the SCAM (a copyright organization specialized in literature, documentaries, TV & radio.) and the International Polar Foundation (IPF), the film shares a more poetic view of the polar regions and their paradoxes.

See the movie here : http://www.antarcticstation.org/photos_videos/video/par_dela_les_banquises/

Isabelle Du Four, one of the educational officers at the International Polar Foundation (IPF), will be joining the Students on Ice Arctic Expedition, travelling through the Arctic region on a ship turned classroom and bringing to life issues facing the Arctic today. As an education team member she will give workshops related to polar fundamentals and environmental issues.

The Students on Ice program provides youth from around the world with ship-based educational expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica. Their mandate is to educate and inspire the next generation of polar scientists and environmental leaders – and in doing so, help to provide them with a greater understanding and respect for the planet. Since 2000, over 1,600 high school and university students from forty countries have visited the Polar Regions with the Students on Ice program.

The Arctic journey will explore Iceland, southern Greenland, the north shore of Labrador and the northern reaches of Nunavik and will play host to 70 international students, aged 14-18. The students will travel on this transformative adventure together with a team of 54 scientists, historians, artists, explorers, educators, leaders, innovators and polar experts. Students on this summer's expedition will develop the knowledge, skills, perspectives and practices that will help them to be Arctic ambassadors and environmentally responsible citizens when they return to their own countries.

On May 27^th, the laureates of the 6^th edition of the Energy and Environment Awards were announced in Tour & Taxis (Brussels). The prize is supported by over 100 organizations, most notably by the International Polar Foundation (IPF) which has been presenting the IPF Award since the prize’s inception. With IPF President Alain Hubert stuck in Greenland, it was Executive Director Thierry Touchais who presented the award for the 2011 edition.

Since the first year of the prize, in 2006, the award has been given to about 1.200 citizens, corporations, public organizations or NGOs that all contributed to better management and protection of the environment, the energy or the climate in Belgium.

The IPF Award is presented to a candidate whose actions have had a beneficial impact on the struggle against climate change. The laureate for this year was Eandis (Melle).

The project is an investment project to reduce the energy costs in Antwerp schools by at least 26%. The aim of Eandis, in partnering with the City of Antwerp, is to reduce energy consumption and take green measures in schools. With 50 schools involved, this project will become a model for the entire Flemish Community.

The IPF recently became an Associate Member of the University of the Arctic. IPF Executive Director Thierry Touchais participated in the celebrations for the 10th Anniversary of the University of the Arctic on June 8th at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland.

The 10th anniversary event, which took place during the University of the Arctic’s 14th Council Meeting, was marked by a special seminar organized at the University of Lapland on Green Growth in opportunities in the Arctic. Keynote speakers at the event included Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (President of Iceland), Hannele Pokka (Permanent Secretary of Finland’s Ministry of the Environment), Gustaf Lind (Sweden’s Arctic Ambassador), and J. Okalik Eegeesiak (President of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association). The anniversary event concluded with a gala dinner to honour the the achievements of the University of the Arctic, its programmes, and its members.

During the event, the IPF was welcomed as an Associate Member along with a number of other partners. This is the first time the University of the Arctic has accepted members under this special new status.

Ten years ago, the University of the Arctic was officially created with the support of regional institutions and governments, and, importantly, Arctic indigenous peoples. Since then, its importance as an international actor has been demonstrated in the role it played in the recent International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008, helping to coordinate the education and outreach activities resulting from the IPY’s international scientific research projects.

Over the course of the past ten years, the University of the Arctic has managed to create an empowered and sustainable North through education and partnerships and has grown to meet additional needs and serve more areas of the Circumpolar North through its important alliances and expanding programs. The IPF is very proud to be part of this ongoing vision.

On Wednesday, May 18^th, the AHA! project, led by Koen Meirlaen and his students from the Leiepoort Deinze Campus Sint-Hendrik became the final winners of the Polar Quest Contest. While the first part of the contest is now over, a next chapter will be written next year as Mr Meirlaen heads down to the Princess Elisabeth Station in Antarctica (PEA). The aim of the AHA! project is to link the scientific research conducted at PEA to analog projects at school. By conducting some observations themselves, the students should then better understand the impact of their behaviour on the environment and consequently adapt it.

Out of 31 participants, three classes made it to the final round of Polar Quest and were given the task of drafting a project proposal on scientific research to be conducted at PEA. They all defended their projects ferociously in “Class Zero Emission” at the IPF. The jury was impressed by the creativity and motivation of the students and their teachers, and the time and effort each group put into their planning.

After a moment of palpable excitement, the students of the Leiepoort Deinze Campus Sint-Hendrik jumped for joy as their name was announced. They will send their teacher to Antarctica next season and all received a 250€ voucher of AS Adventure. Completing the podium were the “SUNAPEAL” project of the Gemeentelijk Technisch Instituut van Londerzeel, in second place with the technologically advanced sun tracker they planned to test in Antarctica, and the Sint-Jozefinstituut van Essen with their interesting scientific project on the impact of UV radiation on climate change in third place. As a special prize for their efforts, teachers Wim Van Buggenhout and Karen Adriaenssen were both awarded an iPad by the IPF, while their students received a 150€ voucher of AS Adventure.

The International Polar Year is a large scientific programme focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic from March 2007 to March 2009. During this period, an interdisciplinary and international science programme reinforced science about polar oceans, glaciers and ice sheets, permafrost, etc. In this framework, an integrated Education & Outreach programme gave the general public, media professionals, researchers, and policy makers the opportunity to experience science in real time.

Despite results becoming increasingly available, climate issues remain complex. Therefore, further development and dissemination of educational material are needed to explain the information and clarify the entire process behind (polar) science. The ultimate aim is to leave a legacy for the future of science and a broader environmental literacy, as underlined at the Arctic Council and at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings.

This aspect was clearly identified as crucial during the Oslo 2010 conference, where the IPF co-organized the PolarTEACHER conference. The IPF also allows a continuation of the exchange of information between established scientists, early career scientists, communicators, educators, journalists and the general public through its projects and outreach websites.

A partner in the 2007-2008 IPY, the International Polar Foundation took part in various activities and participated in several initiatives. Some of these include:

• Collaboration in Polar Weeks
• Polar Resource Book, for which the IPF presented five of its classroom activities and four of its projects
• Damocles

Yet, the activities of the IPF did not end along with the IPY and true to its objectives; the IPF provided a permanent home for the outreach products of young scientists. Under the PolarQuest project, various scientists were invited to Class Zero Emission to explain their vision and fascination of polar research to 17-year olds. Moreover, over the course of the last Antarctic season, a series of articles was published to explain the scientific projects conducted at the Princess Elisabeth Station to teachers and their students.

From March 30^th to May 31^st, Tour & Taxi (Brussels) will host the exhibition “From Brussels, Xiè Xiè Shanghai” (“Thank You, Shanghai”). The exhibition will give those who did not get to see the Belgium Pavilion in Shanghai the opportunity to feel a little of the atmosphere that reigned in China during the six months of the 41^st World Expo.

The IPF, which was present with the Ice Cube in Shanghai, is featured in the exhibition with a scale model of the Princess Elisabeth Station, but also Antarctic meteorites and rocks, a video on the construction of the world’s first “zero emission” station, and a slide show presenting the various scientific projects conducted at the station.

This exhibition follows up on the tremendous success of the Belgium Pavilion and shares it with the largely cosmopolitan audience in the European capital, a symbolic way to say “Thank You, Shanghai”.

On February 15^th, the Princess Elisabeth research station in Antarctica (PEA) was the focal point of the launch of the 'mardis durables du Palais', a special exhibition focusing on sustainable technologies and innovations, at the ‘Palais de la Découverte’ (Paris).

For the first ‘Mardi durable’, called ‘Islands, innovation lands for smart grids’, two connections with the Princess Elisabeth Station were scheduled. While the first of these was dedicated to students, another one gathered a panel of experts around French journalist Fabrice Papillon for a debate. Both sessions were broadcast on the ‘Palais de la Découverte’ WEBTV.

After a presentation of the station by Mr Thierry Touchais, Executive Director of the International Polar Foundation, and the presentations from the engineers from IPF partners GDF Suez and Schneider Electric, the students were able to ask Alain Hubert questions and listen to his experience of the new technologies being used on the ground in Antarctica and on the feasibility of “zero emissions” in the real world.

February 28, 2011 - Share on Twitter or FaceBook

On February 15^th 2011 the Princess Elisabeth research station in Antarctica (PEA) will be the centre of attention at the launch of the 'mardis durables du Palais', a special exhibition focussing on sustainable technologies and innovations, at the ‘Palais de la Découverte’ (Paris).

The first of the ‘Mardis durables’ is called ‘Islands, innovation lands for smart grids’, and will feature a session dedicated to students, followed by a round table of experts discussing smart grids. This special session will be broadcast live on the WEBTV at 2.30 pm. The video conference with Alain Hubert at the Princess Elisabeth Station will be preceded by a presentation of the station, as well as a discussion between the engineers of GDF Suez and Schneider Electric. These engineers set up the smart grid which allows the Princess Elisabeth Station to rely solely on the electricity provided by the wind turbines and solar panels.

During the video conference, the students will be able to ask Alain Hubert questions and he will share his experience of the new technologies and on the feasibility of “zero emissions”, even in the most extreme conditions on Earth.