International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

(ii) The IPY field period: March 2007 to February 2009
The IPO remained the prime point of contact
for projects and National Committees during the
implementation phase, and the main source of
publicity concerning the many exciting IPY activities
for the broader public. The IPO played a key role in
raising the profile of IPY to a level that encouraged
many countries to develop substantial programs and
contributions from existing funds and in helping to
stimulate specific new national IPY investments in
several countries. The IPO also identified a core group
of national IPY Secretaries and Directors and facilitated
meetings of the heads of national IPY Secretariats and
partners, which became established as the Heads
of Arctic and Antarctic IPY Secretariats (HAIS) group
(Chapter 1.7).
The IPO Director David Carlson continued a busy
travel schedule supporting and promoting IPY over
this period (Box 2).
(iii) Developing the legacy: March 2009 to late 2010
The IPY Oslo Science Conference (OSC) in June
2010 was the largest ever gathering of polar scientists
(Chapter 5.6). The IPO was closely involved with the OSC
Steering Committee and Local Organizing Committee
in planning this meeting designed to celebrate the
accomplishments of IPY 2007–2008, to display and
explore the richness of IPY data, and to chart future
directions for polar and global science. The IPO
director David Carlson was a member of the steering
committee of the conference. In particular, the IPO took
the lead role in organizing a workshop associated with
the OSC on ‘Bringing Polar Science into the Classroom’.
This was attended by 114 teachers from around the
world (out of more than 400 who applied). More than
600 early career scientists submitted abstracts (almost
25% of the total abstracts) to the OSC and competed
for 400 travel support stipends.
During this period, the IPO continued to advocate
for the proper cataloguing and archiving of all IPY
data, and for support from long-term polar science
organizations and from global observation programs
in developing IPY observational legacies: the evolving
Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) and the
nascent Pan-Antarctic Observing System (PAntOS).
The IPO Director attended a number of meetings
dealing with legacy issues (Box 3).
IPO support for Education, Outreach
and Communication
A key factor in the success of IPY communication
was an active and engaged community of about 750
people from more than 30 countries connected and
interacting via Google Groups. This community, which
was initiated and supported by the IPO, included
teachers, media officers, early career scientists, IPY
national contacts and project coordinators, as well
as more than 150 international journalists. They were
regularly updated on IPY activities by direct email from
the IPO and, in many cases, served as hubs for further
propagation across their own local and national
networks. The IPY focus on communication provided
opportunities and mechanisms to build connections
among individuals, many of whom worked in isolation
prior to IPY. The IPO fostered expansion of the polar
community by preparing materials and instructions in
multiple languages, and by responding to any global
partner willing to work with them to produce short,
often quick-turnaround, translations.
Between September 2007 and March 2010 the IPO
conducted a series of eight Polar Days (eventually
extending to Polar Weeks to incorporate multiple
events and time zones) focusing on “Sea Ice”, “Ice
Sheets”, “Changing Earth, Past and Present”, “Land and
Life”, “People”, “Above the Poles”, “Polar Oceans and
Marine Life” and “What Happens at the Poles Affects
Us All” (Chapter 4.1). These engaged more than 500
individual and institutional partners from 50 countries
in easy and fun polar activities. The Polar Days/Weeks
included nearly all the funded IPY Projects within one
or more focus areas.
The IPO also ran a number of successful teachers’
workshops, summer schools, polar science weekends
and student expeditions in both hemispheres. Other
prominent international media events included the
IPY launch (March 2007) and IPY celebration (February
2009). The 2007 launch catalyzed more than 20
national events that attracted the attention of local,
national, and international media (Rueth et al., 2008).
Press clipping and media monitoring efforts by national
and international organizations demonstrated
the substantial global impact of both events.
The polar resource book, Polar Science and Global
Climate: An International Resource for Education and
Outreach (Kaiser, 2010), was edited, reviewed and pub-
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