Around 130 guests attended the official opening ceremony of the exhibition “Polar Norway – the white adventure” jointly organised by the Royal Norwegian Embassy and Science Centre Singapore. Pål Prestrud, the Director of CICERO, was the key note speaker at the opening. In addition Dr. Prestrud gave several lectures where he highlighted different aspects of Arctic warming during his visit to Singapore.
On Monday a mix of students, faculty, officials and members of the diplomatic corps were welcomed to the launch of “Polar Norway, the white adventure” at Singapore Science Centre. Dr. Prestrud, Prof. Lim and the Norwegian Ambassador to Singapore, Janne Julsrud, spoke at the launch.
The speakers focused on the great changes that are taking place in the Arctic and how we can obtain a peaceful, sustainable and prosperous development in this region through increased activity, presence and knowledge. Many countries are increasingly aware of the challenges and the potential of this region, generated by a combination of climate change on the one hand and regional resources and commercial opportunities on the other. During her speech, the ambassador welcomed international cooperation, stating that “only through joint action can we ensure a stable development”.
At NTU an audience consisting of students, faculty, officials and diplomats heard Dr. Prestrud’s presentation on what increased ice melting might mean to the future use of new shipping routes. Using the North Eastern route along the coast of Russia would reduce travel time from Europe to Japan by 40% compared to the use of the route through the Suez Canal.
The event “Science in the Cafe” gathered an enthusiastic audience for Dr. Presteruds talk about “Why do we need snow and ice?”. If you missed this opportunity, his blog on the same topic is available at blog.science.edu.sg.
In May the Norwegian writer and adventurer, Ragnar Kvam, will visit Singapore. He will speak on the great Polar Explorers of the last century – Amundsen, Nansen, Scott and Shackleton. More information will be made available on the embassy’s website.
30 000 schoolchildren are expected to visit the Polar exhibition. In order to engage and teach them science in a fun way, the embassy has arranged a drawing competition together with the Science Centre where students can share their visions on how climate change may affect them. There will be exciting prices for the winners of the competition. More details on the competition can be found at http://www.science.edu.sg/.
The exhibition will remain open until the end of May. We welcome you to come and take a closer look at the history of the brave polar explorers and to discover how the environments of the North and South Pole are affected by changes in the climate.
