International Association for Promoting Geoethics Nigeria - Official blog

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Geoethics at CoV-9

CoV-9: Cities on Volcanoes 9

Workshop (W7): "Volcanic hazards and monitoring techniques for the protection of the population: Public Health, Geoethics, Communication and Education". 

Date: 
21 November, from 19:00.

Venue: 
Patagonico hotel - Calbuco room, Puerto Varas (Chile). 

Organizers: 
Elizabeth Rovere, Claudia Vaamonde, Marcelo Vazquez Herrera, Roberto Violante

This Workshop is organized by GEVAS Network Argentina, Civil Association, in collaboration with IAPG - International Association for Promoting Geoethics.

Description:
During the first hour of the workshop conveners will develop a clear understanding of the concepts of Volcanic Hazards, Geoethics ("Cape Town Statement on Geoethics" by IAPG - International Association for Promoting Geoethics) and the objectives of GEVAS Network Argentina, Civil Association. In order to achieve that goal, they will have short presentations by colleagues covering various Social, Communication, Civil Protection and Volcano Monitoring projects currently underway. Following those presentations, a discussions will be developed.
During the second hour of the workshop, there will be four main breakout/discussion sessions, focused on 4 recent eruption case-studies, and a final general discussion. 

Goals:

The aim of this workshop is to 1. Encourage the construction of links between society and geosciences from the awareness and training on best practices in the risk management facing volcanic eruptions, particularly in Latin American countries. 2. To perform basic scientific research aimed at generating new scientific knowledge and encouraging exchange with scientific organizations and institutions. 3. To promote interaction with medical, social and communicational sciences fostering transfer to society. 4. To collaborate with public and private agencies, institutions and actors involved in risk management. 5. To provide
links of technical support and collaborate to the management and monitoring of volcanoes on international borders. 6. To collaborate with civil protection institutions in order to assess and remediate the consequences of volcanic eruptions.

Invited Colleagues: 
- Ph D Dulce Vargas Bracamontes. Univ. Colima, Mexico. Geoph. Volcano Seismology, Leeds, UK.
- Dir. David Alberto Tressens Ripoll. Civil Protection Villa La Angostura, Argentina
- PhD Philippe Lesage. Géophysique des Volcans. Université de Savoie. ISTerre  France.

Download the programme of CoV-9: 
https://www.citiesonvolcanoes9.com/fileadmin/documentos/PROGRAMA_ENG_WEB.pdf


IAPG - International Association for Promoting Geoethics: 
http://www.geoethics.org

International Association for Promoting Geoethics Nigeria - Official blog

Nic Bilham is the new IAPG Continental Coordinator for Europe

Nic Bilham

Nic has worked at the Geological Society, the UK’s learned and professional society for geoscientists, since 1997. He now leads delivery of its policy, education, media and wider communications activities. He also works with the Society’s Council and senior staff to coordinate strategic planning and reporting. He graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in History and Philosophy of Science, and he holds an MSc in Science and Technology Policy from the University of Sussex. His research interests include debates around the roles scientists can and should play in policy-making; and the effective integration of specialist, stakeholder and public inputs to multi-disciplinary policy challenges such as radioactive waste management. He has been IAPG Corresponding Citizen Scientist on "Geoscience communication".

Members of the IAPG Executive Council: 
http://www.geoethics.org/executive-council

International Association for Promoting Geoethics Nigeria - Official blog

The "Cape Town Statement on Geoethics"

IAPG considers the 35th IGC - International Geological Congress, held in Cape Town (South Africa), the event that opens a new phase for Geoethics and for the Association. In order to celebrate this passage, the IAPG Drafting Committee, formed by Giuseppe Di Capua, Peter Bobrowsky and Silvia Peppoloni, has put together the "Cape Town Statement on Geoethics" (CTSG), a document to be considered as the product of an international effort to focus the attention of geoscientists on the development of shared policies, guidelines, strategies and tools, with the long-range goal of fostering the adoption of ethical practices in the geoscience community. The final document sums up all the values, concepts, contents developed in the first 4-year activity of IAPG, giving a perspective for the future development of geoethics. The CTSG has been announced during the opening keynote speech by Silvia Peppoloni (IAPG Secretary General) in the first IAPG session on geoethics at the 35th IGC. After the congress, the draft version has been sent for comments and suggestions to all the IAPG officers (members of the Executive Council, Coordinators of the National Sections, Corresponding Citizen Scientists) and to the 35th IGC Champions of the Theme "Geoscience Professionalism and Geoethics". Once improved (thanks to Nic Bilham, Martin Bohle, Oliver Bonham, Andy Clay, George Eynon, Emilia Hermelinda Lopera Parejas, David Mogk), the final version has been ratified by the Executive Council of the IAPG and finally published in the IAPG website.

Cape Town (South Africa)

The concepts, values and views on individual responsibilities of geoscientists, expressed in the "Cape Town Statement on Geoethics", reflect an international consensus. 

The statement aims to capture the attention of geoscientists and organisations, and to stimulate them to improve their shared policies, guidelines, strategies and tools to ensure they consciously embrace (geo)ethical professional conduct in their work.

The "Cape Town Statement on Geoethics" contains the new formula of the "Geoethical Promise".

Download the "Cape Town Statement on Geoethics (pdf version) at: http://www.geoethics.org/ctsg

International Association for Promoting Geoethics Nigeria - Official blog

Edmund Nickless appointed as IAPG expert on 

"Geoethics for Society"

Until the end of September 2015 when he retired after 18 years service, Edmund Nickless was the Executive Secretary (Executive Director) of the Geological Society of London (GSL), the oldest national geological society in the world. Previously he held senior positions with the British Geological Survey (BGS) where he was for 29 years, during which time he was seconded first to the Earth Sciences Directorate of the Natural Environment Research Council - NERC (1982 to 1989) and then the Science and Technology Secretariat of the Cabinet Office (1989-1991). 

In BGS he worked on resource assessment projects in England and Scotland and the first environmental geology maps published by the Survey. He has written papers on the Quaternary geology of East Anglia and on celestite, an evaporite mineral occurring in the Bristol area of western England. 

At NERC he was responsible for research grants, studentships, international programmes including UK membership in the International Ocean Drilling Programme and the British Deep Reflection Profiling Syndicate. 

At the Cabinet Office he provided policy advice on subjects as diverse as HIV/AIDS, bioethics, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (so called mad cow disease), and the research provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, data charging, space policy and identifying the UK spend on environmental research as part of a government White Paper on the environment. 

On his return to BGS as an Assistant Director he was responsible for managing the physical and electronic collections, publishing and coordinating external relations. 

At the GSL he worked with its Council and Officers to move the Society from being solely a learned body to being both a learned society and professional body and, in particular to raise the status of the practice of geology and of its professional title, Chartered Geologist. He developed strong links to other geoscience organisations in North America and Europe and was instrumental in ensuring the Society’s participation in GeoScienceWorld, an electronic aggregate to maximise the discoverability and use of peer reviewed content. 

As a Board member of the UK Science Council he was active in drafting its Declaration on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, and as the UK representative to the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) worked with colleagues to draft their code of ethical guidelines. 

Currently he is member of the Ethics Board of EPOS - The European Plate Observing System, a Research Infrastructure aims at creating a pan-European network for solid Earth science to support a safe and sustainable society. 

Finally, Edmund Nickless is Councillor of the IUGS - International Union of Geological Sciences (2016-2020).

List of IAPG Experts: http://www.geoethics.org/ccs

International Association for Promoting Geoethics Nigeria - Official blog

Minutes of the 1st IAPG General Assembly

IAPG held its 1st General Assembly in Cape Town (South Africa) on 31 August 2016, during the 35th IGC - International Geological Congress.
The goal of the General Assembly was to outline and share essential information about the last 4-year activity of IAPG, including the financial situation, and to ratify some decisions.
​
Download the minutes (pdf file): 
http://media.wix.com/ugd/5195a5_57e559b4619d46b5992c85aeaa56d67b.pdf

International Association for Promoting Geoethics Nigeria - Official blog

The new IAPG session on Geoethics at EGU 2017
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

EGU General Assembly 2017 will take place in Vienna from 23 to 28 April 2017. The IAPG organizes the Session EOS14:

Geoethics: ethical, social and cultural implications of geoscience knowledge, education, research and practice

The call for abstracts is open: "Recent years have seen a great growth of interest in geoethics among geoscientists. They have become more involved in discussions of the values which underpin appropriate behaviors and practices, wherever human activities interact with the Earth system. All branches of geosciences have ethical, social and cultural implications. Therefore, there is an evident need to develop an ethical framework for geoscience research and practices that can help geoscientists confronting ethical dilemmas and make them more aware of their responsibility in conducting their activities.
Geoethical principles apply to geoscientists’ work across four equally important domains: the self, colleagues, society and the natural environment. Thus, the spectrum of geoethics topics is very broad. It includes issues of research integrity and professional deontology, data production and management, conflicts of interest, publishing ethics, the role of geoscientists in sustainable development, exploration and use of geo-resources and soil while meeting high standards of environmental protection, the defense of society against natural risks, and the impact of human activities and pollution on human health and the climate. It also encompasses the ethical implications of science communication and geo-education for society, and of geoheritage and geoparks as tools to raise public awareness of the importance of geoscience and the Earth system to our lives. Addressing harassment and discrimination in the geosciences, including on grounds of gender, ethnicity or disability, is also a geoethical matter; so is the role of geosciences in the economic and social development of low-income countries while respecting local cultures and traditions, and in promoting peace and intercultural exchange. 
Geoscientists have a fundamental part to play in addressing many of the most urgent problems affecting our planet and its population. Their technical knowledge and expert advice are vital for informed decision-making, and to ensure that education at all levels equips the citizens of the 21st century to participate in public debate about these challenges. Geoscientists with greater awareness of their ethical responsibilities towards themselves, colleagues, society and the environment will be better able to put their knowledge at the service of society, to communicate it effectively, and to grow public trust in science.
The conveners invite abstracts on both practical and theoretical aspects of geoethics, including case studies. The aim of the session is to develop ethical and social perspectives on the challenges arising from human interaction with natural systems, to complement technical approaches and solutions, and to help to define an ethical framework for geoscientists' research and practice in addressing these challenges."

The session EOS14 will be convened by Silvia Peppoloni, Nic Bihlam, Martin Bohle, Giuseppe Di Capua, Eduardo Marone.

Read more about the session description and how to submit an abstract at:
http://www.geoethics.org/egu2017-eos14

(Deadline: 11 January 2017)

International Association for Promoting Geoethics Nigeria - official blog

Iain Stewart appointed as IAPG expert on 

"Risk communication"

Iain Stewart is professor of Geoscience Communication at Plymouth University and Director of its Sustainable Earth Institute. His long-standing research interests are in interdisciplinary investigations of geological hazards (earthquakes, volcanism, tsunamis) and abrupt environmental change, and more recently in the communication of "contested geoscience" to the public.

After a studying Geography and Geology at Strathclyde University (1986), and completing a PhD in earthquake geology at Bristol University (1990), he taught Earth Science at Brunel University until 2002. He then left to develop public geoscience projects, and in the last decade or so has presented major television series for the BBC on the nature, history and state of the planet. Among these are 'Earth: The Power of the Planet', 'Earth: The Climate Wars', 'How Earth Made Us', 'How To Grow A Planet', 'Volcano Live', and 'Rise of the Continents'. He regularly fronts BBC Horizon specials on geoscientific topics (Japanese earthquake, the Russian meteor strike, Shale gas/Fracking, Florida sinkholes). His latest BBC series - a 3-parter on the history of oil: 'Planet Oil'.

In recent years has received awards for geoscience communication from the Royal Geographical Society (2010), the Geologists Association (2009), the Geological Society of London (2010), the American Geophysical Union (2013), and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (2105). He was the inaugural recipient of The University of New South Wales's Scientia Medal for science communication. Iain is currently President of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and the Earth Science Teachers Association, and Patron of the Scottish Geodiversity Forum and of the English Riviera GeoPark. In the 2013 Birthday Honours List he was recognised for his work on public engagement in geoscience with an MBE.

List of IAPG Experts: http://www.geoethics.org/ccs