During the EuroGeoSurveys 38th General Meeting, EuroGeoSurveys and the International Association for Promoting Geoethics (IAPG) signed a Cooperation Agreement with the aim of cooperating in a range of themes in the field of geoethics and promoting initiatives and events discussing the ethical, social and cultural implications of geosciences. Starting from the definition of ethics by Aristotle, the IAPG (International Association for Promoting Geoethics) has defined geoethics as “the research and reflection on the values which underpin appropriate behaviours and practices, wherever human activities interact with the geosphere”. Geoethics deals with the ethical, social and cultural implications of Earth Sciences education, research and practice, and with the social role and responsibility of geoscientists in conducting their activities. For the third year the IAPG has organized a session on geoethics at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) – General Assembly, titled “Geoethics for society: General aspects and case studies in geosciences” (session EOS8). The raising interest in geoethics is testified by the growing number of abstracts submitted since 2013. The session will be held on 15 April 2015, from 13:30 to 17:00 in the Room R12 (12 orals) and from 17:30 in the Red Posters Area (30 posters) at the Austria Centre Vienna, and will be convened by Silvia Peppoloni (Italy), Eduardo Marone (Brazil) and Nic Bilham (United Kingdom). The first part of the session, titled ”putting geoethics at the heart of geosciences”, is an overview on general issues of ethics in relation with geosciences, such as geoeducation, geoscience professionalism, scientific ethics, geoethics applied to georesources. The second part is focused on “Geoethics and geohazards”, with particular attention to prepardness strategies, mitigation policies, probabilistic-deterministic views, social impacts, risk communication and disaster management. Information on the session EOS8 are available in the IAPG website: http://www.iapg.geoethics.org/evidence/egu2015. International Association for...

EuroGeoSurveys will participate to FUCINO 2015 – 6th INIQUA International Workshop. The event will celebrate the centenary of the 1915 M7 Fucino earthquake, one of the most devastating earthquakes occurred in the Apennines. EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) and the European Plate Observing System (EPOS), an integrated solid EarthSciences research infrastructure aimed at promoting innovative approaches, organize a joint Workshop on Tuesday 21 April, 17.00 – 18.30. The Workshop aims at showing to the Fucino 2015 participants the activities carried out in the frame of earth sciences research infrastructure initiatives. EPOS and EuroGeoSurveys representatives will sign a Memorandum of Understanding for future joint collaboration. In particular, EuroGeoSurveys decided to establish a European Geological Data Infrastructure (EGDI), a cornerstone of EGS strategy that supports the development of a European Geological Service. The EGDI will support policy makers, industry and academia in addressing Europe’s societal challenges by making interoperable geological data and information available in a uniform way. One of the most obvious user groups for the geological information is EPOS, which will be implemented in the coming years and aims at creating a pan‐European infrastructure for solid Earth science to support a safe and sustainable society. Therefore the MoU purpose is to ensure a long-term cooperation between the two initiatives regarding integration and exchange of data, information, systems and knowledge. In that way the value of data and infrastructures are optimized to serve the interests of all potential users of the two systems to the widest possible extent. The EPOS will invite the participants of the forthcoming EGU General Assembly to the EPOS Townhall Meeting (TM8) on Tuesday April 14 2015 from 19:00 – 20:00 in Room B8. The meeting will discuss about the relevance of integrating research infrastructures and will be a forum for a broad debate...

The EuroGeoSurveys Director’s Workshop took place on 25th March 2015 in Brussels. The yearly meeting of the Directors of the European Geological Surveys and Geological Surveys from all around the world was focused on the theme “Geological Infrastructure priorities in Africa and beyond”, discussing the geological infrastructure needs in Africa and in other areas of the world. The Workshop topic matched the High level Conference ‘EU-AU Joint Session on Infrastructures for the Minerals Sector’ of the previous week, focusing on the infrastructure needs of the minerals sector in Africa (including transport, ICT, water and energy as well as all other types of infrastructure). EuroGeoSurveys welcomed high level guests from Africa, North America, Europe, Asia, etc. together with representatives of EU Institutions and stakeholders, resulting in a very high attendance of about 90 participants. Ms Françoise Moreau, Head of the Africa-EU Partnership, Peace Facility Unit at the European Commission’s DG for Internal Cooperation and Development, explained that in the context of the Joint EU Africa Strategy, of which Roadmap 2014-2017 was adopted last year, raw materials and mineral resources have been identified among the priorities for future cooperation and political dialogue between Europe and Africa. In this regard, the Pan-African Programme established in 2014, the first covering Africa as a whole, supports projects with added-value in areas of shared interest for the EU and Africa. This is why the EC supports the reinforcement of the cooperation between African and European geological surveys with a view to provide to interested African governments better information on their still unexploited mining resources. The economic boom of several African countries should be maximised and that growth should be translated in poverty reduction. This means that the exploitation of the benefits of raw materials should benefit local population. The DG...

  The General Assembly of the EGU will be held in Vienna, Austria, from 12th to 17th  April 2015. The 2015 theme, A voyage through scales, is an invitation to contemplate the earth’s extraordinary variability extending from milliseconds to its age, from microns to the size of the planet. EuroGeoSurveys will be present at EGU Assembly in three different sessions.   EGU-AOGS (Asia Oceania Geosciences Society) Great Debate on Impact on global geoscience of accelerating Asian research – Mr J. Ludden | Mon, 13 April 15:30–17:00 | Room Y1. This session will address the impact on global geosciences of the rapid growth of scientific and technological research in Asian countries. Some of the topics covered will include the enormous increase in the numbers of papers submitted to scientific journals, participation in international science programs, opportunities and implications of collaboration and mobility of researchers between Asian countries and the West, etc. The Director of the British Geological Survey, Mr John Ludden, will represent EuroGeoSurveys. Mr Ludden has been EuroGeoSurveys’ President in the period 2009-2010. Geoscience Information for Teachers (GIFT) Workshops –Mr C. Burlet | Wed, 15 April 8:30 -13:00 | Room G10. The main objective of these workshops is to communicate first-hand scientific information to teachers in primary and secondary schools, significantly shortening the time between discovery and textbook. The GIFT workshop provides the teachers with materials that can be directly incorporated into their classroom, to explain related scientific principles or topics. Mr Christian Burlet, from the Geological Survey of Belgium, will present the EU co- funded Minerals4EU Project, and the EuroGeoSurveys book “Minerals in your life”. Communication and Education in Geoscience: Practice, Research and Reflection – Outreach and Public Engagement Case Studies – Ms C. Delfini | Thursday 16 Apr 13:30-13:45 | Room R12....