GEOETHICS AT THE EGU 2015

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 Promoting Geoethics Website http://www.geoethics.org/