Polar Outreach Catalogue

The annual Svalbard Course provides government administrators and other individuals who play a key role in Norwegian policy relating to and management of Svalbard with firsthand knowledge about the area. The course has been held each year since it was introduced in 1976 by Olaf I. Rønning, a professor in studies of the natural environment at the Department of Botany at the former college Den Allmennvitenskapelige Høgskolen in Trondheim.For the special IPY Svalbard Course in 2008, participants took a two-week voyage on the M/S Kongsøy along southern and western Spitsbergen. The plan was to travel as far north as Sjuøyane (the Seven Islands) and sail around them, but the amount and thickness of the ice made it impossible to go farther north than Verlegenhuken. There were 32 passengers on board the Kongsà 20 course participants, seven course leaders and lecturers, and five crew members which posed a major challenge in terms of meals and sleeping accommodations.The focus of the course was on the fourth International Polar Year