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FINAL CONFERENCE OF EDU-ARCTIC PROJECT, coordinated by Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences

Thousands of teachers and students involved, hundreds of online lessons, various educational resources, adventurous polar expeditions: In Paris on May 23 and 24 European, Horizon2020 project EDU-ARCTIC was summarized.

In beautiful, historic interiors of the Scientific Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Paris, co-organizer of the event, ambassadors, scientists were hosted- including the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, prof. Terry Callaghan, policy makers from the Arctic states and countries that are active in the region and aware of the challenges that changes in the polar regions bring to the rest of the world. There were educators from France, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and even India! The project and the aspect of cooperation between Poland (IG PAS) and France (University of St. Quentin-en-Yvelines) for its implementation, were appreciated by Madame Segolene Royal, French Minister for Polar Affairs, especially in the context of ongoing Polish-French Year of Scientific Cooperation.

Different actors brought different perspectives. Harri Mäki-Reinikka, Finnish Ambassador for Northern Policies, Secretary General for Finland’s Arctic Advisory Board focused on geopolitical challenges around the idea that the Arctic belongs to everyone.  Elin Mortensen, Head of the Faroe Islands Mission to the EU declared that the Faroe Islands, the Gateway to the Arctic, want to be a ‘big fish - in a big pond’. She also announced that Faroese would be able to participate in many educational initiatives thanks to eligibility of the country in the Erasmus+ Programme, planned from 2021. Lars Kullerud, President of the University of the Arctic focused on educational needs of the Arctic. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education was represented by Tomasz Jałukowicz, Head of Unit in the Department of Science, who shared wider view on polar research conducted by Poles, and Polish scientific achievements in the Svalbard area in particular. Various motivations of the Polish studies in the Arctic were presented, including recognition of trends in global climate and environmental changes, Investigations of glacial and periglacial processes as models for landscape origin in Poland. And the results of this activity: research performance in the international context, is really impressive: Poland has a second position (after Norway) in terms of number of scientific publications related to Svalbard. Finally, main areas of Strategy for the Polish Polar Research – a concept for the years 2017-2027 were presented.

It was a genuine pleasure to meet some teachers and students who made it all possible, being active and creative in the project for the last 3 years. They generously  shared their experiences in bringing research into the classroom and promoting pursuing careers in science, especially in nowadays era of fake news and scepticism.

Although it was an indoor event, a  „field” treat was offered as well: the virtual walk around the Polish Polar Station Hornsund thanks to the VR goggles and the photos provided by Tomasz Wawrzyniak.

The second day of the conference was held in the observatory of the University of St. Quentin-en-Yvelines: guests not only had the opportunity to visit the observatory (which is, among others, involved in Mars exploration), but also to share good practices in cooperation between science and education. The lectures by Piotr Głowacki (IG PAS) and Paul Eric Aspholm (NIBIO) gave the audience an insight into the mysterious interiors of glaciers and the problem of micro and nanoplastics in the Arctic Ocean. For the majority of participants, the presentation of Alexandra Lavriller and Semen Gabyshev was the first meeting with a special guest from Siberia – of Evenk origin, an experienced reindeer herder and an acknowledged scientist. Alexandra and Semen also explained to the audience how valuable is the huge amount of knowledge about climate change gathered by the indigenous people of the region.

The conference was also an opportunity to officially launch the "THE ARCTIC EXPLORER" mobile application - a virtual journey through the Arctic in the form of a Quiz. This is a particularly interesting effect of the project, and it was no coincidence that it was presented by 14-year-old Yngva who came to Paris with her teacher from the Faroe Islands. It was Yngva's idea, submitted during the second edition of the EDU-ARCTIC competition, that inspired project consortium to prepare a bonus activity: application that not only allows users to test their knowledge of polar regions, but also to become co-creators and submit their own questions in biology, geography, geology or science. The application can be downloaded free of charge from the Android store!

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PANEL z nauczycielami

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PANEL z nauczycielami

PANEL z nauczycielami

PANEL z nauczycielami

PANEL z nauczycielami

PANEL z nauczycielami

PANEL z nauczycielami

PANEL z nauczycielami

PANEL z nauczycielami