Terra Nova Expeditions x ReQuest Foundation: Opening Antarctica to the Next Generation
The future of Antarctica will ultimately depend on the people who understand it, care about it and choose to protect it.
At Terra Nova Expeditions, education is therefore not an addition to the expedition experience. It is one of the foundations of our approach to responsible travel.
Through our EARTH Sustainability Programme, Education for Exploration is one of five principles guiding how we operate. We support students through partnerships, scholarships and outreach, while using our voyages as opportunities for practical learning about Antarctica’s ecosystems, wildlife and importance within the global climate system.
Our cooperation with ReQuest Foundation brings that commitment to life through our Antarctic Classroom programme.
Helping young people reach the polar regions
The ReQuest Foundation is a UK-based charity supporting young people aged 14 to 24 who want to undertake polar-related projects and expeditions.
Through financial grants, mentorship and practical support, the Foundation helps young people take ideas that may otherwise feel beyond their reach and turn them into real opportunities for exploration, education and personal development.
That mission strongly reflects what we want Antarctic Classroom to achieve.
Antarctica is often perceived as a destination available only to scientists, professional explorers or those with significant financial means. We want to help challenge that idea by creating meaningful pathways for young people to experience the polar regions and engage with them as places of learning.
Antarctica as a classroom
There are few learning environments as powerful as Antarctica itself.
Geology, oceanography, climate science, wildlife biology, conservation and human history are no longer abstract concepts when they are being discussed while surrounded by glaciers, penguin colonies, seabirds and the Southern Ocean.
Our Antarctic Classroom programme is designed around exactly this principle: turning an expedition into an immersive educational experience.
Participants learn before, during and after their journey, combining structured educational content with firsthand observation, onboard expertise and practical experiences in the field. The programme forms part of Terra Nova’s EARTH Sustainability Programme and specifically supports real-world learning and youth engagement in environmental leadership.
Through our cooperation with ReQuest Foundation, we can connect that experience with an organisation already dedicated to identifying, supporting and mentoring young people who want to pursue meaningful polar projects.
Education as a form of conservation
For us, sustainability is not solely about emissions, waste reduction or vessel technology.
Those elements matter enormously, but lasting conservation also requires people.
It requires future scientists, educators, environmental leaders, expedition professionals and advocates who understand why these environments matter and are willing to speak for their protection.
This is why Education for Exploration forms such an important part of our EARTH Programme, alongside Together for Communities. Our aim is not only to minimise the footprint of the journeys we operate, but to create opportunities for expedition travel to have a positive social and educational impact as well.
Inspiring the next generation
Our cooperation with ReQuest Foundation represents something we care deeply about: giving the next generation the opportunity not simply to learn about Antarctica, but to experience it, question it and become part of the conversation about its future.
Some participants may go on to careers in science or conservation. Others may take their experience into completely different fields.
What matters is that they return with greater curiosity, knowledge and connection to the natural world.
Because protecting Antarctica for future generations also means giving those generations a meaningful role in its story today.
Learn more about the ReQuest Foundation:
https://www.requestfoundation.org.uk/
Discover Antarctic Classroom:
https://www.terranova-expeditions.com/en/antarctic-classroom
Explore Terra Nova’s EARTH Sustainability Programme:
https://www.terranova-expeditions.com/en/sustainability
