The House of Sustainability of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce has announced a conference titled “The Antarctic Futures Symposium”, which will take place on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 April 2026, from 08:00 to 19:00 at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.
The organisers aim to bring together researchers, institutions, industry representatives and policymakers to explore future research and innovation opportunities linked to Antarctica and extreme environments.
Organised together with the Board of Directors of the International Polar Foundation (IPF), the Board of Directors of the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) and the Steering Committee of the Andromeda Earth Observatory Project.
During the symposium, the newly formed Science Advisory Committee will meet to develop a Strategic Research Plan, which will set research priorities, define laboratory facilities, identify instrument upgrades and data acquisition platforms, and determine the field and technical support needed to achieve shared research objectives.
Committee members, led by Eric Rignot, Professor of Earth system science at the University of California in the United States (US) will address the plenary session to underline the importance of international cooperation in Antarctic research.
The programme will also include break-out sessions on partnering opportunities, perspectives for the European space industry, building concepts for extreme environments, life support systems and circularity, green mobility and science support platforms.
The discussions will also feature guest speakers from industry, government and international institutions who will contribute to discussions.
The organisers noted that participants will have opportunities to network and explore collaboration with researchers and engineers from participating organisations to explore the potential for collaboration around aspects of the project.
