Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

The Polar Embassy  (The Polar Ambassy)

Outline
Our project aims to communicate on the challenges that the polar regions have to face, by organizing several expeditions in the Arctic and maybe in Antarctica, on the path of the famous expeditions of the past. The idea is to compare the descriptions of the Arctic given by the expedioners in their times with the current situation. The historical background is envisioned as a very good opportunity to discuss the most important issues that polar regions have to face from a political, economic and social point of view, and to serve has a major outreach project for the IPY. Travel plans and schedules will also remain flexible to accommodate for visits to sites of scientific interest, and possibly dedicated research time for participating scientists. Several influent political and economic decision makers, famous citizens of the world and journalists will be invited to join us onboard. Polar scientists will also be invited to perform lectures and animate round tables on the hot issues in polar regions. The subjects will range from natural sciences to social and cultural aspects of the polar regions and sustainable development issues such as the expected impacts of global warming. Several communities and harbour cities will be also visited during our journey, and we will welcome onboard the leaders of the polar communities as well as the representatives and journalists of non polar areas. It will be a good chance for polar communities to expose their views and the challenges that they have to face. A permanent TV team will join the expedition crew to ensure a wide coverage of all the most important events. The ship will be equipped with the necessary materials for satellite broadcasting. Thus, we will be able to provide the media with regular coverage of the expedition. Coverage should include an underwater film crew from the Cousteau Society. Furthermore, side events building up on the activities of the expeditions will be organized in major cities of the world (campaign on environmental issues in primary and high schools, photographic exposition, etc).

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
The project will mainly focus on Education and Outreach, and is expected to produce material relevant to all five target audiences, both during and after the IPY, through material available online, broadcasted live and/or available for later diffusion and use in educational programs. Discussions will be also organized onboard on environmental issues – sustainable development in general and global warming in particular (Theme 1), historical, social and cultural aspects (Theme 6), specially in relation to : (i) past and present cultural, historical, and social processes and; (ii) Arctic communities

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
THE COUSTEAU SOCIETY THE RESEARCH GROUP IN ARCTIC ECOLOGY (GREA) The UNESCO-COUSTEAU Ecotechnie Network (University chairs) The CITY OF PARIS The REGION ILE-DE-FRANCE UNESCO (manifestation of interest at this stage) IUCN (manifestation of interest at this stage) THE AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION (for the Antarctic segment. A collaboration to the Census of Antarctic Marine Life project is in discussion) Other partnerships are explored and will be defined before June 2005

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
1.The first expedition will start from Netherlands up to the coast of Svalbard and Novaya Zemlya (Russia), on the tracks of Willem Barents exploration in the quest of the North-East passage to Asia in 1596. The exploration route of the research vessel “La Recherche”, the first scientific oceanographic exploration of the Arctic in 1838-1840, will be used as well. 2.The second expedition will follow the track of Erick the Red and the first Vikings’ settlements in Greenland, starting from Iceland and ending in Greenland. The places described by Jean Jean-Baptiste Charcot, the famous French explorer, will be also revisited. Other places of high interest might be included (e.g. NE Greenland National Park) 3.The third expedition in the Arctic will follow the tracks of Franklin and Amundsen during the quest of the North West passage, starting from Greenland to Cambridge Bay (Ikaluktutiak; north east of Victoria Island, Nunavut – Canada). 4.A fourth expedition may by launched in the Antarctic, most likely following Shakelton’s tracks, but it's feasibility is still under assessment.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 06/08-07/08      07/08-08/08      08/08-09/08
Antarctic: 11/08-02/09            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
The project is based on an polar expedition vessel, to be used as flagship, headquarters, broadcasting center and mobile conference/workshop facility. The ship is available and already pre-booked for the considered time frame. The ‘Grigoriy Mikheev ’ is a research vessels of the Hydrographic Institute of St. Petersburg. Built in 1990and designed as ice-strengthened vessels, it was converted for passenger use, and is now ideally suited to expedition cruising. She has a range of 70 days independent operation and is ISM certified. The Cousteau society will provide is know-how and resources in filming (including underwater), communication and education (Ecotechnie university chairs, school kids programs, etc). This project is open to any initiatives supporting the outreach goals of IPY and thus has the capacity to support other outreach projects as part of our activity. There will possibilities for berths and support for scientists, lecturers and any interested IPY participants, depending on projects and numbers of participants to the main project. Dedicated parts of the cruises (e.g. to specific sites of interest, or remote Arctic communities, etc)

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

The Hydrographic Institute of St. Petersburg is the owner of the ship. Two commercial operators will be involved: Oceanwide Expeditions and Ylahe Sarl (executive agency). The Cousteau Society (NGO) is the initiator and the project will be endorsed by UNESCO and UICN. Finally, we will have a logistic collaboration with the French Research Group in Arctic Ecology (GREA).

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
No endorsement at a National Level yet Aegis of UNESCO, the UICN and the Cousteau Society, to be confirmed.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
YES

The Antarctic segment of the project may provide support for the Census of Antarctic Marine Life, in collaboration with the Australian Antarctic Division.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The leading agency will be Ylahe SARL, a French private operator specialized in leading expeditions and designing environmental outreach programs. One person in Ylahe will be in charge of the project implementation on a full time basis. One project leader of The Cousteau Society helped by one project officer will be in charge of the project coordination on a part time basis (1/3 of the time). One person at the Mairie de Paris will be in charge of the organization of the possible side events.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
- Campaign on sustainable development sensibilisation focused on global warming and his impacts on polar region (organization of a waste recycling program as found-rising action for scientific research) in several primary and high schools in some major cities around the world in potential partnership with UNESCO. - Communication with Arctic communities: conception of websites, expositions together, exchange(travel), city councils, schools etc – Films / live broadcasts - The Cousteau Society will use his Unesco-Cousteau ecotechnie university network and provide his support and facilities to strengthen the outreach and educative aspects of the project. One of the main private partner of the Cousteau Society, the cruise shipping Company Carnival Corp welcome 5 millions passengers per year (78 ships) that will be sensibilised to IPY events trough lectures and educative materials.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
Since this project has mainly outreach components, the data management issue is not relevant to the project goals.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Own resources (project preparation) and private sponsorships.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
Contacts are already initiated with additional scientific laboratories and other institutional or private partners. They will be finalised before the June 25 deadline. This will include the French IPY committee.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Mr Daniel Rodary
L'Ambassade des Pôles - The Polar Embassy
22-24 rue Du Clos d'Orleans
Fontenay-sous-bois
94120
France

Tel: 33 1 47 80 20 62
Mobile: --
Fax: 33 2 54 88 93 35
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation