Contact

Information for media

Media organisations planning to visit Ny-Ålesund must do so as an approved guest of one of the institutions with a national coordination responsibility and a physical presence in Ny-Ålesund. This means that e.g. German media organisations should approach AWI to have their plans assessed and approved, Japanese media organisations should approach NIPR, etc. All media actors should complete the request for media visit form (doc) and include it when contacting their host institution. Contact information is stated in the form.

The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) is the overall host at Ny-Ålesund Research Station. In addition to being contact point for Norwegian media organisations, NPI will also be the point of contact for media organisations from countries without a physical presence in Ny-Ålesund. 

Request to NPI should be sent to visit.nya@npolar.no 

Plans for the visit must be approved before transportation to/from Ny-Ålesund or accommodation in Ny-Ålesund can be booked. 

Ny-Ålesund, being located at 79°N is both easily accessible and remote. Easily accessible in the sense that it is relatively easy to travel to Ny-Ålesund, but remote in the sense that any visit to Ny-Ålesund requires thorough planning. As part of the planning process you should familiarise yourself with the rules and regulations governing what type of activity you can carry out in Ny-Ålesund, what permits you must obtain prior to arrival etc.

Detailed information is given in the guidelines for media visits (PDF)

Official visits

The Norwegian Polar Institute has been tasked with hosting all official visits to Ny-Ålesund. To facilitate planning and development of a programme for official visits, a request for such visits should be submitted as early as possible. An official visit could for instance involve political leadership of a government ministry, parliamentary committees, or representatives of the leadership of research institutions or research agencies.

Questions regarding official official visits to Ny-Ålesund Research Station? Please contact: visit.nya@npolar.no

Institutions, agencies or others who wish to submit a request for an official visit to Ny-Ålesund Research Station should do so through their embassy in Oslo, who will then approach the relevant Norwegian ministry.

Following this formal request, the Norwegian Polar Institute – in close dialogue with relevant Norwegian government ministries – will plan the visit in collaboration with Kings Bay AS, and with the research institutions that will have a role in connection with the visit. 

Tourists

There are strict limitations on what other types of activities can take place in Ny-Ålesund. Kongsfjorden is closed for commercial fisheries, and visits by non-scientist are kept at a minimum. While cruise ships do make short port calls in Ny-Ålesund, and while several tour operators in Longyearbyen offer day trips by boat to Ny-Ålesund, there is no accommodation or other services for for tourists in Ny-Ålesund – with the exception of the opportunity to visit Kongsfjordbutikken (the Kongsfjorden store), and the local Ny-Ålesund Museum. 

Visitors to Ny-Ålesund should pay particular attention to the following:

• Ny-Ålesund is a radio silent community. All use of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in a 20 km radius around Ny-Ålesund is prohibited. This is to prevent disturbance to, or destruction of highly sensitive instruments and measurements in the area.
• Walk on the roads and boardwalks only. Walking elsewhere could potentially disturb or destroy measurements, sampling sites or cultural heritage that isn’t necessarily clearly visible. 
• Please see details, maps etc. regarding which areas to avoid in the Researchers’ Guide.
  Read the Ny-Ålesund guidelines at Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO).