The IUGS Executive Committee officially established this new working group at its meeting at Hyderabad, India in March 2001. The goal of the working group is to share information on geoscience-related public policy activities that are taking place around the globe, focusing on the common challenges faced by geoscientists in many different countries.

The previous year, IUGS asked the American Geological Institute’s Government Affairs Program to survey the union’s members about the policy issues they thought were most important, and about what activities were being undertaking to address those issues. The survey requested information on whether organizations have issued position statements, contact information, names and titles of geoscientists in major policy positions in the government, key geoscience policy issues facing their country, and major international geoscience policy issues. Organizations were also asked to nominate a representative to the proposed working group. Twenty-two surveys were returned by the summer of 2000 and 15 entities named a representative to the working group. The survey found a wide range of levels of involvement and activity but made clear that there were opportunities for collaboration. The survey is available on the working group’s web site (www.agiweb.org/gap/iugs).

Plans for the working group were discussed with the members of the IUGS Executive Committee during a Washington DC meeting of the IUGS Publications Committee in July 2001. A list of working group representatives was also presented at that time. That same month, the chairman gave a talk at the joint meeting of the Geological Society of America and Geological Society of London in Edinburgh, Scotland, addressing the need for greater international collaboration and the opportunity presented by the working group.

The working group was also the subject of an article entitled "Crossing Geopolitical Borders" that appeared in the August 2001 issue of Geotimes magazine. The article, which appeared in a special internationally focused issue, noted that policy issues relevant to the geosciences are global in applicability if not always in scope -- environmental protection, resource development, natural hazard loss mitigation, land-use planning, and the need for adequate research funding and geoscience education. That article is available on the web at www.geotimes.org/aug01/scene.html.

At the end of 2001, the working group remained a nascent undertaking, but there are several activities planned for 2002 that will start turning a good idea into a useful reality. Two activities that readily present themselves are highlighting success stories that can be adopted in other countries and sharing position statements developed by one organization but applicable to others. An article about the working group and the survey will appear in a forthcoming issue of Episodes. An effort will be made to engage additional organizations and tap into the broader geoscience community's resources.

David Applegate
Chairman, IUGS Working Group on Public Affairs
American Geological Institute
4220 King Street, Alexandria VA 22302-1502, U.S.A.
Phone: 1-703-379-2480 ext. 228; Fax: 1-703-379-7563
E-mail: applegate@agiweb.org

Posted April 26, 2002