The new information centre in Ny-Ålesund was officially opened on June 29.

Located in the old store, the new centre replaces the old exhibition which has been on display since the late 90-ies. By describing Ny-Ålesund and the activities here as they are today, the centre seeks to provide information to visitors that will explain Ny-Ålesund's relevance as an international research base with outstanding qualities, facilities and results.

A modern design has been carefully incorporated in the rooms being used, and also demonstrates the ambitions to maintain and use the existing buildings in Ny-Ålesund without damaging them for the future. Besides, the current solution provides a flexible system that offers easy upgrades of the material on display. This ensures that the information centre will be updated and up to date according to how the settlement develops. The design and production of the exhibition has been done by SPEKTER AS, and financial support was granted by Svalbard's environmental protection fund.

The centre has been developed during the last winter in a close cooperation between Kings Bay AS and the information office at the Norwegian Polar Institute. Information has been gathered from most institutions permanently participating in research activities in Ny-Ålesund and Kongsfjorden, and included in the presentations.

The exhibition focuses around 4 main topics: "Ny-Ålesund and the Kongsfjord", "flora and fauna", "use and protection of Svalbard", and "research and environmental monitoring". The latter topic focuses on the 4 flagship programs that have been defined for Ny-Ålesund and Kongsfjorden, and thereby presents the research village as a unified research community consisting of participants from a number of nations and institutes. The variety of research activities is touched upon, and in addition explanations about selected fields of research are being presented.

We're therefore very happy to be able to invite all visitors to Ny-Ålesund to the new information centre, and hope that you will find your visit inspiring. Welcome!