Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 11:41:30 -0700
From: Joann C Joselyn 

The IUGG Electronic Journal
Volume 3 No. 3  (March 1, 2003)

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.   IUGG General Assembly News
2.   IUGG Associate Members
3.   IUGG Adhering Organization Quadrennial Reports are due
4.   Science for Health and Well-being
5.   ICSU Calls for Emerging Issues and an on-line discussion on Science 
and Technology in the Information Society
6.   IUGG-related meetings occurring during March - May 2003


1.   IUGG General Assembly News

The deadline for abstracts for the June 30-July 11 XXIII IUGG General 
Assembly is now past.  The Local Organizing Committee reports that more 
than 6600 abstracts have been received.  5626 scientists from 111 
countries have preregistered.  The abstracts are now being arranged in 
programmes by the Association Symposia Conveners.  The Scientific 
Programme Committee, chaired by Dr. A. Nishida, will meet in Tokyo from 
March 6-8 to coordinate the final programmes and travel grant requests. 
  Notification of the programmes and travel grant awards will be sent as 
soon as possible following this meeting.

Registrations and hotel reservations are now being accepted on the 
General Assembly web site: 
www.jamstec.go.jp/jamstec-e/iugg/index.html, which can also be 
accessed from the IUGG home page: www.IUGG.org.  A discounted 
"early bird" registration fee applies to registrations paid before March 31.


2.   IUGG Associate Members

An IUGG member in Observer status may become an Associate member if the 
regular Adhering Bodies vote to accept the change.  Recently, a vote by 
correspondence was held for Serbia and Montenegro (formerly the Federal 
Republic of Yugoslavia) and Nigeria.  The transfer of both countries to 
Associate status was agreed.  IUGG is pleased that these countries will 
remain members of IUGG and will continue to work through the 
Associations to promote the studies of geodesy and geophysics in their 
countries.


3.   IUGG Adhering Organization Quadrennial Reports are due

In a formal letter sent on 4 November 2002 to all IUGG Adhering Bodies, 
a request was made for a Quadrennial National Committee report. 
Although not a requirement, it has been the custom for many General 
Assemblies for each National Committee to prepare a Quadrennial Report 
that summarizes national activities in geodesy and geophysics and 
showcases the accomplishments of the past 4 years.  However, recently it 
has become more difficult for Adhering Bodies to find the resources to 
produce printed reports, and it has been noticed that the printed 
reports are a burden to bring the General Assembly, and to carry home. 
In response to this reality, the IUGG Bureau has decided that all 
national reports should be posted on the internet.  The IUGG Secretariat 
will assist those national Committees who are not able to provide an 
electronic copy by scanning and uploading the printed material they 
provide.  Each national report, or the link to each national report, 
will be placed on the IUGG web page for easy access and reference by not 
only IUGG members, but by the scientific community at large.  National 
Committees are urged to submit their quadrennial reports as soon as 
possible.


4.  Science for Health and Well-being

At the recent International Council for Science (ICSU) General Assembly, 
several of the member Unions agreed to discuss an initiative on the 
general topic of Science for Health and Well-being.  On February 10-11, 
a meeting chaired by Dr. M. Wake, President of the International Union 
of Biological Sciences, was held at ICSU Headquarters in Paris, France. 
Drs. Pierre Hubert and Jo Ann Joselyn attended on behalf of IUGG.  After 
exploring the various aspects of the topic, the Unions present strongly 
recommended that ICSU should consider the general topic of the 
relationships and contributions of science to maintain and increase the 
health of the populace and the environment as a primary focus for 
funding for 2005.


5.   ICSU Call for Emerging Issues and an on-line discussion on Science 
and Technology in the Information Society

At the recent General Assembly of the International Council of Science 
(ICSU), the Committee on Scientific Planning and Review (CSPR) was asked 
to identify emerging scientific issues as part of a process that could 
potentially define new ICSU initiatives.  They have issued a call to the 
Unions for emerging issues, with the deadline of 30 April.  All IUGG 
scientists are encouraged to respond by reporting potential issues to 
Association or inter-Associations bodies, or to the IUGG secretariat 
(secretariat@iugg.org).
On February 10, ICSU/CODATA opened an on-line discussion forum "Science 
and Technology in the Information Society" on the ICSU web site 
(www.ICSU.org).   The overall aim of this open-access forum is to 
collect input that will help form the basis for the negotiations that 
will take place at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva 
in December 2003.  Four themes have been selected for discussion.  All 
members of the international science and technology community are 
invited to contribute either as individuals or organizations.
The themes are
* scientific data and information for decision-making and better governance
* ensuring universal access to scientific knowledge internationally
* scientific data and information as a global public good
* using scientific data and information to improve all levels of 
education and training.
The electronic forum will remain open until March 10, 2003.

6.    IUGG-related meetings occurring during March - May 2003

A calendar of meetings of interest to IUGG disciplines (especially those 
organized by IUGG Associations) is posted on the IUGG Web Site 
[www.IUGG.org]. Specific information about these meetings can be found 
there.  Individual Associations also list more meetings on their web 
sites appropriate to their disciplines.

March 6 - 8	IUGG, Tokyo, Japan, 23rd General Assembly Scientific Programme 
Committee meeting

March 16 - 23	World Water Council, Kyoto, Japan, 3rd World Water Forum

March 17 - 21	WCRP, Univ. Reading, U.K., 24th Session of the Joint 
Scientific Committee

Mar 30 - Apr 4	SEDI, Les Houches, France, Winter School: Planetary Dynamos

April 1 - 4	 IAHS, Montpellier, France, International Conference on 
Hydrology of the Mediterranean and Semi-Arid Regions

April 2 - 6	 SEDI. Fréjus, Cote d'Azur, France, Interdisciplinary workshop 
on Mantle Composition, Structure and Phase Transitions

April 6 - 11	EGS/AGU/EUG, Nice, France, Joint Assembly

April 28 - 28	ICSU/FAGS, Paris, France, Council Meeting, Federation of 
Astronomical and Geophysical Data Analysis Services (FAGS)

May 5 - 8	 IGBP/SCOR, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., Joint Global Ocean Flux 
Study Final Open Science Conference

May 12 - 14	IASPEI, Tehran, Iran, 4th Int'l Conference on Seismology and 
Earthquake Engineering (SEE4)

May 13 - 20	URSI/SCOSTEP, Piura, Peru, 10th International Workshop on 
Technical and Scientific Aspects of the MST Radar - MST10

End of IUGG Electronic Journal Volume 3 Number 3 (March, 2003)
J. A. Joselyn, Secretary General  [http://www.IUGG.org]
secretariat@iugg.org        fax:  1 303 497 3645