International year of planet earth

Abstract

The International Year of Planet Earth has been particularly successful in its outreach and education programs. As fundraising started to bear fruit quite late in the Trien-nium, not sufficient funds were available to properly support a (costly) science program. Moreover, several of the ten science themes of the IYPE were addressed at national levels through current university curricula and special programs. UN proclamation has been crucial for the success of the IYPE, in particular for national implementation of the aims and ambitions through the 80 National and Regional Committees. These have also been the drivers for developing a new initiative, the Planet Earth Institute.