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Ennio Morricone, Peter Finch and Claudia Cardinale – three names that should ring a bell with anyone interested in the motion picture industry and all with a surprising link to the Arctic. The three were part of the 1969 joint Soviet-Italian movie The Red Tent. It told the story of the mission to rescue the Italian engineer and Arctic explorer Umberto Nobile whose Airship, Italia, crashed on its way to Svalbard in 1928. Only two years earlier—in May 1926—Nobile’s Airship Norge was the first to fly across the polar ice cap from Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard to Teller, Alaska. Nobile is only one historical reference among many that exemplifies Italy’s legacy in the Arctic region. Other famous figures include the explorer Prince Luigi Amedeo and the anthropologist Silvio Zavatti. Nobile’s expeditions was the first Italian scientific missions in the Arctic, having started in-depth studies in fields such as oceanography, meteorology, geography and geophysics.
Italy’s presence in the Arctic is not solely limited to explorers and academics, however. Italy was one of the original signatories of the 1920 Spitsbergen Treaty and has been operating the multidisciplinary research facility Dirigibile Italia in Ny-Ålesund since 1997. Similarly, Italy maintains several polar research vessels (e.g. OGS Explora) and is represented in the European Polar Board. Italian research institutions are also partnered with and/or contribute to several European research projects, such as SIOS or INTERACT. Since 1990, at the Thule High Arctic Atmospheric Observatory in Greenland, extensive scientific activities have also been carried out, mainly by INGV (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology), ENEA (National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development ) and the University of Rome.
Since the 2013 Kiruna ministerial, Italy has also held observer status at the Arctic Council (AC). As an observer, Italy also takes part in all six of the AC’s working groups, as well as some expert groups and Task Forces Furthermore it bilaterally cooperates with several Arctic states on science and technology co-ordination (Canada) or environmental and socio-economic issues (Finland). Further, Italy is a member of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and Associate Member in the ARHC (Arctic Regional Hydrographic Commission), engaged in the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), the Arctic Science Ministerial Meeting (ASM) as well as the Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON).
This page was updated on 1 August 2022. If we have missed anything, please contact info@thearcticinstitute.org.
