After a successful Antarctica Day in Brussels on December 1st (Antarctica Day workshop in Brussels), several people expressed their interest in the formation of a Belgian APECS committee. Words were quickly followed by action. During 2012 the little snowball that is APECS Belgium will keep on gathering speed and mass…
Our small but diverse core group met during our first monthly meeting in January - Anton, Ines, Dagmar, Pedro, Marie-Jo, Marie, Hendrik, Francesca and Tom brought together biologists, glaciologists, astronomers and even a lawyer. During this meeting, APECS Belgium set out a number of goals for the coming years.
A first requirement is the formation of an official legal structure and Hendrik, as an environmental lawyer, will arrange this. To gain some visibility, we will create a Facebook page and the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO website) will host a website for us.
In 2012, we plan several activities aimed at providing learning platforms for early career scientists in Belgium but also a framework for education and outreach. We plan to visit a social project where people are building a 1:1 replica of the historic Belgica vessel. We want to use this project as a platform to introduce a general audience to the Antarctica expeditions led by three generations (Adrien de Gerlache in the 19th century, researchers in the 1960s and young researchers). You can visit the Dutch website here.
In September, during the equinox week, we plan a three-day conference in Ghent: starting with a day filled with workshops (presentations skills, how to deal with the media etcetera), followed by a day of presentations and concluding with a networking day with an excursion in the city centre of Ghent.
In 2013, Belgium will be the host of the Antarctic Treaty Meeting. Although this is something for politicians, some delegates plan to attend (part of) this conference and we see it as a perfect opportunity to focus on polar research and a moment to involve a broader audience. Therefore, we plan a 'science fair' with experiments for young and old and a picture exhibition.
In the meantime we will encourage our Belgian APECS member to participate in international activities.
So in a nutshell, this is what APECS Belgium is up to!
Ines Tavernier and Anton Van de Putte
