At Cape Farewell HQ we are busy answering last minute questions from our intrepid crew; it seems that nine months of preparation have gone all too quickly and we're counting down the hours and not days or months to departure. Our launches are launched and so we set sail.

On 25 September we are departing on the seventh Cape Farewell expedition. Our Disko Bay expedition crew includes musicians KT Tunstall, Laurie Anderson, Feist, Martha Wainwright, Vanessa Carlton, Jarvis Cocker, Robyn Hitchcock and Ryuichi Sakamoto, beatboxer Shlomo, poet Lemn Sissay, comedian Marcus Brigstock, artists Michèle Noach, Sophie Calle, Kathy Barber, David Buckland, Julian Stair and Tracey Rowledge, architect Sunand Prasad, engineer Francesca Galeazzi, composer Jonathan Dove, theatre makers Mojisola Adebayo and Suzan Lori Parks, oceanographers Simon Boxall, Emily Venables and geosciencist Carol Cotterill. 

Why are we taking this group of artists, scientists, musicians, comedians, architects and more to the Arctic? The simple answer is to inspire all who journey with us to respond to the changing climate, to witness first hand the changes to the environment occurring in the Arctic and allow our crew to partake in real scientific research with our two onboard science crews.

We will be visiting the Jakobshavn Glacier, one of the fastest moving glaciers in Greenland, losing 20 millions tons of ice every day. The Arctic really is at the front line of changing climate, the ice flow should be slowing down for the winter, but recent reports suggest it isn't - scientists have been shocked by the speed of the recent ice loss we are experiencing. The long answer is slightly more complicated but arrives at the same conclusion, Sir David King said in a recent speech that "The most brilliant minds should be directed to solving Earth's greatest challenge".

To face the global challenge that, through our actions, climate change has brought us, involves the input of brilliant minds from every discipline; our office motto is Einstein's quote "You cannot solve the problem using the same kind of thinking that created the problem". We must all think and innovate our way out of this current scenario and this is our aim; by bringing together this eclectic group of creative individuals, we are taking the best of our creative minds right into the heart of the debate. 

My job is to make sure that everyone takes from this experience what they can; it really is the catalyst for collaborations, for creative ventures, for engagement, for action, for inspiration, for change. During the trip and on our return we will work with the crew to produce work and allow them to respond in the way they want to and know how. During the expedition you can follow us live, ask us your questions and get involved.

Hannah Bird
24 September 2008

All entries on the Disko Bay expedition site will be linked to from the front page of IPY.org, via the Friends of IPY feed.