EU-PolarNet 2 is looking back to an eventful summer. We finally met in person at our third General Assembly in Sofia at which some of the project partners saw each other the first time in person. Since the launch of the project and the beginning of the pandemic, we have the feeling that we are making real progress. We started with our stakeholder engagement work targeting the marine industry with a booth at the SMM in Hamburg and our international cooperation tasks benefitted from the first, very successful in person workshop in Washington D.C in July. The catalyst platform, as one of the important cooperation tools, is up and running and the third and last EU-PolarNet 2 Service Call has just been opened. The newsletter has also slightly changed and is featuring a new section now, called “from science to policy”.
The third EU-PolarNet 2 Service Call is open!
Through the Service Calls, EU-PolarNet 2 is seeking support from the European research community to develop ideas for concrete research activities for the research needs defined in the Integrated European Polar Research Programme (EPRP). For example, we are supporting workshops, desk studies or travels. Deadline for offers is 20 December 2022. More information: https://eu-polarnet.eu/call/
Side event to the All Atlantic 2022 Ministerial Meeting
EU-PolarNet 2 and the EPB organised an in-person workshop on "Research Cooperation from Pole to Pole" on July 12th at the Residence of the Portuguese Ambassador in Washington D.C. as a side event to the All-Atlantic Ministerial 2022. The workshop provided a platform to discuss better cooperation in the future for Polar Research (Arctic and Antarctic/Southern Ocean) and Infrastructures through the All Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance.
Entering the third year - EU-PolarNet 2's third General Assembly
We are already halfway through! After two years of project running time, it was time for the third EU-PolarNet 2 General Assembly and mid-term retreat from 13th to 15th of September 2022 in Sofia, Bulgaria. More than 50 participants from the project, EU Polar Cluster members, representatives from the Advisory Board and Policy Advisory Board of the project attended the meeting in person and online on the 13th of September. It was a great meeting, very well organised and hosted by our EU-PolarNet 2 partners from the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute.
The SMM International Maritime Trade Fair
EU Polar Cluster / Arctic PASSION / EU-PolarNet-2 teamed up to be present at the SMM Fair in Hamburg, the largest maritime industry trade fair considered to be the most important global maritime industry event of the year. Our goal was to make connections with the actors of the maritime industry and invite them to fill out a questionnaire on research prioritisation. The SMM was without a doubt “the place to be” to help us identify research priorities and improve collaborations between the scientific community and the maritime industry!
Workshop on Polar Observations
The EU-PolarNet 2 Workshop with Coordinators of European Polar Observing Systems, arranged on 7th June 2022, was aimed to collate, in a co-design process, actionable policy-level recommendations to accelerate the development of Integrated Polar Observing System (IPOS). The primary objective of the workshop was to collate, in a co-design process, actionable policy-level recommendations to accelerate the development of IPOS. The resulting recommendations will feed into a white paper with recommendations to accelerate the development of a sustained and fully integrated Polar observing system, to be published in 2024.
EU-PolarNet 2 at Arctic Circle
EU-PolarNet 2 will have two sessions at Arctic Circle, both on October 15, which will be held back-to-back starting from 10:00 AM.
The first session, called “Funding International Arctic Science” will address the need for stronger international coordination of Arctic science funding and the state of Arctic research.
The consecutive session “EU-PolarNet 2 – structure of European Polar research funding: dialogue and cooperation” will present the overall goals and objectives of the EU-PolarNet 2 project and will focus on the structure of European Polar Research Funding and cooperation with partners beyond Europe.
In parallel, EU-PolarNet 2 will talk about EU-supported research in the Arctic in the session “EU-Arctic cooperation: challenges, collaboration and results”, organised by the European Commission, on October 15, 10:00 AM.
EU Polar Cluster News
After more than two years of pandemic, the EU Polar Cluster held its first in-person meeting in Brussels on 21 and 22 June 2022. About 50 representatives from 21 Polar Cluster projects and initiatives joined the meeting in the EC premises. The meeting was characterised by lively round table discussions on the restructuring of the previous task group structure and the future direction of the Cluster. The EU Polar Cluster will have a booth at the Arctic Circle Assembly 2022 and AGU 2022. Visit us at the boot for news and what is currently going on in the Cluster.
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Partner highlights on polar research
- Longer and warmer autumns can greatly decrease butterfly's chances of surviving winter
Warmer than usual autumn weather can have detrimental effects on butterflies in their pupal stage, a new study from the University of Oulu and Stockholm University finds. - The Estonian Academy of Sciences confirmed two research professorships for Arctic studies
The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised an open competition for research professorships for Arctic studies for the 2022-2023 period. The aim of establishing research professorships is to support the participation of Estonian researches in Arctic studies, increase the expertise of Estonian researchers on the Arctic and contribute to their ability to take part in important international research. - Polish-Norwegian cooperation on Svalbard: CRIOS project is launching
In early fall of 2022, as a result of Polish - Norwegian cooperation, the Cryosphere Integrated Observatory Network on Svalbard (CRIOS) project is launching. CRIOS aims to modernize and expand an automated monitoring network focused on the cryosphere of Spitsbergen as a calibration/validation system for indirect research. The network will be based on existing Polish Polar Stations and Norwegian facilities in western Spitsbergen. - Austria establishes a permanent research station in East Greenland
Austria has been active in polar research for a long time but has not operated a research station until now. Through private sponsorship by an Austrian industrialist family, it has now been possible to raise the necessary funds to expand the Sermilik Research Station in East Greenland and bring it up to modern standards. The research station, which was previously run by the University of Copenhagen, will in future be run as a cooperation between the Universities of Copenhagen (Denmark) and Graz (Austria). - Expedition to validate satellite measurements of the Antarctic ice sheet
In December 2021, the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat organised the Antarctic expedition DML 2021/2022 to the Swedish research station Wasa. A research team led by Ian Brown, Associate professor in Earth Observation at Stockholm University, arrived in Antarctica on 4 December and spent 44 days on Earth's southernmost continent. The goal was to implement a snow measurement program to validate satellite measurements of the ice sheet.
The Catalyst Platform - information exchange within the European Polar community
One of the goals of EU-PolarNet 2 is to develop cooperation tools to strengthen European Polar coordination and to facilitate interaction among national Polar research programmes in Europe. One of the main cooperation tools is the Catalyst Platform that shall improve the information flow within the European Polar community. The Platform will serve as the core of the European Polar Coordination Office (EPCO) which will be one the main outcomes of EU-PolarNet 2 and will secure that its legacy is well preserved. The Platform is intended to provide all important information on European polar research and serve as an important coordination asset for the European Polar community.
Link to the platform: https://polarcatalyst.eu/
Get involved! EU-PolarNet 2 is looking for ideas for policy-related events
EU-PolarNet 2 organises regular thematic webinars on policy-relevant topics related to European polar science. We are also organising booths, outreach material and policy briefings to showcase the European polar research to our stakeholders, such as policy makers or the wider polar research community.
We look forward to hearing from the polar community what topics for webinars, workshops would be of interest to you. We are looking for suggestions on what is important for scientists to bring closer to policy.
We are looking forward to your contributions through this form.