European Polar Summit

European Polar Summit: Establishing a European Framework for Polar Research

The European Polar Summit took place on Wednesday 24 June 2009 at the International Auditorium in Brussels, Belgium. It highlighted the outputs of EUROPOLAR ERA-NET, a major project funded by the European Commission, bringing together 27 Funding Organisations from 19 countries.  The project culminated in a Memorandum of Understanding for a 'European Polar Framework' which was signed at the European Polar Summit and passed to the European Polar Board. The  event looked to the future and the implications for the development of the European Research Area and its impact on a future European Union Arctic Policy.

Click here to view a detailed programme for the event.

Please click on the titles below to access the presentations.

1. Welcome, Overview and Objectives of the Summit-Dr. Paul Egerton, Executive Director, European Polar Consortium (European Science Foundation)

• Intervention by Dr. Gérard Jugie, Chairman of the European Polar Consortium
• Invervention by Professor Ian Halliday, President of the European Science Foundation
• Intervention by Professor Carlo Alberto Ricci, Chairman of the European Polar Board
• Intervention by Mr. Ivan Conesa-Alcolea, European Commission

2. The Political and Strategic Context of European Polar Programmes and their importance in the European Research Area-Dr. Paul Egerton (European Science Foundation)

3. European Polar Research Infrastructures, Assets, Capabilities and next steps-Dr. Roberto Azzolini (European Science Foundation)

4. Convergence of European Polar Activities and new scientific opportunities-Dr. Ned Garnett (Natural Environment Research Council, UK)

5. Planning for Joint Polar Science Programmes: The PolarCLIMATE Initiative-Dr. Manfred Reinke (Designated Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty/Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Germany)

6. The ESF BOREAS Programme: Humanities Research in the Arctic Region-Professor Peter Schweitzer (University of Alaska, USA) & Professor Piers Vitebsky (Scott Polar Research Institute, UK)

7. Developing Frameworks for Polar Policy advice to European Goverments-Ms. Liesbeth Noor and Mr. Machiel Lamers (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, the Netherlands)

8. Memorandum of Understanding of a European Polar Framework Signing Ceremony

9. Official Closing of the EUROPOLAR ERA-NET-Dr. Gérard Jugie, Chairman of the European Polar Consortium

10. ERICON-AURORA BOREALIS European Research Icebreaker Consortium Information Session -Chaired by Professor Jörn Thiede, Chairman of the ERICON Stakeholder Council

• The AURORA BOREALIS and the European Research Area-Dr. Paul Egerton (Political Director-Coordinator)
• Technical Innovation and capabilities of the European Research Icebreaker-Mr. Lester Lembke-Jene (Science & Technical Implementation Manager)
• Science Frameworks for the world's largest Polar Environmental Research Facility-Dr. Roberto Azzolini (ERICON Science Officer)

11. Closure of the European Polar Summit-Dr. Paul Egerton (European Science Foundation)

Click here for the list of participants.  

Please contact Katie Luck for more information.  

 ^{The European Polar Consortium was financed under a Contract from European Commission Framework Programme 6 Contract No 517842. The ERICON project is supported by the European Commission under Framework Programme 7 Contract ERAC 211796.}