The dream of astronomers is to observe from an ideal, highly transparent and stable site, far away from any sources of human pollution. On the Antarctic Plateau, Dome C benefits from exceptional atmospheric conditions which make it particularly promising for astronomy, in between space and the best current ground-based observatories. For several applications, the French-Italian station Concordia could challenge space missions and allow the deployment of much larger instruments at lower cost. Thus, a programme to qualify the site for astronomy is carried out since 2000 by various international teams.

ARENA is a consortium of 22 European and Australian partners including polar institutes, research laboratories and industrial companies, funded by the European Commission for a period of 4 years starting in 2006. The Laboratory H. Fizeau of CNRS located at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis coordinates this network. Its main objective is to set up an ambitious programme of development for an international astronomical observatory, including:
• The assessment of Dome C for astronomy and the dissemination of the site qualification data through the Internet,
• The identification of the key astrophysical programmes that would take maximum benefit from the site in synergy with other large ground-based observatories and space missions,
• The characterization and preliminary studies of large instruments under the constraints of a harsh and fragile polar environment.