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Add to Preferred SourcesSeven projects that aim to provide insights on current global issues will be supported by the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP), following a decision by the IGCP Council on 21 February 2018.
The IGCP, a joint initiative of UNESCO and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), has supported over 350 projects in 150 countries since its creation in 1972, to mobilize global cooperation in the Earth Sciences in the service of society. The programme was initially established in the wake of the discovery of the Earth’s tectonic plates and their movements.
“Today IGCP provides an important platform of cooperation on geological topics of societal relevance and importance, and does so increasingly on a north-south and south-south basis” highlighted Flavia Schlegel, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for the Natural Sciences, during the IGCP Council session that took place at UNESCO Headquarters, in Paris, on 20-21 February 2018.
This year, UNESCO’s International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme welcomes a new partner, the Jeju Province Development Corporation (JPDC) of the Republic of Korea. The Council session was an opportunity to formalize the partnership and sign an agreement, through which the JPDC will contribute USD 100,000 each year to support IGCP projects and UNESCO Global Geoparks over the next five years.
By making connections between events throughout the Earth’s history, the research projects supported by IGCP aim to address the challenges we must overcome to preserve our environment and develop sustainably. There are now 27 such active IGCP projects in 2018, including the seven new projects, and four on-going projects that will not receive additional funding. The new projects are as follows:
- Earth Resources Project: Land resource evolution mechanism and its sustainable use in global black soil critical zone
- Global Change Project: Equatorial Gondwanan history and Early Palaeozoic Evolutionary Dynamics
- Projects on Geohazards: Seismotectonics for the seismic risk assessment in Africa; Impact, Mechanism, Monitoring of Land Subsidence in Coastal cities; Himalayan glaciers and risks to local communities
- Geodynamics Projects: Orogenic architecture and crustal growth from accretion to collision; World Map of the Orogens
The Members of the IGCP Council also reviewed the outcomes of the Programme in the last year. In 2017, more than 3,380 experts collaborated in the framework of 21 active IGCP projects. 46% of the participants are young scientists (<35 years old), 47% are from developing countries and 29% are women.
In reaching the objectives of their projects, they published over 300 scientific papers and contributed to further the knowledge-base required to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Original source: UNESCO
Published on 21 February 2018