The Arctic. Interactive journey to the North Pole

The exhibition is organised by Cnr Department of Earth System Science and Environmental Technology (Cnr-Dta), Institute of Polar Science (Cnr-Isp), Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems (Cnr-Iret), Institute for Educational Technology (Cnr-Itd) and Cnr Communication Unit. It presents physical and multimedia installations, interactive experiments, scientific tools, scale reproductions, documents, objects, and suggestive images. The public is guided to the discovery of the Arctic, its characteristics, and the observed phenomena.

Climate change today represents a crucial challenge for the future of the Earth system and the Arctic is the region of the planet where it occurs more rapidly than elsewhere. Global warming has a tremendous impact on ice-covered surfaces, in particular on the generation and expansion of marine ice, on the retreat of glaciers and the thawing of permafrost.

These phenomena have important implications on the increase of areas of vegetation and tundra, on animal life and on the whole Arctic ecosystem. This process has economic, social, and geopolitical impacts that go well beyond the borders of the Arctic. For this reason, the Arctic region can be considered a great natural laboratory to study these processes. The description of the geographical characteristics, with reference to the discoveries and to the indigenous communities, is followed by an overview of the mechanism regulating the distribution of energy on the Planet and the way it affects the polar areas and by an explanation of phenomena such as the aurora borealis, midnight sun and ozone depletion (commonly called ozone “hole”).

The exhibition continues with a focus on the main research activities that Italy carries out in the Arctic, particularly in Ny Ålesund, in the Svalbard Islands, where Cnr manages the “Dirigibile Italia” research station.

In the end, a presentation of the organizational structure of international bodies – also participated by Italy – which manage the scientific and political planning in the Arctic. The exhibition, which involves various Cnr  Institutes, is a great opportunity to understand the activities of Italian researchers working in the Arctic.

Editions

• from 24/11/2022 to 22/12/2022: Rome, at Cnr headquarters.The Artico exhibition is part of the centenary celebrations of the Cnr;
• from 15/01/2020 to 12/02/2020: Rome, at Cnr headquarters;
• from 12/10/2019 to 17/11/2019: Settimo Torinese, at Ecomuseo del Freidano, Complesso del Mulino Nuovo, Via Ariosto 36/Bis. From 14 to 20 October the exhibition is part of the Innovation and Science Festival 2019;
• from 13/11/2018 to 15/11/2018: Rome, Salone dello studente, as part of Youth for future at Fiera di Roma - North Entrance, Via Portuense 1645;
• from 28/09/2018 to 26/10/2018: Venice Mestre, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Scientific Campus, Alfa Building, Via Torino 155 Venice Mestre;
• from 07/03/2018 to 31/05/2018: Milan, University of Milano Bicocca, Building U6 ground floor;
• from 29/09/2017 to 10/12/2017: Naples, at the City of Science;
• from 25/05/2017 to 28/05/2017: Naples, Piazza del Plebiscito, as part of the XXXI edition of Futuro Remoto;
• from 28/04/2017 to 09/05/2017: Foligno, Palazzo della Scienza (Palazzo Brunetti Candiotti), Auditorium San Domenico and Palazzo Trinci. On Friday 28 April at 10.30 at the Hall of Honour of Palazzo Brunetti Candiotti (Foligno) the conference 'The Arctic: the use of robots to understand the changes taking place' with the participation of Cnr-Issia director Massimo Caccia, covering the topics of the exhibition.
• from 27/10/2016 to 06/11/2016: Genoa, Palazzo Ducale, Piazza Matteotti 9 - "Loggia degli Abati" (The exhibition was part of the "Science Festival" event). On 28 October at 3.30 pm, at the Sala del Minor Consiglio in Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, the conference “The Arctic - changes taking place, challenges and research” was held on the topics covered by the exhibition. The conference was attended by: Enrico Brugnoli - Director of the Earth System Sciences and Technologies for the Environment at Cnr, Peter Wadhams - Professor Emeritus of Oceans Physics at the University of Cambridge and Matteo Cattadori - Science teacher at "Fabio Filzi” high school in Rovereto (TN) - together with some students of Filzi high school who had made a trip to the Svalbard Islands last summer, as part of the RESET - Research and Education Svalbard Experience.