August 4, 2005

"Poles Together" Workshop Held to Plan for Coming International Polar Year (IPY)

Years from now when the history of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 is written, people may look at a workshop held in Boulder during a July 2005 heat wave as a seminal moment in the planning for communicating IPY to the world.

With 20 months to go before the official launch of the IPY in April 2007, over 100 individuals from diverse backgrounds and organizations met in Boulder, Colorado, for the "Poles Together" Workshop held at the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) laboratories. Poles Together was sponsored by CIRES and NOAA as an opportunity for polar researchers, science educators, and communication experts to network and plan a wide range of education, outreach, and communication strategies for the IPY. IPY 2007-2008 will be the fourth IPY; the first was in 1882-1883, the second in 1932-33, and the most recent, which was expanded to the International Geophysical Year (or IGY), in 1957-1958.

Participants came from organizations that included US federal agencies (NOAA, NSF, NASA, USGS) and international organizations (International Antarctic Institute in Hobart, Australia; the International Polar Foundation based in Brussels; the Swedish, Dutch and German national IPY committees). Other participants represented universities such as Columbia University, the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, the University of Colorado, University of the Arctic, Ohio State University, and the University of California at Merced. Attendees also included professionals in marketing, science education, and the travel industry.

The workshop offered a mix of "ice-breaking" information sharing and networking opportunities, working group break-out sessions, demonstrations of innovative tools and resources, and presentations from individuals such as David Carlson, the Director of the International Polar Year, and John Behrendt from INSTAAR (the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research), who shared images and stories of his IGY adventures to Antarctica 50 years ago. Building on the past efforts of many individuals (including various workshops and planning meetings of the International Science Union (ICSU) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the National Academies, and the 2004 Bridging the Poles Workshop), the Poles Together Workshop tapped the energy and potential for polar regions to inspire, engage, and interest people around the world about the polar regions and their links to the rest of the planet

The primary outcome of the workshop was the development of a plan for achieving education, outreach and communications goals for IPY. Other outcomes include a new proposed logo for IPY and strategies for engaging the attention of people who might not normally find snow and ice part of their everyday experience.

Co-chairs Mark McCaffrey from CIRES Outreach and Education Program and Carol Knight from NOAA Research were assisted in organizing and facilitating the workshop by Susan Lynds (CIRES), Susan Foster (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research), Rusty Low (Digital Library for Earth System Education), Becky Boger (GLOBE Program), Sheldon Drobot (University of Colorado), and Jane Beitler, Stephanie Renfrow, and Betsy Sheffeld (CIRES' National Snow and Ice Data Center). The organizers of the workshop thank CIRES and NOAA for their support.

The urgency and excitement clearly evident at the workshop has led to new partnerships and relationships, and to the development of specific strategies and plans for implementing education, outreach, and communication efforts for IPY, which officially begins 88 weeks after the workshop.

For more information about the workshop and next steps, contact Mark McCaffrey at 303.735.3155 or mark.mccaffrey@colorado.edu.

See article on workshop on GLOBE website: http://globe.gov/fsl/html/templ.cgi?ipy_boulder2005&lang=en&nav=1

Additional Information on IPY:

History of IPY
International Polar Year
U.S. Committee on IPY