International Polar Year (IPY) extends over two years from March 2007 to March 2009 and is planned to be the largest ever international research programme in the Polar Regions.
IPY emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches and international participation. Much of the IPY research is related to climate change and interactions of climate, oceans, ice, land, ecosystems and human society in the Arctic and Antarctic. Education and outreach activities aim to engage the public and inspire and involve the next generation of engineers, scientists, and world leaders.
This International Polar Year is the 125th anniversary of the first IPY, the 75th anniversary of the second IPY and the 50th anniversary of the International UNEP Strategy for International Polar Year 2007-2008 – September 2006 Geophysical Year. All of these were major initiatives that brought new insights into polar and global processes, developed new methods and advanced international cooperation in polar research. Aside from the huge technological advances over the past 50 years, the trend in science towards more multidisciplinary and ecosystem approaches means that this is the first of the IPYs to include research on biota and on human societies.
IPY is sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Council for Science (ICSU), with international governance through the IPY International Joint Committee, which has appointed several subcommittees, including Data Policy and Management, and Education and Outreach. The work of these committees is supported by the International Programme Office, located at the British Antarctic Survey headquarters in Cambridge, UK.
The UNEP Key Polar Centre works with the UNEP Division of Communications and Public Information (DCPI) in communicating the messages and results of the International Polar Year to the global community and to make the research accessible for international policy making.
Activities
- Educational posters for IPY - the UNEP Key Polar Centre will develop five posters for use in classrooms for the IPY - funded by the Norwegian Research Council, to be launched in the fall of 2007.
- World Environment Day 2007 - Celebrated on June 5th annualy, at the anniversary of the opening of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. The 2007 took place in Tromsø, Norway and the theme was Melting Ice - A Hot Topic?.
- The report Global Outlook for Ice & Snow was launched June 3rd 2007. This report, prepared by an editorial team at the UNEP Key Polar Centre, together with a network of more than 70 contributing scientists, presents an extensive assessment of the state and outlook for the polar regions, and on the role of the polar regions for the world.
- The UNEP Key Polar Centre is represented on the IPY International Data Policy and Management Subcommittee, and has helped to develop the IPY data policy, focusing particularly on timely sharing of IPY research findings, applicability of the policy to traditional knowledge, and linkages and consistency with international data initiatives.
- The Centre is also working closely with the IPY International Programme Office in developing outreach initiatives, with a focus on articulating and highlighting the significance of the polar regions in the global context.
- The International Polar Year will be featured in the upcoming editions of the annual GEO Yearbook.
- The UNEP Key Polar Centre is also participating as a partner in several projects under development for the International Polar Year, primarily the Many Strong Voices (MSV) Programme, the Circumpolar Biodiversity Programme, Arctic Portal and the University of the Arctic.
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