International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

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IPY 20 07–20 08
‘legacies’) starting as early as 2006. As a result, scores
of articles and discussion papers were produced
in assessing various aspects of post-IPY legacy, IPY
science synthesis and integration (Arctic Council,
2008; Baeseman, 2008; Dickson, 2009; Goodison, 2008;
Hik, 2007; Hik and Church, 2007; Hik and Kraft Sloan,
2007; Kraft Sloan, 2006; Krupnik, 2009; LeDrew et al.,
2008; Sarukhanian, 2008; Kraft Sloan and Hik, 2008;
Summerhayes, 2007; 2008 Summerhayes and Rachold,
2007). The most recent assessment of the prospective
IPY legacies was produced in July 2010 following the
joint AC-ATCM workshop conducted during the Oslo
IPY Science Conference (Winther and Njåstad 2010).
In addition, the 2008 OECD Global Science Forum
released an earlier report assessing IPY 2007–2008
in the context of international scientific cooperation
and the specific need to consider IPY termination and
legacy issues (Stirling, 2007). 2
Nonetheless, a special memorandum developed
by the HAIS group (Heads of Arctic/Antarctic IPY
Secretariats) as early as February 2007 argued that “the
IPY JC should take a leadership role in the efforts to
discuss and secure the IPY legacies” (Rogne; 2007;
emphasis ours – IK). That message resonated with the
emerging vision that the JC role in IPY should expand
to include the evaluation of the key IPY achievements
and the stewardship of the IPY legacy. In fulfilling these
responsibilities, the JC dedicated substantial effort to
formulate its vision on the legacies on IPY 2007–2008
in its two major publications, Scope of Science for the
International Polar Year 2007–2008 (Allison et al., 2007)
and State of Polar Research (Allison et al., 2009). A large
section of the latter document was dedicated to the
examination of possible future IPY legacies. It stated
that “[the] rapid pace of scientific advance and our
increasing awareness of humankind’s impact on the
Earth system as a whole suggest that research and
data from IPY 2007–2008 will leave a lasting legacy
in many fields of science, particularly in providing a
clearer picture of what future changes may occur and
what effects they may have” (Allison et al., 2009). Other
major legacies of IPY 2007–2008 (besides its major
science achievements) were identified as follows:
• Observational systems, facilities and infrastructure
• Scientific and political cooperation
• Cross-disciplinary collaboration, synthesis and
integration
• Reference data
• A new generation of polar scientists and engineers
• Broad public interest and participation
• Engagement of Arctic residents, including
indigenous peoples.
Some of those legacies of IPY 2007–2008 outlined
by the JC have already been covered in earlier chapters
of the volume, such as IPY observational initiatives
and reference data (Part 3), new generation of polar
scientists (Chapter 4.3), and the engagement of the
general public (Chapter 4.1). This concluding section
explores other key IPY legacies in greater detail,
starting with Chapter 5.1, which overviews major
science outcomes of IPY, particularly the development
of the new integrative vision on polar processes and
their global linkages. Chapter 5.2 dwells on the role of
IPY in broadening the cross-disciplinary and societal
scope of the new generation of polar research.
Chapter 5.3 evaluates the growing role of non-polar
nations, particularly the members of the Asian Forum
for Polar Sciences (AFoPS) in polar studies. Chapter 5.4
addresses the role of the new stakeholders in polar
research, such as polar residents and, especially, Arctic
indigenous people, as well as the societal benefits of
sharing data and knowledge with local communities
and new approaches to polar science education.
Chapter 5.5 examines many new partnerships
forged during the IPY 2007–2008 era and, particularly,
the new vision for unified ‘bipolar’ (Arctic-Antarctic)
science planning and collaboration by major polar
bodies, such as IASC, SCAR, Arctic Council, and ATCM,
as well as the two IPY sponsors, ICSU and WMO. Lastly,
Chapter 5.6 explores how the momentum created
by IPY 2007–2008 may be expanded beyond the
timeframe on the fourth IPY, from the Oslo Science
Conference in June 2010 toward the planning of the
next (and final) major IPY-related Polar Conference in
Montreal (April 2012), and into what may eventually
become ‘The International Polar Decade.’