The 25th Arctic Dialogue at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Potsdam focused on international cooperation in polar research. The dialogue placed a particular emphasis on the upcoming fifth International Polar Year, which is scheduled for 2032/33. Representatives from research, politics and national and international organisations discussed the scientific, social and geopolitical perspectives of this major project.
The tradition of the International Polar Years harks back to 1882/83. The first Polar Year was initiated under the umbrella of the then International Meteorological Organisation and was largely by Karl Weyprecht and Georg Neumayer. This was followed by further Polar Years in 1932/33, 1957/58 and most recently in 2007/2008, each with its own topical focus. While the third polar year made a decisive contribution to the development of the Antarctic Treaty and today ranks as a salient example of scientific diplomacy, the fourth polar year broadened the perspective of research to include social science issues and the involvement of the local population from the polar regions.
The International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) are taking the lead role for the fifth International Polar Year. As Gerlis Fugmann, Managing Director of the IASC, explained, the period since the last Polar Year has been intentionally shortened to 25 years in view of the rapidly changing polar regions.
The planning phase for the upcoming International Polar Year kicked off in 2021. Meanwhile, 29 international organisations are now involved in the preparations. The dialogue started at a global level, while now the national structures are to be established in order to fill the fifth International Polar Year with concrete projects. Volker Rachold, Head of the German Arctic Office, reports: "In Germany, the discussion got underway in the scientific community within the framework of the National Committee SCAR/IASC, which is maintained by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The Arctic dialogue was currently primarily about involving political decision-makers in the discussion."
The AWI is also actively involved. Two projects are part of the current planning phase: Antarctica InSync and Arctic Pulse.
Antarctica InSync, presented by Nicole Biebow, aims to systematically record the state of the Antarctic through year-round, circumpolar observation. Twenty-six nations are already on board, meaning almost all countries with Antarctic research capacities, with the exception of Russia and Belarus. The implementation and analysis phase is on the agenda from 2027 to 2030 with joint field campaigns on land, at sea and in the air. In this context, the AWI research icebreaker Polarstern will undertake several expeditions to the region between 2027 and 2029 to collect data.
The Arctic Pulse project, presented by Bennet Juhls, is an endeavour headed by Canada and envisages several years of observation of the Arctic, including an expedition of the Polarstern to the Beaufort Sea and the deployment of the Canadian research icebreaker Amundsen. The planning is being carried out in close consultation with indigenous communities, who are to actively participate in the scientific work. The project is to be complemented by the proposed REVISIT campaign involving the AWI research aircraft Polar 5 and Polar 6. Moreover, other international partners have already expressed their interest in participating.