
Sep, 15 2025 | 18:00 - 20:30
Special event for the International Year of Glacier Preservation
September, 15 2025 | 18:00 - 20:30
Special event for the International Year of Glacier Preservation
BACKGROUND
The Embassy of Switzerland in Austria and the University of Innsbruck aim to contribute to the International Year of Glacier Preservation announced by the UN and WMO with an event that will discuss how much glaciers can still be preserved and what the value of glaciers seen from various perspectives is. This broad view should help to generate and deliver information beyond common narratives. The three elements of the program are listed below.
1. INTRO
Greetings by Jonas Baumann from the Swiss embassy in Austria and by Michael Zemp from the World Glacier Monitoring service.
Program
18:00
Greeting and Intro





2. OUR PENALISTS
A selection of outstanding and diverse international experts will discuss the multiple values of glaciers for individuals and our society in a panel discussion.
Moderator
Christian Huggel
PROFESSOR
University of Zürich
Elizabeth Allison
PROFESSOR
California Institute of Integral Studies
Michael White
EDITOR, Nature
Springer Nature
Pasang Yangjee Sherpa
ASS. PROFESSOR
University of British Columbia
Lander Van Tricht
RESEARCHER
ETH Zürich
3. FILM SCREENING
REQUIEM IN WHITE
The glaciers in the Eastern Alps are dying – irreversibly, scientists agree. Experts are warning of the changing conditions, and adjustments need to be made in many areas. But while the ‘eternal ice’ is disappearing and the permafrost is dissolving, tourism is booming. In summer, visitors crowd into glacier cable cars to get as close as possible to the glacier. In winter, skiing operations are running at full speed. interventions in nature are taking on ever more drastic forms: Slope stabilisation, snow farming, artificial snow systems, massive terrain levelling – a race against time.
With Requiem in White, Harry Putz stages a haunting cinematic homage to the dying of the glaciers in the Alps. Through in-depth interviews, he weaves science and emotion into an oppressive documentary based on his personal perspective on the topic as a local. Shot at 14 glaciers in Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, the film ends by posing the unavoidable question: How do we want to say goodbye to our glaciers?
The film will contain native languages with English subtitles.

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REGISTRATION
Free registration for the event will start in August 2025. If you want to get a reminder, please feel free to subscribe for our newsletter.
Header images: © Markus Strudl