22-27 April 2012, Montréal, Canada

From Knowledge to Action

Conference Overview

The IPY 2012 From Knowledge to Action Conference will be one of the largest and most important scientific conferences for polar science and climate change, impacts and adaptation. Keynote presentations, thought-provoking panel discussions and workshops will provide the focal points for translating polar knowledge into actions that will enable people to live in, adapt to, or benefit from, our changing world.

Each day of the conference will feature a program of keynote speakers, plenary panel discussions, parallel science sessions, as well as dedicated poster sessions. The conference-wide plenaries will explore important themes related to topics of polar change, global linkages, communities and health, ecosystem services, infrastructure, resources and security. Other sessions will provide the opportunity to present and discuss the application of research findings, policy implications and how to take polar knowledge to action.

Keynote speaker list >>

Who should attend?

Polar scientists, policy makers and academics, government and industry representatives from around the world will be interested in the IPY 2012 From Knowledge to Action Conference.

Week-at-a-Glance

The Conference will open at the Palais des congrès in Montréal with a welcome reception and icebreaker on Earth Day, Sunday, April 22. The official opening ceremony will be held on the morning of Monday, April 23, 2012. A banquet will be hosted on the evening of Thursday, April 26 and will feature a performance by the world-famous Cirque du Soleil. The conference will close in the early afternoon of Friday, April 27, 2012

Keynote speakers

Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland:Special Envoy on Climate Change for the United Nations Secretary General, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland is also the former Prime Minister of Norway. She gained international recognition in the 1980s for championing the principle of sustainable development as the chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission), which addressed concerns about the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources and the consequences for economic and social development. The Commission's recommendations led to the 1992 Earth Summit – the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. A medical doctor and Master of Public Health, Dr. Brundtland also served as Director-General of the World Health Organization and spent 10 years as a physician and scientist in the Norwegian public health system.

Dr. Louis Fortier:His work has helped place Canada at the forefront of research on the impacts of climate change in the Arctic. Under his leadership as Scientific Director, ArcticNet, Canada's first network of centres of excellence focused on the Arctic, was created in 2003. In addition to supporting research in the natural, human health and social sciences, ArcticNet has developed major research partnerships with industry, particularly the oil and gas sector and involved northern communities and organizations in the scientific process. A key deliverable of the network is to facilitate the translation of knowledge into Integrated Regional Impact Assessments, national policies and adaptation strategies. Dr. Fortier has pushed Arctic issues to the forefront of the political agenda. He is a tireless promoter of international multidisciplinary co-operation and has created and managed mega-research programs in marine science, such as the International North Water Polynya Study, the Canadian Research Icebreaker Amundsen, and the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study. Dr. Fortier is also the Canada Research Chair on the Response of Arctic Marine Ecosystems to Climate Change and a Professor at Université Laval since 1989.

Dr. Sheila Jasanoff:A pioneer in her field, Dr. Sheila Jasanoff has taught and conducted research for many years on the role of science and technology in the law, politics and policy of modern democracies. She is Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies and Director of the Program on Science, Technology and Society at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The author of more than 100 articles and chapters, she is also the author or editor of a dozen books, including Controlling Chemicals, The Fifth Branch, Science at the Bar and Designs on Nature. Dr. Jasanoff served on the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as President of the Society for Social Studies of Science.

Dr. José Xavier:A marine biologist with the Institute of Marine Research, University of Coimbra, Portugal and the British Antarctic Survey, U.K., Dr. José Xavier studies climate change and the ecology and conservation of marine organisms in the Antarctic and Atlantic Oceans and recently published a comprehensive monograph on the prey of top predators that will greatly aid the research of others. He provided considerable leadership during IPY in the establishment of Portugal's first IPY program. In addition to his work on a number of science projects, he lead a highly successful educational program called LATITUDE60!, which reached thousands of students, educators, and politicians, helping to raise awareness of the polar regions. Dr. Xavier has been awarded the prestigious 2011 Martha T. Muse Prize for Science and Policy in Antarctica.

Mr. Aqqaluk Lynge:Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) and President of ICC-Greenland, Mr. Lynge has promoted the rights of Indigenous Peoples both globally and in his home country of Greenland since his youth. He has represented the Inuit of Alaska, Canada, Greenland and the Far East of Russia through leadership positions in the former Inuit Circumpolar Conference (now ICC) from 1997 to 2006. First elected to the Greenland Parliament in 1983, Mr. Lynge has served as a Member of Parliament and as a Minister of various portfolios. He has been an invited speaker at a wide range of international human rights fora, wildlife management conferences, environmental summits, Arctic Council Ministers summits and others.