International Year of
Planet Earth
Earth sciences for society
International Year of Planet Earth
IUGS Secretariat
Geological Survey of Norway
N-7491 Trondheim
NORWAY
T + 47 73 90 40 40
F + 47 73 50 22 30
E [email protected]
www.esfs.org
The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)
and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) are working together to
promote an International Year of Planet Earth under the
United Nations system.
This leaflet tells you why.
Visit www.esfs.org
Why an International Year of Planet Earth?
Only one Earth
The human race needs its
planet. We depend on it
completely, because we
evolved from it, remain
forever part of it, and can
exist only by courtesy of
the self-sustaining Earth
System.
The more we learn, the
more we understand that
we must nurture the Earth
as we would our children,
for their sake.
Earth science –
key to sustainability
Earth scientists have unravelled many
of the Earth’s secrets and have made
great progress in understanding how
our planet works.
However, this information is often not
properly used. We often build in the
wrong places and exploit resources
unsustainably, despite now being able
to forecast many kinds of natural
hazard with considerable accuracy.
We act as though we are still ignorant,
when the key to a better life sits in our
hands.
Earth scientists worldwide are ready
and prepared to assist society arrive
at a safer, healthier and wealthier
environment for all.
Who is behind it?
Initiated by the International Union of Geological Sciences
(IUGS) in 2001, the proposed International Year of Planet
Earth was immediately endorsed by UNESCO’s Earth
Science Division, and later by the joint UNESCO-IUGS
International Geoscience Programme (IGCP).
The main aim of the International Year - to demonstrate
the great potential of the Earth sciences to lay the foundations
of a safer, healthier and wealthier society - explains the
Year’s subtitle: Earth sciences for society.
Across a crowded room over 180 delegates
attended a high - level
information meeting about
the Year at UNESCO, Paris,
11 February 2004.
How will it work?
To achieve maximum political impact, the IUGS-UNESCO
team aims to have the International Year proclaimed
through the UN system, targeting 2006 as the Year itself.
Its ambitious programmes cannot, however, be implemented
in twelve months. We expect the Year’s activities to begin
in 2005 and culminate in 2007.
The International Year will have two major lines of action:
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A Science programme to provide answers to specific
scientific questions vital in addressing societal needs;
An Outreach programme, to explain and promote the
many societal benefits of geoscience through education
and public relations activities.
The Year will have two equal
components - science and outreach
Science programme
Outreach programme
A panel of 20 eminent geoscientists from all parts of the
world decided on a list of eight broad science themes Groundwater, Hazards, Earth & Health, Climate, Resources,
Megacities, Deep Earth and Ocean.
The Outreach programme will serve the general public.
An Outreach Plan, which will form the tenth and final
brochure in the set describing all the Year’s activities,
will demonstrate how the Year will help to promote
activities such as:
The next step is to identify substantive science topics with
clear deliverables within each broad theme. A ‘key-text’
team has now been set up for each, tasked with working
out an Action Plan. Each team will produce a text that will
be published as a theme prospectus. These prospectuses
should be available for the 32nd International Geological
Congress in Florence, August 2004.
A series of Implementation Groups will then be created
to set the work under the eight programmes in motion.
Every effort will be made to involve specialists from
countries with particular interest in (and need for) these
programmes.
Financial opportunities to support PhD studies within
less-developed nations will be explored through the World
Bank and similar institutions, building on the 32 years
of IUGS-UNESCO experience within the International
Geoscience Programme (IGCP), from which tens of
thousands of scientists have benefited – notably from
emerging nations.
Each science programme will result in a set of products
(“deliverables”). A parallel Outreach Programme will
be developed, to help convey news of practical results to
those who need the answers.
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communicating progress in and provisional results
of the science topics
generating involvement of a non-scientific audience
involving the general public in the research
sponsoring excursions and tours to geoscientifically interesting places, including
Geoparks and Geosites
commissioning and badging lasting education
resources on Earth science’s significance for society
supporting production of Earth science TV
documentary programmes
supporting travelling and fixed exhibitions, (e.g., in
museums, ships, (video-) conferences, round table
discussions, etc. on geoscientific/societal topics)
generally promoting of the Earth sciences to a wider
public.
Currently the Outreach Programme Committee is
responsible for the design, editing and production of
PowerPoint presentations, prospectus brochures (Planet
Earth in our Hands being the first in the final series of 10).
* To find out more about the Outreach Programme, and the
eight themes of the Science Programme, go to www.esfs.org,
or get a free copy of the Year Prospectus Planet Earth in
our Hands (pictured, inside back) from the address on the
back cover.
Earth scientists are
today’s key players in
building sustainability
Links with other initiatives
Two other Earth-related initiatives are currently in
preparation: IGY+50 and IPY (International Polar Year).
IGY+50 is an IUGG initiative and IUGG is already a full
partner in the Year of Planet Earth. The provisional
relationship between these three initiatives is shown in
the diagram.
The road to the UN Year
UN International Years may be proclaimed only at autumn
General Assembly meetings, and only at the request of one
(or more) UN member states. The People’s Republic of
China has taken the lead, and the list of political support
from other countries is growing.
Koichiro Matsura
A high-level information meeting was organised at
UNESCO on 11 February 2004, to which permanent national
UNESCO delegates and representatives of leading
scientific and non-scientific organisations were invited.
There were 180 participants at that meeting, including
permanent delegates from 58 Member States.
(Director General,
Unesco) at the high-level
information meeting,
11 February 2004.
“I wish you well in
your deliberations”...
By early April 2004, eight UN member countries have
already expressed political support for the International
Year of Planet Earth: China, Russia, India, Mexico, Brazil,
Argentina, Italy and Jordan. Ministerial support has been
collected in Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany and
The Netherlands, National geoscience communities in Iran,
Mongolia, Japan, Norway, Iceland, India, France,
Bosnia/Herzegovina, Peru, Rumania, Uzbekistan and the
United Kingdom have also expressed support. All Earthrelated unions of ICSU (IUGG, IGU, IUSS and SCL-ILP) have
agreed to be full partners. The German Senckenberg Museum
and Research Institute, and other German nature museums,
are cooperating.
A letter will be sent shortly to the UN General Assembly,
requesting proclamation of the International Year of
Planet Earth in 2006. Further UN member countries will be
approached to provide support as the General Assembly
draws near.
History and organisation
The vision of an International Year of Planet Earth
was first expressed at the 31st International Geological
Congress (2000). A Management Team, a Scientific
Programme Committee and an Outreach Programme
Committee were created.
Both parent organisations are represented in the
Management Team (MT) in the persons of the President of
the IUGS, Prof Eduardo F J de Mulder, and of the Director
of the Earth Science Division of UNESCO, Dr F Wolfgang
Eder. The MT also includes the Chairman of the Scientific
Programme Committee, Prof Edward Derbyshire, and the
chairman of the Outreach Programme Committee, Dr Ted
Nield. The MT is led by Dr Henk J W G Schalke.
The Management Team is underpinned by a Support Team,
consisting of members of the IUGS Executive Committee,
representatives of other organisations, and other individuals.
We expect that a separate professional organisation
with legal status will be set up to take responsibility for
the implementation of the International Year.
Budget
Running costs during the Feasibility Phase (2001) were
almost entirely covered by the home organisation of the
IUGS President, TNO-NITG (Geological Survey of the
Netherlands). The direct costs (excluding salaries) for the
Preparatory Phase (2002 and 2003) amounted to about
$135,000 and were mainly covered by IUGS, UNESCO,
Shell International, and TNO-NITG. The services of
Dr Ted Nield were provided free by The Geological Society
of London. The budget foreseen for the Implementation
Phase (2004) is approximately $280,000.
For the full period of the International Year
(2005-2007) a minimum total budget of $20,000,000
is envisaged. The Science Programme will need
a minimum of $1m per theme. The Outreach
Programme will need a minimum of $10m,
and organisation, communication, co-ordination
and publication a minimum of $2m.
We expect to source these funds from commercial
companies, international banks, national science
foundations and others.
To find out more
Consult the Prospectus for the Year –
Planet Earth in our hands – Earth sciences for
society (picture, right) or visit www.esfs.org
Editing
Ted Nield
Photography
Ted Nield
Design
André van de Waal,
Coördesign, Leiden
© April 2004
United Nations Educational Scientific
and Cultural Organisation
Earth Sciences for Society Foundation,
Leiden, The Netherlands
www.esfs.org