International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

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IPY 20 07–20 08
states in polar regions, but added a thick layer of complexity
to the conduct of research in polar regions.
Polar researchers are scientists, managers, logisticians,
and diplomats at once, and that in an area of the world
where access and infrastructure are arranged fundamentally
differently from other regions. This results in
challenging work conditions for researchers, which can
only be addressed by improving the system on the administrative
side, making it faster, more efficient, and
more consolidated. That applies to the peer-review of
applications, but also on licensing, dialogue with local
stakeholders and logistics preparation and implementation.
With expected improvements to infrastructure
and access in the polar regions, an increase of the
number of researchers can be expected. This increase
needs to be mitigated by strong environmental requirements,
coordination and consolidation of logistics,
and not by bureaucracy, which would be detrimental
to the conduction of science and dialogue with
local stakeholders.
IPY 2007–2008 has provided a solid foundation for
the engagement of Arctic residents and indigenous
peoples in future large-scale science projects. Future
scientific endeavors will without a doubt, consider research
in the Arctic very differently and elaborate an
added number of projects in partnership with northern
residents. With its global relevance, though, the
Arctic has traditionally be the focus of scientific investigations
from countries from all over the globe. The
range of cultural approaches in the research landscape
is probably just as large as the range of cultural understandings
of the environment in arctic communities,
and researchers coming to the Arctic will have to proactively
seek to apprehend, understand and acknowledge
the cultural differences and richness of northern
communities. This dialogue is an exciting challenge
and is relevant to all: large scale institutions, communities,
indigenous peoples organizations, and, above all,
individuals.
IPY has created a large influx of new energetic, enthusiastic
and talented young researchers interested in
helping to better understand the Arctic and Antarctic
systems. Through the addition of grassroots initiatives
and generous mentoring from senior scientists, these
early career scientists have progressively benefited
from a comprehensive and coherent training system at
the international level, focused on soft skills and inter-
national collaboration. This incredible success needs to
be sustained beyond IPY and mechanisms need to be
created to retain these young researchers that began
Polar Research during IPY and keep them involved.
Naturally this includes more positions at research institutions,
but it also needs to include more positions
for science communication, logistics coordinators, data
managers, programme managers, industry positions,
and other positions that are important to the full spectrum
of science, outreach, and policy making in polar
regions. It is, in 2010, hardly realistic to match the expectations
of the general public in terms of research
and involvement in polar regions without increasing
personnel and finding successors to the baby-boomers.
The polar researcher’s job has evolved with time and
IPY strongly showed both the interest and the need to
offer a comprehensive training framework to young researchers
to rapidly train and involve them in international
activities and outreach activities. Polar research
will have to grab this opportunity and provide better
career development training on and international and
interdisciplinary level, such as the organization of field
schools; participation in international conferences; a
dedicated mentorship programme; career development
workshops and virtual poster sessions. Finally, international
organizations will have to encourage early
career people to take on leadership roles in organizations
and committees to provide a continuum of leadership
in polar science.
Enhancing investment in polar research for the
benefit of all can only be achieved through the political
will that comes from greater public understanding.
The polar researchers of the twenty-first century will
be asked to be more than researchers and devote part
of their time to outreach efforts. Following up on the
extraordinary and multifaceted outreach initiatives of
IPY, polar researchers will explicitly embed education
and outreach components in their research projects
that will feed into high-quality educational, outreach
and communication initiatives and networks. These
networks, which were created during IPY 2007–2008
will need to be supported to help researchers in producing
publications, exhibitions, films, web pages and
lectures around science. Only then, will polar research
reach out to society and play an important role in involving
communities in the continuing analysis and assessment
of IPY outcomes and impacts.