The IUGG Electronic JournalVolume 6 No. 2 (February 1, 2006)This short, informal newsletter is intended to keep IUGG Member National Committees informed about the activities of the IUGG Associations, and actions of the IUGG Secretariat. Past issues are posted on the IUGG Web site. Please forward this message to those who will benefit from the information. Your comments are welcome. Contents
1. United Nations proclaims 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth On the 22nd of December the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a Resolution by the United Republic of Tanzania and co-signed by 82 nations, to proclaim 2008 as the UN Year of Planet Earth. This UN Year is the core year of the 2007-2009 triennium during which the International Year of Planet Earth (Earth Science for Society) will operate. This will be the first ever UN Year for the Earth Sciences. The Press Release issued by the UN, is reproduced below. "By a draft on the International Year of Planet Earth, 2008, which the Committee approved without a vote on 11 November, the Assembly would declare 2008 the International Year of Planet Earth. It would also designate the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to organize activities to be undertaken during the Year, in collaboration with UNEP and other relevant United Nations bodies, the International Union of Geological Sciences and other Earth sciences societies and groups throughout the world. Also by that draft, the Assembly would encourage Member States, the United Nations system and other actors to use the Year to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences in achieving sustainable development and promoting local, national, regional and international action." The International Year of Planet Earth aims to demonstrate the great achievements made in the geosciences and to urge politicians and decision- makers to apply such knowledge for the benefit of humankind. Now that this IUGS and UNESCO initiative has collected the political support of 191 UN member countries, our fund-raising campaign will begin with approaches to a broad sweep of the private sector including extraction industries, governments, foundations, insurance companies, banks et cetera. The International Year of Planet Earth will soon be incorporated as a legal entity with tax exempt status for donations. It will consist of a Board of Stakeholders (IUGS, UNESCO, Chairs of the Outreach, Science and Development Committees, Founding Partners, Sponsors, donors and regional representatives) and a Secretariat. The Secretariat will be outsourced, and the call for proposals will be open until 15th of April 2006. We invite all professional geoscientific and other qualified bodies to consider hosting the Secretariat. For more details, please go to website: www.yearofplanetearth.org Calls are open now for submitting international project proposals on the outreach programme and on selected science themes. Again, please go to our website for downloading Expression of Interest forms (lower right hand corner of the index page) and submit these to the (IUGS) Secretariat (IUGS.secretariat@ngu.org). Contributed by Eduardo F.J. deMulder, Chair of the Management Team, International Year of Planet Earth 2. IUGG Statutes and By-Laws Committee Dr. Uri Shamir, IUGG President, has announced the members of the Committee that will accept proposed changes to the IUGG Statutes and By-laws: Chair: Dr. David Kerridge (U.K.) All Adhering Bodies of IUGG Member Countries, through their National Committees, may submit proposals for modifications. Proposals must reach the Secretary General by 1 January 2007, so that they can be included in the Agenda Book for the Council Meetings. To permit the Committee to prepare a summary of the proposed changes and their consequences, please send proposals before 1 November 2006 to Dr. Kerridge at the following addresses: e-mail: djk@bgs.ac.uk Dr. Uri Shamir, IUGG President, has announced the members of the Committee that will accept proposals for Resolutions to be considered by the IUGG Council at the 2007 General Assembly in Perugia, Italy. Chair: Prof. Masaru Kono (Japan) Resolutions from past IUGG General Assemblies are posted, as available, on the IUGG Web site. Unfortunately, the resolutions passed at the 1979 Vancouver, Canada, General Assembly are lost. If anyone has a copy of the Comptes Rendus from the1979 General Assembly, please contact the Secretariat. 4. IUGG 2011 Site Selection Committee The 2005 IUGG Executive Committee agreed that a committee should be appointed to evaluate all proposals to host the 2011 IUGG General Assembly. Uri Shamir has appointed the following members of this Committee: Chair: Dr. E. Robert Engdahl (USA) Invitations to host the 2011 IUGG General Assembly are now being accepted and must be received by January 2007. Guidelines for a proposal are posted on the IUGG Web site. 5. Harsh Gupta named to ICSU CSPR Committee The International Council for Science (ICSU) established a Committee on Scientific Planning and Review (CSPR) in 1998 in order to coordinate the development of proposals for new ICSU scientific initiatives and to advise the Executive Board on priorities for such initiatives. The Committee also reviews the activities carried out by ICSU’s Interdisciplinary Bodies and oversees the ICSU Grants Programme (which has been suspended for 2007 pending CSPR review). The Committee Chair is the ICSU Vice-President for Scientific Planning and Review, Dr. Khotso Mokhele; for additional information consult the web address www.icsu.org/5_abouticsu/STRUCT_Comm_Poli.php#CSPR. It is with great pleasure that we announce that IUGG Bureau Member Dr. Harsh Gupta has been named to this prestigious Committee. We wish him well in these important duties. 6. IUGG-Related Meetings Occurring during February - April 2006 A calendar of meetings of interest to IUGG disciplines (especially those organized or sponsored by IUGG Associations) is posted on the IUGG Web Site [ www.iugg.org ]. Specific information about these meetings, including web links, can be found there. Individual Associations also list more meetings on their web sites appropriate to their disciplines. January 30 - February 3, 2006 March 6 - March 8, 2006 March 6 - March 10, 2006 March 13 - March 18, 2006 March 16 - March 22, 2006 March 27 - March 29, 2006 April 2 – 7, 2006 April 18- 21, 2006 April 18- 21, 2006 End of IUGG Electronic Journal Volume 6 Number 2 (February 1, 2006) |
