LKAB – A high-tech iron ore processing company
Visitors to LKAB’s Kiirunavaara mine – the world’s biggest underground iron ore mine – will take a close look at high technology, environmental engineering, and the opportunities for women in heavy industry. LKAB is a customer-oriented ore processing company whose operations are highly dependent on the application of advanced industrial technology. This is one of the world’s most modern heavy industries, in which miners have long since exchanged their picks and shovels for joy-sticks and monitors. Here, women work under the same conditions as men, and an environmental approach is self-evident in all aspects of the company’s operations.

A guided tour under ground, with lectures on LKAB’s environmental effort and the role of women in the mining industry. Saturday 12 February, 08.00 - 12.00. Cost per person: Free admission for visitors participating fully in Kiruna Winter Forum; for others: SEK400. Refreshments are included.

SSC Esrange - a European spaceport in the North
Esrange is the space operations centre of the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), a state-owned limited liability company under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. The high latitude, favourable climate and relative proximity to every modern convenience make this site unique in the world and an attractive base for international space-related projects and activities. The Esrange facility lies 43km from Kiruna and includes a complete satellite station for TT&C (Telemetry, Tracking and Command) and reception of data from various satellites, a control station for telecommunication satellites, and facilities for launching sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons.

Launching of rockets and balloons is carried out under a special project within the European Space Agency (ESA). The tour will present a high-tech facility located in a cold environment, as well as different uses and aspects of space-related technologies.

Sunday 13 February, 08.00 -13.00.
Cost per person: Free admission for visitors participating fully in Kiruna Winter Forum; for others: SEK400. Refreshments are included.

The Northern Lights - a source of knowledge about space
The aurora is one of the most fascinating phenomena that can be seen on Earth. Kiruna is ideally located for studies of the aurora. The establishment of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, IRF, in 1957, marked the birth one of the largest space centres in Europe. Research has evolved from the use of observatory-type instruments into the investigation of space and atmosphere physics using satellites, balloons and advanced ground-based instruments in broad international co-operation. The proximity to the polar vortex, other wind systems and wave phenomena causing, e.g., polar stratospheric clouds and ozone depletion has made environmental research a core activity in current research and educational activities in Kiruna. During the visit to IRF scientists will describe the history of space science and the present and future space and atmospheric physics programmes in Kiruna. Visitors will be guided around the facilities and the coupling to educational program-mes will be described.

Monday 14 February, 08.00 - 12.00.
Cost per person: Free admission for visitors participating fully in Kiruna Winter Forum; for others: SEK400. Refreshments are included.

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Architecture in snow and ice / Climatic adaptation in urban planning
The Icehotel has received more foreign media attention than any other Swedish tourism destination. The reason? – an original concept for construction using Winter’s own materials while incorporating elegance and quality of design. The tour is appropriate for those who are interested in the technical aspects of ice and snow construction.

In 1900, Kiruna was Sweden’s first town to adopt climatic adaptation, an urban planning policy that has remained in practice up to the present. The streets follow the natural topography, preventing the wind from running amok in the town.

Traditionally, city streets have normally been arranged in a grid pattern, which is suitable in warmer climatic regions where it is desirable to allow the wind to roam at will. The town planners of century-old Kiruna drew their map according to actual conditions, creating an urban experiment without comparison. Among other firsts were the construction of the world’s northernmost streetcar line and the establishment of a four-year vocational training programme, an innovation that laid the foundation for Sweden’s trade school system. An example of successful urban planning in recent times is the re-routing of traffic in central Kiruna.

Nowadays, the flow of traffic is directed by one-way systems downhill, which minimizes fuel consumption. This simple alteration has reduced emissions by 30 percent.

Lectures and a guided tour of the city. Tuesday 15 February, 08.00 - 12.00.
Cost per person: Free admission for visitors participating fully in Kiruna Winter Forum; for others: SEK400. Refreshments are included.

Innovations that stimulate development/District heating in a cold climateI
Visits to three innovative companies with sales in worldwide markets. JTM is famous for the "slingpump", which floats and can be anchored in a creek or river where it is powered by the current. Producing maps for use by the visually impaired has always been a problem, since no manufacturing method has yet been able to satisfy the demands that such maps impose. Now two companies, METRIA and Mekan Industri AB, have solved the problem together.

Kiruna Värmeverk, Kiruna’s district heating plant, is a good example of how district heating, purification and recovery of waste heat from industry can be done efficiently in a cold climate.

Wednesday 16 February, 08.00 -13.00.
Cost per person: Free admission for visitors participating fully in Kiruna Winter Forum; for others: SEK400. Refreshments are included. Other tours can be arranged on request.

All fees ex-VAT (25%)

For further information, please contact:
Kiruna Congress & Evenemang AB .
Address:  Hjalmar Lundbomsvägen 48, SE-981 31, Kiruna, Sweden.
Telephone: +46 (0)980 610 10.
Fax: +46 (0)980 610 11. e-mail: info@kirunacongress.se