international
polar
foundation

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About us

Meet the Team

Annual Reports

About us

Meet the Team

Annual Reports

Meet the Board

The Board of the International Polar Foundation is composed of distinguished leaders from diverse fields, each contributing their unique expertise and strategic insight to guide the Foundation’s mission and long-term vision.

Alain Hubert

Alain Hubert

President of the Board of Directors, Co-Founder of the IPF, Expedition Leader

Nighat Amin

Board member, Co-Founder of the IPF

Coninsx

Marie-Anne Coninsx

IPF Board member

Wim Dejonghe

Wim Dejonghe

IPF Board member

de Mevius

Jacques de Mévius

IPF Board member

Eric Goens

President BELARE and IPF Board member

Natacha Lippens

Natacha Lippens

IPF Board member

Saverys

Michael Saverys

IPF Board member

Marc Speeckaert

Marc Speeckaert

IPF Board member

Steel

Piet Steel

IPF Board member

Executive Committee

Alain Hubert

Alain Hubert

Founder & President

Nighat Amin

Co-Founder and Head of Environmental & International Affairs

Nicolas Van Hoecke

Managing Director

Core Team Brussels

Jospeh Cheek

Joseph Cheek

Events & Communications Manager

Nicolas Herinckx

Nicolas Herinckx

Systems Engineer

Henri Robert

Henri Robert

Science Liaison Officer

Simon Steffen

Communication Expert

Honorary members

HM King Philippe of Belgium

Roger Barry

Paul Crutzen

Ivan Frolov

Claude Lorius

Konrad Steffen

Lawrence Mysak

Olav Orheim

Dahe Qin

Chris G. Rapley

Kazuyuki Shiraishi

Susan Solomon

Svein Tveitdal

Okitsugu Watanabe

Honorary President

National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC), USA +

Max Planck Institute, Mainz, Germany +

Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), Russia +

Glaciologie et Géophysique (LGGE), France +

WSL, Switzerland +

McGill University, Canada

Norwegian Research Council, Norway

China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China

University College London (UCL), UK

National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR), Japan

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA

GRID Arendal, UNEP, Norway

National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR), Japan

Henri at Sainte Sophie school in Luxembourg

IPF Participates in Three-Day Educational Event "Les journées de la terre" in Luxembourg

The International Polar Foundation (IPF) was delighted to participate in Les Journées de la Terre, a three-day educational event held at l'École Sainte-Sophie in Luxembourg and organised by David Degouis.

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Uummannaq Greenland

Dates of 17th Arctic Futures Symposium announced

The dates of the 17th annual Arctic Futures Symposium have been confirmed.

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Nico Herinckx presents at Agata School in Brussels

Princess Elisabeth Antarctica’s Head Engineer Talks to High Schoolers about His Unique Job

Earlier this week, Head Engineer at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Nicolas “Nico” Herinckx paid a visit to Anges School in Brussels to talk about his work in Antarctica and inspire students to learn about STEM subjects.

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Sir Phlippe Samyn speaks at the Antarctic Futures Symposium in Luxembourg 23 April 2026

Philippe Samyn - Designer Extraordinaire - 1948-2026

IPF mourns the loss of a gifted architect, close friend and collaborator.

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LTAFA Composite winners 2022-25

Fifth Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award Call for Applications Opens

The International Polar Foundation and the Trân Family Foundation are thrilled to announce that the fifth call for submissions for the annual Laurence Trân Arctic Futures Award has officially opened. The winner will be announced at this year's Arctic Futures Symposium in Brussels the first week of December.

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Henri Robert from IPF at the St George's International School's Ocean Symposium

International Polar Foundation Takes Part in Ocean Symposium organised by St George’s International School in Luxembourg

On May 8th, the International Polar Foundation took part in an Ocean Symposium organised by St George’s International School in Luxembourg in honour of Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, bringing together more than 240 students to take part in a vibrant event for environmental learning, activism and creativity.

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Jason Hatton from ESA presents during the Antarctic Futures Sympsoium

Antarctic Futures Symposium Draws Strong Interest and Marks Major Success

The first Antarctic Futures Symposium, held on April 23–24 at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, proved to be a major success.

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aafs

Antarctic Futures Symposium Starts today in Luxembourg!

The first ever Antarctic Futures Symposium is happening on Thursday and Friday this week at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in the Kirchberg district of Luxembourg City. A screening of the documentary 2050 on Friday evening at Kinepolis Kirchberg to close out the event.

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Live from Antarctica 2.0

Video of Live from Antarctica 2.0 Now Available

Back in January, the International Polar Foundation teamed up with the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education at the University of Colorado Boulder to co-host “Live from Antarctica 2.0” direct from the Princess Elisabeth Station. The entire recording of the event is now available to watch online.

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Vesthaugen Nunatak

“22nd Century” Polar Research Station Will Be Focus of First Antarctic Futures Symposium in Luxembourg

The International Polar Foundation (IPF), the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), and the House of Sustainability at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce will convene the first Antarctic Futures Symposium on April 23rd - 24th, 2026 at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce. It will mark a significant milestone in the development of the IPF’s next ambitious flagship initiative: the establishment of the Andromeda Earth Observatory in East Antarctica.

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