international
polar
foundation

At a briefing on Friday October 16th at the headquarters of the IPF, the new season for the Princess Elisabeth Station officially started! Fourty-four people will take part in BELARE this season, staying between one and five months at Utsteinen. The objective for this year is to finalize the tests of all the technical systems of the station. Moreover, a new satellite antenna will be installed next to the station.

On October 5th, 2009, a delegation of Swiss members of parliament and representatives from the Swiss Embassy in Brussels visited the International Polar Foundation (IPF) headquarters in Brussels. The delegation's visit took place in the general framework of "aiming at zero emissions" and enabled the Swiss delegation to gain more insight into the offerings of the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica as a research station.

The International Polar Foundation will partake in the Shanghai World Expo 2010 as part of the Belgian and European pavilion. With this year's theme being "Better Cities, Better Lives", the space allocated to the IPF will exhibit Belgium's and Europe's involvement in finding solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The InBev-Baillet Latour Fund celebrated its 30th anniversary on June 17th, in the presence of many of its friends and partners, including the International Polar Foundation.

The International Polar Foundation (IPF) is honored that SWIFT has joined the ranks of the IPF's sponsors, supporting our mission of bridging the science-society divide.

With the first season of Class Zero Emission behind us, it is time for the International Polar Foundation to release its first assessment of the project. With 1700 pupils (1000 flemish-speaking and 700 French-speaking) having attended the workshop since its opening in March 2009, the IPF's educational team is quite satisfied with the overall outcome.

The International Polar Foundation attended the European Polar Summit 2009 held on the 24th of June at the International Auditorium in Brussels and organised by the European Polar Board. During this meeting a Memorandum of Understanding for a "European Polar Framework" was signed closing the EUROPOLAR ERA-NET project.

For the fourth year in a row, the International Polar Foundation grants an Energy & Environment Award to a candidate whose project has had favorable implications in fighting climate change. For this year's edition, held on June 5th at the "Maison des Tanneurs" in Brussels, the winner of the IPF prize was v.z.w. Komosie, from the province of Antwerp (Berchem).

On May 28th, Alain Hubert and three other meriting scientists were awarded an honoris causa degree by the University of Hasselt in Belgium.

On May 28th 2009, Alain Hubert was awarded the Harvard Leadership prize by the Harvard Club of Belgium. This is the first year the prize has recognized someone for his legacy.