ISPRS at the ICSU General Assembly in Auckland

The International Council for Science (ICSU) is a non-governmental organisation with a global membership of national scientific bodies (121 members, representing 141 countries) and International Scientific Unions (33 members). ICSU's mission is to strengthen international science for the benefit of society. Planning and co-ordinating research, science for policy, and strengthening the universality of science are the three key areas of the Council's activities. ICSU is frequently called upon to speak on behalf of the global scientific community and to act as an advisor in matters ranging from the environment to conduct in science. The 31^st General Assembly of ICSU held in Auckland, New Zealand, announced the developments at the flagship programme, ‘Future Earth’. 

ISPRS president Chen Jun and secretary general Christian Heipke participated in the General Assembly and other associated meetings. The welcome and opening of the General Assembly included an address by the prime minister of New Zealand, Right Honourable John Key. Sir Peter Gluckman, chief science advisor to the prime minister of New Zealand, spoke on ‘The changing nature of science; can scientists rise to the challenge’. Besides the normal agenda items, three invited lectures were held: by Nancy Bertler (associate professor, Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) on ‘The potential collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet – implications for global sea level’, by Bruce Alberts (chancellor's leadership chair in biochemistry and biophysics for science and education, University of California, San Francisco, USA; former president, US National Academy of Sciences) on ‘Spreading science for all’, and by Mark C. Quigley (associate professor at the University of Canterbury, UK) on ‘Predicting and reducing the impacts of future earthquakes’.

On 4 September 2014, during the 31^st General Assembly of the ICSU Orhan Altan, the first vice president of ISPRS, was elected to the Executive Board. He was nominated by the Geo-Union cluster of ICSU. It will be his second term of membership on the Executive Board. ISPRS is one of the eight unions of the ICSU’s Geo-Union cluster and has played an active role in ICSU activities, such as health and well-being studies and disaster management-related programmes.

Professor Daya Reddy, an internationally recognised mathematician from South Africa, became the new president-elect of the ICSU, and China-Taipei has been selected to host the 32^nd General Assembly in 2017.

For detailed information, please visit www.icsu.org.