International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment
The executive committee elected at the 2018 Congress in San Francisco came into effect as of 1 January. On behalf of NZGS and New Zealand IAEG members I extend a big thank you to Mark Eggers for his role as VP Australasia over the past four years.
The previous committee under the direction of Scott Burns embarked on programme of work to look at how the IAEG could achieve its purpose in today’s changing world recognising that organisations such as IAEG need to remain current to their membership. Mark made a very strong contribution to the rethinking and redefining the purpose and mission of IAEG and setting up a draft strategic plan which has been reported in previous IAEG newsletters.
For this term of the executive Anthony Bowden will be the AGS liaison and we look forward to working together.
The new executive held its first meeting on 5 and 6 April in Paris which was attended by myself and Pedro Martins representing YGP (the YGP group met on 4 April). The meeting addressed a number of issues to support the advancement of the strategic agenda developed by the previous executive as summarised below.
- The executive supported the YGP nominated leader to be full voting member of the IAEG executive – this is to be put to the annual council meeting in September.
- Additional budget was allocated to allow the GYP network to be better established.
- It was agreed to set up a number of working groups (or advisory committees) to assist the executive advance
- A review of the bylaw and statues (to ensure they support the purpose and mission of IAEG and reflect today’s communities)
- A review of the various technical committees of the IAEG
- Establishment of promotional activities to support wider IAEG operations
- These working groups are in the process of being set up. Mark Eggers and Ann Williams have been identified as people who may support these working groups.
- The executive also reported on changes to the European privacy laws (with which IAEG must comply as it is registered in Paris with substantive European membership). Changes to the way IAEG manages membership and personal details are required to comply with this new legislation. A proposal to develop a new system to manage member’s personal data was accepted and agreed to. Once this is ready for introduction we will be advised. It will not affect the activities of our members (it does not require us to do anything). It will be more secure than at present with access to data limited to each member and to a secure operator for administration purposes only. Any other access will only be possible with your permission.
- The Executive also discussed the election of new groups to the IAEG – these were endorsed and will be voted on at the Council meeting in September.
We understand there have been some teething issues with access to the electronic bulletin of IAEG for some people and this has been followed up. If you are still having issues please contact myself or Teresa so that we can alert the IAEG Secretariat.
For information on upcoming IAEG events and general information please refer to the Web site (INCERT REF) and to IAEG Connecter which is emailed to members on regular basis.