Ushuaia - the end of the world...

A few days in Amsterdam would help to prepare and pack. A long meeting in Aarhus and I almost missed my train. Actually the time in Netherlands was fantastic but not for the preparation. Lots of things missing in the last minute. This blog post half-written. An excited and underprepared 'change agent' going to Antarctica. That's not good!

Luckily the flight was excellent and I arrived in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, for 2 days of preparation before embarking to Antarctica. The whole group of 60 students plus BP Leaders, professors, experts and facilitators is here, united. Tomorrow at 9am we gather. At 7am we practice Aikido (thanks Thomas!).

It feels surreal still. I just had dinner with Peter Senge this evening. Nice easygoing guy. He knows very well AIESEC, he was totally up for Pioneers of Change members to join the expedition, and surprisingly (for me), he knew lots about the Kaospilots!

I promised myself to disconnect from the Internet after this blog post. We won't have any communication or mobile signal while onboard, except for a basic satellite connection, where we can send a few packets of information: blog posts and photos for the official website. I'm one of the expedition bloggers so you can follow the website for more details: www.expedition-antarctic-2009.com. The position of the ship can be tracked and you can leave (me) a message, and it will be delivered!

Below is the (planned) itinerary, if the weather conditions allow...


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Antarctica Expedition

I wrote here about a month ago saying that I'm going to Antarctica. A lot has happened during the past weeks and I'm flying next Tuesday (24th of March) to Ushuaia. The journey is about to start!!

BP Alternative Energy and 2041.com, as hosts of the expedition, have arranged several weeks of preparation before the group of 63 students and 20+ BP staff (and experts, facilitators, photographer, etc) meet in Tierra Del Fuego. Each week had a different theme and a virtual platform was launched for the sessions and meetings. I must confess that I got surprised and amazed by the possibilities of such platforms, where audio and avatars play in a scenario where hand and head gestures enable communication in a much more involving way than Skype calls.

In this snapshot you can see myself (my back actually) during the first session, when Vivienne Cox (CEO BP Alternative Energy) introduced the Antarctic Village and the project Antarctica Expedition.

The themes were broad and very interesting: Climate Change & Energy; Theories of Change; Climate & Policy; Public Behaviour; The Skeptical Economist. For each session key scientists, economists or experts came for a short presentation and Q&A. Before each session, we receive a package of reading materials, and other related materials.

In parallel to it, my preparations included finding clothing and getting to know the other participants. Two weeks ago I received a brand-new Patagonia jacket and I will get proper boots to wear during the expedition. I'm still trying to get sponsorship from shops in Aarhus for the rest of the clothes - 1st and 2nd layers (yes, we need 3 layers of clothes for such a cold weather!).

Among the participants, very nice surprises... Almost the whole hosting team of the Pioneers of Change' Global Journey in 2007 is joining: Lesley (South Africa), Dania (Ecuador) and myself. From the hosting team of the AIESEC's 60 years Anniversary Celebrations last August, I'll meet again Thomas (Brazil), Sabine (Germany), Max (Mexico) and Lucy (Australia). Besides these participants, I have also met Aron (Sweden) over Chinese New-Years in Shanghai last year and I know Majken's twin sister Louise from Copenhagen... apart of these known faces, a lot of new, very interesting and intelligent group of people, from whom I expect to learn a HELL LOT OF STUFF :)

The official expedition website will be launched during the next days, and I already volunteered to be one of the bloggers during the trip :) Before I leave I'll write more about Antarctica and my own expectations...