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International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

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Lead Authors:<br />

Volker Rachold, Igor Krupnik and Colin Summerhayes<br />

One important outcome of IPY <strong>2007–2008</strong><br />

was the advancement of existing partnerships<br />

and the development of new ones.<br />

The cornerstone for IPY was the partnership<br />

between its two main sponsors, the <strong>International</strong> Council<br />

for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization<br />

(<strong>WMO</strong>) that started more than 50 years ago<br />

with the implementation of the <strong>International</strong> Geophysical<br />

<strong>Year</strong> 1957–1958. The collaboration between ICSU<br />

and <strong>WMO</strong>, again, emerged as the main driving factor in<br />

the planning and organization for this IPY (Chapters 1.2,<br />

1.3, 1.5).<br />

Nonetheless, the new IPY was born and implemented<br />

thanks to the collective efforts of many organizations,<br />

including the Scientific Committee on<br />

Antarctic Research (SCAR), <strong>International</strong> Arctic Science<br />

Committee (IASC), Intergovernmental Oceanographic<br />

Commission (IOC), Arctic Ocean Sciences Board<br />

(AOSB), World Climate Research Programme (WCRP),<br />

European <strong>Polar</strong> Board (EPB), Arctic Council (AC), Antarctic<br />

Treaty Consultative Meeting, <strong>International</strong> Arctic<br />

Social Sciences Association (IASSA) and many more<br />

(Chapter 1.4). These networks of new relations or of<br />

PA R T FI V E : T H E L E G AC I E S O F I PY 20 07–20 0 8 A N D FU T U R E O F P O L A R R E S E A R C H<br />

5.5 IPY and Expanding Partnerships<br />

in Coordination of <strong>Polar</strong> Research<br />

Contributing Authors:<br />

Paul Cutler, Leslie Malone, Helena Ödmark, Manfred Reinke and Eduard Saruchanian<br />

IPY Legacies: Scientific and political cooperation<br />

Owing to the common interest in polar science during IPY, the links between science<br />

and the political frameworks provided by the Antarctic Treaty System and the Arctic<br />

Council have been strengthened. The heightened level of political attention and financial<br />

support has enhanced opportunities for direct international scientific collaboration,<br />

facilitated polar access and effective international sharing of polar logistical assets and<br />

infrastructure, accelerated the exchange of technological information and improved<br />

reporting from nationally supported operational networks. It has also increased<br />

connections and collaboration among polar science organizations, such as SCAR and<br />

IASC, as well as with non-polar science organizations. As a result, the findings of IPY<br />

science have attracted both the interest and the support of the Antarctic Treaty nations<br />

and the Arctic Council.<br />

(The State of <strong>Polar</strong> Research, 2009, p.8-9)<br />

strengthened established ones will define the future<br />

of polar research for decades to come and may serve<br />

the model for the future planners of the next IPY.<br />

This Chapter covers only a fraction of these new or<br />

advanced partnerships forged during IPY as an important<br />

element of the legacy of IPY. The first part deals<br />

with linkages between and among the key scientific<br />

bodies that were instrumental to IPY and will almost<br />

certainly define its legacy in the post-IPY era, i.e. ICSU,<br />

<strong>WMO</strong>, SCAR and IASC. IPY <strong>2007–2008</strong> was clearly a<br />

major peak in ICSU-<strong>WMO</strong> relationship and it ushered<br />

in a totally new level of collaboration between the<br />

two major polar science organizations, the Scientific<br />

Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the <strong>International</strong><br />

Arctic Science Committee (IASC). The second<br />

part of this chapter deals with the science/policy<br />

interface, first and foremost, with the AC and the AT/<br />

ATCM collaboration. Due to the heightened level of<br />

political attention to the role of polar science in climate<br />

research during IPY (and, generally, over the past<br />

decade), the awareness of the need for scientific input<br />

to underpin political deliberations in the framework<br />

of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATCM) and the Arctic<br />

l e g a C I e s 593

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