The past few months have been busy with other work, and unfortunately I’ve not been able to post much on here. I’m hoping to get back to regular posts over the coming weeks, starting with a note on GfGD involvement in the 35th International Geological Congress (IGC) in Cape Town later this month. The IGC takes place every four years, and is a flagship event of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).
The 35th IGC, taking place in Cape Town (South Africa) from 27th August 2016 to 4th September 2016, is an exciting opportunity for geoscientists from around the world to meet, share research and exchange ideas. The event will include sessions on geoscience for society, geoscience in the economy and fundamental geoscience – recognising that there are many interactions between these three themes. This is only the third time in the history of the IGC that it has been held in Africa. In 1929, the event was held in Pretoria (South Africa) and in 1952 the event was held in Algeria. It’s an exciting opportunity for South Africa to profile it’s spectacular geology (including Table Mountain in Cape Town), as well as consider the role of geology in supporting development across sub-Saharan Africa.
Geology for Global Development will be playing an active role in the IGC, our first engagement in this international event. Through a successful application to the IGC geohost funding programme, I will be attending to represent GfGD, deliver a workshop, and contribute to sessions on geoethics, geoeducation and natural hazards.
- Workshop: Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Education and Practice. This one-day workshop, run in collaboration with established mineral development expert Mike Katz, will explore ways to introduce socially responsible programs into university education (and other training programmes). It will also discuss skills for sustainability, and consider practical ways by which they can be nurtured.
- Talk and Paper Dissemination: Geology and the Sustainable Development Goals. This talk, part of a symposia on geoethics, will outline the importance of geoscientists contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Read the paper (in press in the IUGS journal Episodes) online here.
- Talk and Paper Dissemination: Building Good Foundations. This talk, part of a symposia on geoeducation, will share a paper recently published in the Geological Society of America Special Publication 520 on ‘Building Good Foundations: Equipping geoscientists with the skills to engage in international development’.
- Talk and Paper Dissemination: Multi-Hazard Interactions. This talk, part of a symposia on geohazards, will present PhD research on the interactions of natural hazards (read more in this open-access Reviews of Geophysics paper) while also highlighting the Young Scientists Platform on DRR to a geoscience audience.
We’ll aim to get as many resources from these events on our website as soon as possible after the IGC.
As a member of the Geological Society of London External Relations Committee I will also be a part of the UK delegation to the IUGS-IGC Council Meetings, examining the work of IUGS initiatives such as Resourcing Future Generations, and groups working on Geoscience Education, Training and Technology Transfer, and Global Geoscience Professionalism.
Where possible I’ll be tweeting from the event (@Geo_Dev and/or @JoelCGill), and sharing more about relevant sessions and events on the blog after I return. If any of our readers will also be attending, and would like to talk more about geology and international development, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, or other relevant geo-topics then please do get in touch.
