International conference “Arctic Polar Routes”, an efficient platform for a dialogue between authorities, scientific and educational centers, youth and public organizations in the sphere of Arctic expeditions development, is held for the fourth time in the framework of Murmansk International Business Week, says the Ministry of Economic Development of the Murmansk Region.
As part of the conference, a panel discussion will be held on November 13. The list of participants includes the most prominent polar travelers and researchers. The participation has already been confirmed by Mikhail Krasnoperov (Honorary polar explorer, Head of the projects of the Honorary Consul of Russia in Lausanne Frederik Paulsen, Vice president of the fund ”Antarctic Circumpolar Expedition”), Christian de Marliave (Polar explorer, Head of the Paulsen Publishing house in Paris), Viktor Simonov (Russian traveler, Polar guide), Viktor Boyarsky (Member of Council of Association of the Polar explorers of Russia, Chairman of the Polar Committee of the Russian Geographical Society), Mikhail Malakhov (Hero of the Russian Federation, Honorary polar explorer, Chairman of the Ryazan branch of the Russian Geographical Society), Vladimir Chukov (traveller, President of the ”Arctica” Expedition Center of the Russian Geographical Society).
The Arctic is an eternal homeland of cold, snow and ice. But stretching for 27 million square km the Arctic is so much more than just an inaccessible land. The North Pole has always been attracting travelers and explorers who by overcoming incredible obstacles finally managed to penetrate further and further northward, to discover cold Arctic islands and archipelagos and map them.
Currently expeditions to the Arctic draw a great interest for not only achieving scientific goals but for popularizing Russian historical, cultural and environmental heritage of the Arctic. Contribution by the Russian and foreign polar explorers into scientific research of the high-latitude areas is invaluable. Expeditions along the drifting ice sheets of the Arctic Ocean started a new chapter in exploring the impact of harsh climate conditions on human beings, became a checkup for stamina, willpower and endurance.