New projects of international cooperation for Vernadsky station and the RV Noosfera as well as the exchange of experience in popularizing Antarctic research – these are the key issues on which the Ukrainian delegation focused its work during the 36th COMNAP Annual General Meeting (COMNAP AGM 36 2024)
The COMNAP AGM 36 convened last week in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The event was attended by 176 representatives from 33 National Antarctic programs, including NASC representatives from Ukraine.
At the regional cooperation working group (Antarctic Peninsula), our delegation presented a plan for the logistics operations of the 30th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition for 2024-2025 summer season and invited other countries to cooperate on the basis of Vernadsky station and the RV Noosfera.
Such interaction allows to optimize material resources for expeditions and use the funds saved and received from partners to expand the research program. We remind you that successful cooperation between the Ukrainian and Polish Antarctic programs has been ongoing for three years now, and it is currently planned to continue it.
“The Ukrainian proposals generated considerable interest, and after the working group a series of bilateral negotiations with potential partners took place. This is why they try to hold offline COMNAP meetings. Without the consent of future partners, we cannot yet provide details, but it seems that the number of international projects at Vernadsky and RV Noosfera will significantly increase,” shared Evgen Dykyi, NASC director.
Also, during a separate workshop our representatives told how Ukraine is doing to popularize Antarctic research. This experience was highly appreciated by other participants, and Ukrainians learned interesting and effective practices from foreign colleagues.
In its free time, our delegation met with the Ukrainian diaspora – the local Ukrainian cultural society Prosvita (Asociación Ucrania de Cultura PROSVITA). Recently, this organization celebrated 100th anniversary of its work in Argentina. Many Ukrainians, both men and women, united by Prosvita are our compatriots in the fourth or fifth generation, but they preserve the Ukrainian language and culture, act as advocates of Ukraine in Argentina and form a positive image of Ukrainians in Argentine society.
NASC representatives agreed with Prosvita on joint events, in particular, distributing in Argentina a photo exhibition about Ukraine in Antarctica and organizing several online lectures from the Vernadsky station for local Ukrainian youth.
We remind you that during the Antarctic Treaty meeting, Ukraine and other 17 member countries blocked Belarus from being granted the status of a Consultative Party to the Treaty, and therefore the right of the decision-making and veto power on decisions on Antarctica, which are adopted only by consensus.
