Skip navigation


You are in:  Home » Events » Archive

Past Events - 2011

January 2011

History Workshop: 'Exploring Ice and Snow in the Cold War'

27 - 29 January 2011, Deutsche Museum, Munich, Germany

This workshop is interested in new research projects at the interface of environmental history, military history and the history of science and technology to contribute to the discussion on the scientific perception and constitution of nature in the Cold War. It is supported by the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society in Munich. Travel and accommodation costs will be met by the organizers. Applications must be written in English. Abstracts (500 words) and a short CV should be submitted by email no later than 30 August 2010 to Dr. Christian Kehrt (kehrt@hsu-hh.de). For more information on the workshop and how to take part, please see the Workshop Call For Proposals or contact Dr. Franziska Torma (franziska.torma@carsoncenter.lmu.de).

March 2011

International Conference on Arctic Marine Science, International Law and Climate Protection

17 - 18 March 2011, German Federal Foreign Office, Berlin, Germany

Co-hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, with additional support from prominent research institutes, the Conference will discuss the legal framework for marine scientific research in the Arctic Ocean at present and in the future. Scholars, scientists and diplomats with an interest in the Arctic Ocean are invited to attend.

For more information, please email 504-s@diplo.de or visit the Conference website.

APECS Working Group on Sediment Budgets in Cold Environments Virtual Poster Session

24 March 2011, webinar

The APECS Working Group on Sediment Budgets in Cold Environments announces a Virtual Poster Session with two invited speakers:


To attend: please log on to http://connect.canterbury.ac.nz/apecs-vps_12/

For more information on the Virtual Poster Session, please visit the VPS section of the APECS website.

Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2011

27 March - 1 April 2011, Coex Center, Seoul, Korea

The Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) is the annual gathering of international organizations engaged in supporting and facilitating Arctic research. The purpose is to provide opportunities for international coordination, collaboration and cooperation in all fields of Arctic science and to combine science and management meetings.

ASSW 2011 will have an integrated Science Symposium covering the theme: 'The Arctic: The New Frontier for Global Science'. The Science Symposium, organised for the second time after a successful launch in Bergen 2009, creates a platform for exchanging knowledge, cross fertilization, and collaboration in Arctic science. The Scientific Steering Group for ASSW 2011 is chaired by Byong-Kwon Park of the Korea Polar Research Institute, and Jacqueline Grebmeier of the University of Maryland.

For more information, including the programme of the Symposium, schedule of the business meetings and abstract submission and registration please see the 2nd Circular and visit the ASSW 2011 website. Online registration is now available.

Online abstract submission is now possible on the Submission of Abstracts page. The abstract submission deadline has been extended to 30 January 2011.

Early Bird Registration deadline: Thursday 3 February 2011
Registration deadline: Thursday 10 March 2011

First Circular

Second Circular

April 2011

III Conferência das Ciências Polares / 3rd Portuguese Conference of Polar Sciences

12 April 2011, University of Coimbra, Portugal

A one-day conference on Polar Science, to be held at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. For more information, please see the Conference Poster and Conference Programme, or visit the Conference website, or contact José Xavier (email jccx@cantab.net).

May 2011

Antarctic Centennial Year

May 2011 - June 2012, Hobart, Tasmania

A year of important international conferences, exhibitions, meetings and cultural events in celebration of Tasmania's key role and enduring endeavour in Antarctic affairs. For more information, please visit the Antarctic Centennial Year website.

11th Conference on Polar Meteorology and Oceanography

2 - 4 May 2011, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

The conference is sponsored by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and organized by the AMS Polar Meteorology and Oceanography Committee, and will be held at the Omni Parker House in Boston, Massachusetts.

Papers are solicited on all aspects of polar meteorology and oceanography, including atmospheric, oceanic, terrestrial, and cryospheric processes, climate (past, present, and future), rapid environmental change, interactions among polar atmosphere-ocean-land-ice components, high latitude atmospheric and oceanic dynamics, boundary layer processes, weather forecasting, human dimensions, and extreme events.

Please submit your abstract electronically via the AMS conference website. The abstract submission deadline has been extended to Monday 31 January 2011.

For further information, please visit the Conference website. For further programme information, please contact the programme chairperson, John Cassano, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, 216 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309 (tel: +1-303-492-2221; e-mail: john.cassano@colorado.edu).

The Arctic as a Messenger for Global Processes – Climate Change and Pollution

4 – 6 May 2011, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

The Secretariat of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) announces the above conference and calls for papers. For further information, please see the First Call.

SCAR Cross-Linkages Meeting

5 - 6 May 2011, Ottawa, Canada

Closed meeting.

3rd HEPPA Workshop (High Energetic Particle Precipitation in the Atmosphere)

9 - 11 May 2011, Granada, Spain

The precipitation of high energetic particles (mainly protons and electrons) couples directly the Earth's radiation belts to the middle and upper atmosphere. These geomagnetic storms are triggered by both coronal mass ejections and high-speed wind streams from the Sun and thus constitute a clear Solar-Terrestrial connection. Although the amount of energy in these events is much smaller than the total Sun energy output, it concentrates in the polar regions, where, in proportion, it makes a significant impact. Thus, it is nowadays recognized that EPP effects have to be included in climate models. They are also a clear example of the need to treat the atmosphere as a whole system since they have "direct" impacts, their "top-down" penetration into the atmosphere, as well as "indirect" impacts that can be intensified by the surface's meteorology ("bottom-up" effect).

In recent years, many new satellite instruments capable of polar region observations in a wide altitude range have been launched. This, together with the recent developments and completion of General Circulation Models, has provided unique opportunities to advance on the effects of energetic particle precipitation (EPP) on the atmosphere. These two major factors have literally burst the studies initially pioneered by Nobel Prize Paul Crutzen and IPCC Chair Susan Solomon in the early 70's.

Along these lines, the major topics to be addressed during the workshop are:

The format of the workshop will be of tutorial talks on each of the different topics, followed by invited talks and contributed oral and poster presentations. For more details, please visit the HEPPA Workshop website.

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) Conference

9 - 12 May 2011, Hobart, Tasmania

For more information, please visit the IAATO website.

5th International Antarctic Conference

17 - 19 May 2011, Kyiv, Ukraine

The 5th Ukrainian International Antarctic Conference entitled "Antarctica and Earth Global Systems: New Challenges and Outlooks" will be held at the National Antarctic Scientific Center in Kyiv. The basic objectives of the conference are:

The conference sections are:

The conference languages are English and Ukrainian (Russian). Abstracts should be 300 to 500 words in English or Ukrainian/Russian (with English translation) and the abstract submission deadline is 30 November 2010. For more information, please visit the conference website or email uac@uac.gov.ua or Mrs Valeria Savchenko (valery_sav@ukr.net), Secretary of the Conference.

Abstract Submission Deadline: 30 November 2010.

Workshop on 'Antarctic biodiversity: status and trends' (a SCAR-EBA workshop)

31 May 2011, University of Liège, Belgium

This workshop is a conclusion to the BELSPO projects on Antarctic microbial diversity, AMBIO and ANTAR-IMPACT. The subject concerns Antarctic biodiversity in general and includes the present state of biodiversity in different types of biotopes (marine, freshwater, terrestrial), and the possible impacts of global change (including Open Top Chambers experiments) and anthropogenic disturbances (including the impact of human activities and invasive species).

Invited speakers:

There is the possibility of connections with videoconferencing, for foreign speakers. The [doc] registration form deadline is Thursday 5th May.

For more information, please see the workshop poster or the finalised workshop programme.

June 2011

5th Malaysian International Seminar on Antarctica (MISA5)

14 - 15 June 2011, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia

The 5th Malaysian International Seminar on Antarctica (MISA5) will be held in conjunction with the 22nd Pacific Science Congress. MISA is a biennial event which gathers researchers from countries that are actively involved in research in the Antarctic and Arctic to present their research findings.

The theme of MISA5, 'Rapid Warming in the Polar Regions and its Implication to the Pacific', is in line with the rationale of climate change in the poles also affecting the climate of the world, including countries in the Pacific Rim. Hence, it is important for us to understand these processes in order to come up with strategies to face the challenges relating to climate change now and in the future.

The programmes scheduled for the MISA5 includes oral and poster presentations on policy, heritage and legacy, biological and physical sciences. MISA5 also provides a platform for scientists from various countries to strengthen existing and to forge new collaborations. Several prominent plenary and keynote speakers will be invited to talk about the current and future directions of polar research.

The deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 January 2011.

For more information, please see the first announcement of MISA5, or visit the Seminar website.

Polar Visual Culture: An International Conference

17 - 18 June 2011, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK

This interdisciplinary conference brings together a diverse, internationally recognised group of scholars from the humanities and creative arts to present new research on the visual culture of polar exploration. The conference aims to focus attention upon the unique, prolific and hitherto under-examined visual culture that the expeditions to the two polar regions have inspired since the early nineteenth century, and which forms a fundamental part of our perception of these environments.

For more information and to register, please visit the Conference website.

ATCM XXXIV - CEP XIV

20 June - 1 July 2011, Buenos Aires, Argentina

For more information, please visit the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat website.

XXVth General Assembly of the IUGG

28 June - 7 July 2011, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia

The scientific theme for the General Assembly is Earth on the Edge: Science for a Sustainable Planet.

Session J-P01 is of especial interest to the SCAR community. Entitled 'The Southern Ocean in a changing world', the convenor is Dr Isabelle Ansorge of the University of Cape Town. For further information on the session, go to the IAPSO Program section and click on the session title.

For details on abstract submission and registration, please visit the General Assembly website. The deadline for abstract submission is 1 February 2011.

View the Newsletter and Second Circular

SCAR AAA Kick-off meeting

29 June - 1 July 2011, Sydney, Australia

The first meeting of the SCAR Astronomy and Astrophysics from Antarctica programme will take place at the Taronga Zoo, Sydney, Australia, from 29 June - 1 July. The meeting is themed around the four AAA Working Groups:

Astronomy & Astrophysics from Antarctica became a Scientific Research Programme of SCAR in 2010. Broadly stated, its objectives are to coordinate astronomical activities in Antarctica in a way that ensures the best possible outcomes from international investment in Antarctic astronomy, and to maximize the opportunities for productive interaction with other disciplines. This kick-off meeting aims to bring together the key players in Antarctic astronomy, to review the implementation plans of the four AAA Working Groups, and to coordinate future activities.

For more information, please visit the AAA Kick-off Meeting website, or contact John Storey (email j.storey@unsw.edu.au). On-line registration is now open on the Registration page. Space is limited, so early registration is recommended.

July 2011

ISAES XI - 11th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences

10 - 15 July 2011, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

The symposium will take place at the John McIntyre Conference Centre in Edinburgh, adjacent to Holyrood Park and the University of Edinburgh's Halls of Residence. Our ambition is to bring together scientists studying the different components of Polar Earth Science to exchange information and perspectives. As we come to terms with climate change, understanding the landscape and environmental response of the Polar regions, in particular the great Antarctic Ice Sheets, becomes ever more important. Study of geological archives, ice cores, and modern systems offers an unrivalled opportunity to reconstruct and understand the Earth's climatic variability - something which impacts on all countries and peoples of the world.

We invite proposals for Sessions up until 31 August 2010. To propose a session, simply fill in the session proposal form (MS Word document) and return it by email to the organisers listed on the form. Alternatively, visit the ISAES XI website and download the form from there.

Abstract submission will open on 30 September 2010.

For more information, please download the flyer or visit the Symposium website.

SCAR Chief Officers Meeting

16 July 2011, Edinburgh, UK

This is a closed meeting with attendance by invitation only.

SCAR Executive Committee Meeting

18 - 19 July 2011, Edinburgh, UK

This is a closed meeting with attendance by invitation only.

7th SCAR History Workshop - 'Antarctic History: probing the unknown'

26 - 29 July 2011, Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, Stellenbosch, South Africa

The aim of this workshop is to critically evaluate how historians with Antarctic interests can most fruitfully use the growing accessibility of diverse source material. Historians have long been aware that published materials present the constructed face of an expedition, recording events as participants wished to have them known. Archival records, from personal correspondence and institutional records to government documents, provide access to alternative viewpoints that may often significantly challenge our understanding of events. Non-textual materials, most notably photographs, are also increasingly used as evidence rather than decoration. Oral history is also becoming a more rigorous pursuit.

But the digital age presents another challenge. As more and more collections are made available online, the range of potential scholars increases. Anyone with internet access will soon be able to conduct research of a kind that until recently, only scholars with resources and reputations could be confident of pursuing. What will this mean for the future of polar history? With so much data available, historians will be pushed toward asking more challenging 'why' questions rather than being able to find novelty in reconstructing the 'how' of polar history. We also may look forward to a greater number of specific investigations. Finally transnational studies will become logistically easier.

The structure of the workshop is designed to showcase different aspects of these new challenges and opportunities. For more information, please see the Call for Papers or contact Cornelia Lüdecke (email C.Luedecke@lrz.uni-muenchen.de).

Deadline for applications for travel support is 15 April 2011.
Abstract submission deadline is 30 April 2011.

August 2011

3rd International Forum on the Sub-Antarctic

1 - 2 August 2011, Hobart, Tasmania

'The future of the Sub-Antarctic region: its global significance and value'

Recent research in the Southern Ocean, in the region between Tasmania and the Antarctic continent, has revealed a fascinating world of deep ocean currents, unexpectedly rich marine life and complex interactions of temperature, salinity, radiation and atmosphere.

This emerging science is helping us to begin to understand global climate changes largely driven by this remarkable region. The forum promotes study of the sub-Antarctic islands and the ocean surrounding them as a distinct circumpolar region with its own unique character, scientific significance and management issues.

For more information, please email Antarctic@development.gov.au or visit the International Forum website.

6th Meeting of ACAP's Advisory Committee (AC6)

29 August - 2 September 2011, Guayaquil, Ecuador

The Sixth Meeting of ACAP's Advisory Committee (AC6) will be held from Monday 29 August to Friday 2 September 2011, at the Unipark Hotel, Guayaquil, Ecuador. Meetings of the Status and Trends, Breeding Sites and Seabird Bycatch Working Groups will precede AC6 at the Unipark Hotel from Monday 22 August to Friday 26 August 2011. The exact dates of individual Working Group meetings will be advised in Meeting Circular No. 2. A Heads of Delegation meeting will be convened on Sunday 28 August 2011, time and venue will be advised closer to the meeting date.

Meeting documents requiring translation are to be submitted to the Secretariat no later than 30 June 2011. All meeting documents must be submitted by 29 July 2011. A draft document list will be circulated with Meeting Circular 2. It would be appreciated if participants could advise the Secretariat of any papers that they intend submitting to the meeting as soon as possible.

International bodies wishing to participate in the Advisory Committee meeting must submit a written application to the Secretariat by 31 May 2011. Applications from other bodies wishing to attend this meeting must submit a written application by 30 June 2011.

Information on registration and other meeting arrangements will be provided in Meeting Circular No 2.

AC6 First Circular

September 2011

8th Symposium on Polar Studies

7 - 9 September 2011, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

The VIII Symposium on Polar Studies is promoted by the Spanish SCAR Committee and organised in collaboration with the Spanish Polar Research Programme. Major objectives of the Symposium are to promote the exchange of information between research groups working on different aspects of polar research, either in the Arctic or in Antarctica, and to encourage collaborative links at both national and international level. This will be the first Polar meeting to be held in Spain after the International Polar Year (IPY, 2007-2008), and therefore it is expected to disseminate and evaluate the participation of Spanish groups in the framework of the IPY.

The Symposium will host parallel meetings of the Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management (SCADM), the Standing Committee on Antarctic Geographic Information (SCAGI) and the ICSU Task Group on the Governance of Polar Data (CODATA). The members of these committees will participate in some of the sessions of the Symposium.

The deadline for abstract submission is 15 May 2011, for early registration is 1 July 2011 and registration is 30th August 2011.

For further information, please see the Second Circular or visit the Symposium website.

Symposium on Research Urgencies in the Polar Regions

23 - 24 September 2011, Siena, Italy

This two day symposium is entitled 'Research urgencies in the Polar Regions and their links to the ICSU Grand Challenges in Global Sustainability'. It will address all aspects of polar science, with a focus on the functioning of the Earth System in the Arctic and Antarctic, the major drivers of pervasive change and the as yet unaddressed research issues in these regions. These global issues will be considered in the polar regions within the context of the ICSU Grand Challenges and the research priorities of the SCAR, the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS) and other ICSU Unions and Interdisciplinary Scientific Bodies with interests in polar sciences.

Invited speakers will outline the major current global challenges and changes in terrestrial and oceanic domains in the polar regions and highlight how these are linked to the ICSU Grand Challenges in Global Sustainability. A Panel Session, involving representatives of a range of ICSU bodies, will discuss the relevance of polar urgencies to their organisations research priorities, and to the overall ICSU strategy.

Registration is now open. You are recommended to register as soon as possible and no later than 20 July 2011.

For more information, please see the draft programme or visit the Symposium website.

Gondwana 14 - 'East Meets West'

25 - 30 September 2011, Armação dos Búzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The story of Gondwana can be subdivided in three main periods: the amalgamation (heritage, terranes and thermotectonic events), the development (thermotectonic evolution, intracontinental basins, paleoclimate and active margins) and the break up (rifting processes, mantle plumes and paleogeography). To reflect this, the Conference will be divided in three parallel sessions: Gondwana Amalgamation; Gondwana Development and Gondwana Break Up, which will merge at the end of each day into one big conference session. Technical sessions will include oral and poster presentations over a period of five days, including a day off in the middle for local field trips, workshops and recreational activities. The working language of the meeting will be English.

For more information, please visit the Gondwana 14 website. Pre-registration is available on the website. Abstract submission and online registration will be available shortly.

World Conference on Marine Biodiversity

26 - 30 September 2011, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

There will be an EBA themed session (number 23) during the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity. This meeting will provide an excellent opportunity to discuss and compile the EBA community's advances in Marine Antarctic Environments.

There will also be a pre-meeting workshop on Sunday 25 September 2011 from 09.00-17.00. Most themes within the workshop are related to EBA workpackage 4, and it will also be an opportunity to discuss the two new SCAR programme proposals: Antarctic Ecosystems: Adaptations, Thresholds and Resilience (AntETR) and State of the Antarctic Ecosystem (AntEco), and to provide a constructive contribution to their planning groups.

For more information, please visit the Conference website, or contact Lucia Campos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (email: luciascampos@gmail.com).

VI LatinAmerican Symposium on Antarctic Research

28 - 30 September 2011, Lima, Peru

The VI LatinAmerican Symposium on Antarctic Research (VI SIMPOANTAR) aims to present the most recent Antarctic research carried out mainly by Latin American countries who are parties to the Antarctic Treaty System. The core idea of the Symposium will be the knowledge of Antarctica to handle future global scenarios. This idea is split in five sessions:

  1. goods and services in the future;
  2. actual state, retrospective and perspective of biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem;
  3. interactions among elements of the ecosystem and teleconnections between Antarctica and other places on earth;
  4. conservation of the environment; and
  5. new tools and technology.

For more information, please visit the Symposium website.

InterRidge International Workshop on Circum-Antarctic Ridges

28 - 30 September 2011, Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees, Toulouse, France

The mid-ocean ridges around Antarctica have been poorly surveyed, mostly because of their location in high latitudes and areas of rough seas. However, circum-Antarctic ridges are unique by their shallow water depths, ultra-slow or intermediate spreading rate, and complicate series of transform offsets compared to low-latitude ridges. They represent over one third of the global mid-ocean ridge system and they remain the last unknown sections of ridge. It is time to focus an international effort to survey these ridges, to discover new tectonic contexts, new hydrothermal vents, new species and new ways to connect all these.

The Circum-Antarctic Ridges InterRidge Workshop will aim at:
➢ Reviewing the state of the art of the research on Circum-Antarctic ridges;
➢ Reviewing important scientific issues covering geosciences to biology;
➢ Reviewing the latest tools and technical possibilities which can allow work in these challenging latitudes;
➢ Encouraging a collaborating effort between various IR countries to address these specific issues;
➢ Forming an IR Working group on Circum-Antarctic ridge research.

Deadlines:
Deadline for abstract submission for oral or poster presentation (maximum 1 page, including figures) is 4 September 2011. Deadline for registration is 11 September 2011. Some financial support will be available for students and early career scientists. Registration is free (except for field trip to Pyrenees).

For more information, please see the workshop flyer or visit the workshop website.

October 2011

WCRP Open Science Conference - "Climate Research in Service to Society"

24 - 28 October 2011, Denver, Colorado, USA

A better understanding of the behaviour of the climate system and its interactions with other Earth system components is critical to predict its future evolution, reduce vulnerability to high impact weather and climate events, and sustain life. This need is perhaps greater than ever before given that humans have emerged as the dominant agent of future change. To advance on such challenges, the WCRP will assemble for the first time ever its entire research community, and engage other key international research programmes, in a major Open Science Conference (OSC) in October 2011. Through a unique synthesis of research findings, the OSC will assess our current state of knowledge on climate variability and change, identify the most urgent scientific issues and research challenges, and ascertain how the WCRP can best facilitate research and develop partnerships critical for progress.

Key deadlines:

More information is available in the First Announcement, or by visiting the Conference website.

CCAMLR-XXX and SC-CAMLR-XXX Meetings

24 October – 4 November 2011, Hobart, Tasmania

For more information, please visit the CCAMLR website.

Open Access for Climate Scientists 2011

26 October 2011, DTU-Aqua, Copenhagen (and online, technology allowing)

Should Global Climate Change-related, peer-reviewed research be published freely available to anyone? Can you, as an author, boost your citations by doing so?

Global Climate Change (GCC) research and related disciplines, focused on consequences and mitigation, are targeting humanity's "biggest challenge for the 21st century". The majority of that research is publicly funded, but currently it is not freely accessible to society and relevant stakeholders. Open Access provides the legal framework and e-infrastructures nested within universities to provide100% free and immediate access to all future GCC-related, peer-reviewed research. The training is designed for all authors of peer-reviewed research, and will demonstrate the available means to achieve100% open access, while boosting their own impact and citations. For more information, please visit the Open Access Week website

Open Access Week posters

November 2011

Free UK Polar Network Workshop: High latitude biology, ecosystems and the future - A multidisciplinary approach

17 - 18 November 2011, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK

This workshop is intended for early-career scientists. It will present a platform for networking with colleagues in these multi-disciplinary fields, which include group discussions on the future of science in this field, current issues and a mentoring panel for 'Succeeding in polar biological sciences'. Keynote speakers such as Andy Clarke and Ray Leakey will present holistic talks on high latitude areas and there will be an opportunity to view the Antarctic aquarium. Participants are asked to bring a poster on their work/interests for a poster presentation opportunity as part of their networking.

The event is free for UKPN members (join the network for free on the UK Polar Network website). There are limited funds available to partly fund your travel / accommodation costs. For more information or to apply, please contact Coleen Suckling (colckl@bas.ac.uk) or see the Workshop description.

The Royal Society of Tasmania Mawson Symposium

30 November - 1 December 2011

December 2, 2011, marks the centenary of the sailing of Dr (later Sir) Douglas Mawson from Hobart, to establish his headquarters at Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica in the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE), and to begin serious involvement of Australia in Antarctic territorial claims and research. The Antarctic Centennial Year (ACY) has been launched to coordinate activities to commemorate the occasion. Many events will be held and the full program is available on the websites of the Australian Antarctic Division and Antarctic Tasmania. The Royal Society of Tasmania is organising the Mawson Symposium as part of the ACY celebrations. The brochure and registration form are also available on the Royal Society of Tasmania website. This contains information on how to register and to be involved.

If you have any questions, contact Patrick G. Quilty on p.quilty (at) utas.edu.au

December 2011

Workshop: Exploring linkages between environmental management and value systems – the case of Antarctica

5 December 2011, Christchurch, New Zealand

A full-day interdisciplinary workshop entitled 'Exploring linkages between environmental management and value systems – the case of Antarctica', intended for scholars of any discipline interested in value systems, environmental management, societal and political responsibilities for and engagement with wilderness areas, Antarctica.

This workshop focuses on the connection between the values attributed to a certain environment and its management. Using the case of Antarctica, a continent without an indigenous human population, we will discuss how the human impressions of and engagement with Antarctica inform environmental management decisions. These impressions and opinions might influence decisions that, collectively, can affect entire global systems, primarily through their impacts on climate, natural resources, and international policy.

Media coverage has brought information about the Antarctic to millions of people around the world and has prompted them to consider the benefits that humankind receives from the time, effort, and money invested in Antarctica. As a result, society engages increasingly with Antarctica and has been given reasons to consider the value of Antarctica. So far, policy-making and public opinion, as represented in the media, has reflected a conservationist approach, but it is unclear for how much longer the benefits of conservation will outweigh its costs, including foregone economic profits.

Understanding the nature of the values that humans attribute to Antarctica has large-scale and serious implications. So far, no substantial body of research exists that assesses the range of values placed on Antarctica and their implications for environmental management. This workshop represents one step towards addressing this important gap in the literature and bringing together scholars and practitioners to facilitate an informed discussion on this topic.

We invite a broad spectrum of contributions on topics ranging from value frameworks and the conceptualisation of values to value-based management and conservation with a special focus on the Antarctic. Contributions from scholars of all disciplines are welcome as we want to encourage an interdisciplinary discussion.

Anticipated outcomes of the workshop:
Joint discussion paper with the workshop participants or conference proceedings as an edited volume.

Call for Papers:
The deadline for abstract submission is 31 August 2011. Please see the Call for Papers for information on how to submit. Submitters will be advised of the outcome of their submission by 15 September 2011.

Please email Daniela Liggett (daniela.liggett@canterbury.ac.nz) or Gary Steel (gary.steel@lincoln.ac.nz) if you are interested in participating in this workshop.

Back to top of page