It is with great pride and excitement to announce that I will be participating in the International Polar Year Conference in Oslo this June. I will be there to talk about my school outreach work, especially the launch of my non profit company Education Through Expeditions and my work on Baffin Island over the past 3 years.

“We are happy to announce that you have been selected as participant to the PolarTEACHERS conference in Oslo ! We received over 270 applications to the conference. The main target group for the conference is teachers teaching students up to 18-19 years of age and preservice teachers and are delighted to welcome you as one of 120 participants.”

From the 120 participants for the PolarTEACHERS Conference, I am the only representative from the United Kingdom and am delighted to have this opportunity to hear the work being done within polar outreach from all over the world.

The International Polar Year (IPY), from March 2007 to March 2009, was a large scientific programme focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic. IPY involved thousands of scientists from more than 60 nations in a wide range of physical, biological and social research. The IPY Oslo Science Conference (IPY-OSC 2010) will be the first major meeting of scientists to share results from IPY research.

Education, outreach and communication (EOC) has been a central part of IPY and we would like to give teachers and other educators the opportunity to share their experiences. If you have not been involved in IPY, but want to use polar issues in your classroom, you are also welcome to participate.

About Oslo Science Conference

The main content of IPY-OSC 2010 will be presentation of science from the almost 200 international projects that was part of this huge international science programme. Five themes and more than 30 sessions are devoted to various aspects of change in the Polar Regions, most prominently related to the climate.

The programme includes sessions for presentation of IPY activities and products in education, outreach and communication (EOC):

Learning Together: The impacts of integrating EOC in IPY

Incorporating Polar Science into Formal Education

Adventures in the Field: Impacts of field programs for students, teachers, artists, writers and others

Global Learning: The impact of the media

Informal initiatives and Polar inspiration: IPY in museums, art, films, books and drama

A PolarCINEMA will run parallel to the conference and will be screening documentary films and TV-programs, and arrange post screening discussions.

The concurrent PolarFESTIVAL will take place mainly in Oslo city centre, but partly also in the conference venue in Lillestrøm. The festival will include a broad range of outreach events and exhibits, to showcase the first-class outreach products
that have been generated during and around the IPY and to provide outreach opportunities for conference delegates.

Participants in the teachers’ conference will be able to take full advantage of the programme offered to IPY-OSC delegates, learning about the latest findings in polar science and getting inspired by other educators’ efforts and achievements.

Our hope is to provide fresh teaching ideas and more tools for the science teacher’s toolbox.

Dear Antony,

I have learnt through a colleague of your work on education and climate change through expeditions. May I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your innovative approach to education and to encourage you in your aime to inspire and educate children globally about climate change.

I wish you well. Warmly and with a smile,

Vernor Muñoz
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
Human Rights Council
United Nations

‘The children were enthused from the outset, especially the quieter ones! They had so many questions. The concept of the sea being frozen, at times, was difficult to comprehend, considering we are a coastal school. The childen were able to make many comparisons with their everyday life. As we do not have a vast amount of cultural diversity, and those contacts that we have tend to be with a hotter climate, this was an intriguing way to deal with this as well as all the environmental issues that arise,’

Susie Evans – Head teacher at Wembury Primary School.