Forel Heritage

Faced with the intensification of climate disruptions—record-breaking floods, accelerated ice cap melting, ocean acidification, and alarming polar warming—an audacious expedition sets sail to raise awareness among younger generations and the general public. The scientific sailboat Forel, specially designed for this mission, embarks on a journey to study the effects of polar warming and understand how these changes disrupt the cultures and traditions of local communities.

Named in tribute to François-Alphonse Forel, a pioneer of limnology and initiator of the first Swiss expeditions to Greenland in 1912, Forel carries on Switzerland’s legacy of cutting-edge environmental research. This first mission aims to understand how the Arctic’s accelerated warming—occurring three to four times faster than anywhere else, according to the IPCC—impacts local cultures, ecosystems, and ultimately, the future of humanity.