International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

Fig.1.5-20 Jerónimo
López-Martínez. JC
Co-Chair delivers his
plenary address on
behalf of the Joint
Committee at the IPY
closing ceremony on
12 June 2010. Gerlis
Fugmann, APECS
President, is on the
right.
(Photo: Igor Krupnik)
108
IPY 20 07–20 08
another major polar initiative under consideration
called The International Polar Decade (IPD). The concept
of IPD has been already reviewed at the meeting
of the WMO Executive Council Panel of Experts on
Polar Observations, Research, and Services (13-15
October, 2009) and it was also considered by several
organizations, including IASC, Arctic Council, UNESCO
and others (Chapter 5.6; ftp://ftp.wmo.int/Documents/
Box 10 Oslo Science Conference and Closing of IPY 2007–2008
The five-day IPY Science Conference, Polar Science –
Global Impact (8-12 June, 2010) held at the Lillestrøm
Conference Center outside Oslo became the concluding
event for IPY 2007–2008. The Oslo conference, in
planning since 2006, emerged as the largest ever gathering
of polar researchers, educators, science managers and
public officials (Chapter 5.6). It engaged more than 2300
participants from 49 nations and featured more than
2000 presentations (1050 oral talks and over 1000 posters
- http://ipy-osc.no/section/news). Each conference day
included plenary talks and concurrent sessions organized
along six themes: (1) Linkages between Polar Regions and
global systems; (2) Past, Present and Future Changes; (3)
Polar Ecosystems and Biodiversity; (4) Health, Society
and Resources; (5) New Frontiers, Data Practices and
Directions; and (6) Polar Science Education, Outreach
and Communication. It also featured daily poster
sessions, discussions and roundtables, exhibits, screening
of the documentaries and movies related to the polar
regions, and numerous public events (http://ipy-osc.no/
SESSIONS/EC-PORS-1/Doc.7.4(1).pdf). The main goal
of IPD is to launch a process of coordinated research
and observations in the polar regions to meet the
requirements of the long-term climate change
studies and prediction to benefit societal needs. The
IPD is viewed by many of its champions as a natural
outcome of IPY 2007–2008. The meeting agreed to
consider IPD as a part of IPY legacy that addresses
osc_programme).
IPY 2007–2008 was officially closed on the last day of the
Oslo Conference at its plenary morning session (http://
ipy-osc.no/article/2010/1276298669.27) chaired by Gerlis
Fugmann, President of the Association of Polar Early
Career Scientists (APECS). It began with an opening
address by Jerónimo López-Martínez, the JC Co-Chair.
In his presentation on behalf of the IPY Joint Committee,
López-Martínez reviewed major steps in the preparation
and implementation of IPY 2007–2008 and declared the
overall success of the IPY program, including its science,
education and outreach efforts. He also briefed the broad
IPY community about the JC work on the preparation
of the IPY summary report (Fig.1.5-20). In conclusion,
he thanked the IPY sponsors, ICSU and WMO, many
other international organizations, national agencies and
IPY committees, members of the IPY subcommittees,
secretariats and projects, the staff of the International
Programme Office, and many thousands of IPY
participants for their contribution to IPY 2007–2008.
López-Martínez’s address was followed by short
presentations from David Carlson, Director of IPO;
Volker Rachold, Executive Secretary of IASC; Michael
Sparrow, Executive Director of SCAR, and Jenny
Baeseman, Director of APECS (Fig. 1.5-22). Concluding
remarks were delivered by Deliang Chen, ICSU Executive
Director, and Elena Manaenkova, WMO Assistant
Secretary General. They both praised the thousands of
IPY participants for their energy and dedication during
the more than seven years that took the international
community to plan and implement this coordinated polar
program, the largest ever undertaken.
On behalf of ICSU and WMO, Elena Manaenkova
declared the fourth IPY officially closed. As a symbol
of transition, Dr. López-Martínez handed over the IPY
2007–2008 flag to Gerlis Fugmann (Fig.1.5-21). This act
indicated that the next generation of polar researchers
would continue the momentum generated by IPY and
would now be in charge of preserving its legacy.