IAEG STRATEGIC PLANNING
Planning statements
The main objective of the extraordinary London Executive Committee meeting in May was discussion and formulation of a strategic plan for the IAEG. The concept, approach and outline of the strategic plan were subsequently ratified by Council at the Cape Town meeting in August.
A copy of the draft IAEG Vision, Mission and Objectives will be available on the IAEG and NZGS websites. These statements form Phase 1 of the overall strategic plan. The IAEG Executive is seeking comments on these draft statements from National Groups before finalisation in 2017. Please email feedback to Mark Eggers.
Phase 2 of the Strategic Plan will be establishing goals and actions under each major objective. Together with the various functions and work of the Executive Committee, these will form the detail of the Plan, which will be presented to November 2017 Council meeting during the 11th Asian Regional IAEG Conference in Nepal.
Management committees
As part of the new strategic plan a number of new management committees are being established to assist with administrating the Association and promoting a number of the non-technical strategic goals. These committees will sit beside the Commissions, which address the technical elements of the Association. Members of the new committees will be appointed from Executive, Council and general membership.
BULLETIN
The Bulletin remains in a strong position with more papers being submitted each year and a rising Impact Factor. Martin Culshaw is Chief Editor 2012-2018. Due to the workload, two new Joint Editors-in-Chief will be appointed to begin in 2019. Martin is seeking new Editorial Board members. If you are interested contact him at martin.culshaw2@ntlworld.com. Only around 1% of all papers come from Australia and New Zealand so, we still need to improve our publication record in the Bulletin.
WEBSITE
The IAEG web site (http://www.iaeg.info/) is a key part of the IAEG Communication Strategy, which consists of video lectures, web letter and messaging on social networks such as Linkedin. We are creating a specific database of presentations and lectures on different topics related to engineering geology to spread the knowledge in this area and try to involve more young people. Commission presidents/secretaries can upload and publish directly the documents of their commissions. There are now members only pages for IAEG members.
MEDALS AND AWARDS
Winners of the following awards for 2016 were announced at the Cape Town meetings:
Hans Cloos Medal – Prof Resat Ulusay, Turkey. Lecture to be presented at the 11th Asian Regional IAEG Conference in Nepal
Marcel Arnould Medal – Prof Giorgio Lollino, Italy
Richard Wolters Prize – Dr Fan Xuanmei, China.
No Richard Wolters Prize nominations were received from Australia or New Zealand. This lack of participation by Australasia will likely be addressed for the next round of the RWP at the 2018 IAEG Congress in San Francisco by incorporating a national competition associated with the Chapter-led YGP nights in 2017.
OTHER ITEMS
A new electronic newsletter will commence sometime in late 2016 for members which will be called the IAEG Connector.
An IAEG member survey will take place shortly to gain a better understanding of the make-up of the membership in terms of qualifications, degree, work place, and areas of expertise.
A FedIGS meeting was held on April 14 2016. JTC progress was a major item of discussion including JTC3 on education. A proposal to set up a new JTC on mining was scuttled by the ISRM; as such a new IAEG Commission on mining is being planned.