25 March 2025 | 16:00 - 17:00 (MDT)
Open Session - HYBRID
Room: UMC Third Floor - 386
Organisers: Maria Pia Casarini (Polar Educators International, PEI)
Session Description:
A legacy project of the 4th International Polar Year (IPY) (2007-2008), which included a focus on polar education, was the publication of an innovative book: Polar Science and Global Climate: An International Resource for Education and Outreach (Pearson, 2010), known as the “Polar Resource Book” (PRB). It is an impressive tool for scientists, teachers, and educators, available on the website: polareducator.org>resources.
Its aim was to continue informing and inspiring educators and students, as well as emerging polar researchers and polar enthusiasts with a shared commitment to education and outreach, about the importance of the polar regions. This book focused on both polar science and an understanding of the urgency of global climate change, and how to bring these important topics into classrooms and broader public fora.
Polar Educators International (PEI) and polar educators throughout the world have been keen supporters of this publication for over ten years, seeing it as essential that polar scientists should also be educators, in order to communicate their science and their message to a wider audience. Countless teachers, educators, and scientists have made full use of the Polar Resource Book.
Polar science and polar research have progressed extensively during this time, and some topics – not covered by the original book – have become essential parts of any approach to the Arctic regions, including Indigenous involvement and the rising importance of Indigenous Knowledge.
To keep this legacy of the 4th IPY alive, PEI has been collaborating with APECS (Association of Polar Early Career Scientists), SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) and IASC (International Arctic Science Committee) towards an updated edition of the Polar Resource Book (PRB II). This project will acquire new strength as part of the 5th IPY, with increased participation of new partners and a wider collaboration of experts. ICARP IV is also planning for the next ten years, with its Research Priority Team 6 focusing on polar education. This is not just a PEI project, but a worthwhile partnership project, that will recreate in the 5th IPY the same enthusiasm of the 4th IPY.
With this meeting, we encourage the participation of a wider audience of institutions, scientists, Indigenous Knowledge holders, and educators, to learn more about the PRB II project as part of the 5th IPY, to share ideas, and to become part of a group who cares deeply about polar education for the future generations.