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 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.
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!
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