The ICA Commission on Education and Training is an active group of cartographers with wide-ranging interest in ensuring the successful passing on of knowledge to the next generation and maintaining the professional development of current cartographers. It must therefore have a firm grasp on contemporary issues and good ideas about how efficiently to communicate them.

To meet these requirements an ambitious list of twenty projects (in bold below) for the Commission to address has been published on its well-maintained website ( 1). The Commission welcomes further input from any interested bodies.

One priority is the development of modules for the existing web-based internet cartography teaching programme. The Commission website shows a range of material sourced from institutions and forming the basis for a comprehensive programme. Listing of international courses for undergraduates is also kept updated on the site.

The outreach activity of the Commission is reflected in proposed regional workshops and seminars for developing countries; the accompanying illustration shows participants in such a workshop in Iran in May 2009. These target current and potential cartographers, whilst developing mapping awareness competitions for young cartographic enthusiasts is another potential Commission project.

Organisational interaction ensures collaboration with other ICA Commissions and Working Groups, as well as establishing links with education committees of sister societies in the survey and mapping disciplines. Commission members from broadly participating nations expect themselves to develop and promote joint projects. Maintaining an up-to-date mailing list is a prerequisite for much such activity and the creation and maintenance of a virtual forum for sharing ideas and views is a logical progression.

The Commission will also ensure its work is guided by the ICA Research Agenda, which addresses the role of education in research.

Methodologies in education and training should be examined, acknowledging in particular the role of emerging technologies, as might the potential for encouraging the interests of emerging cartographic educators and trainers. The Commission will develop and maintain its repository of academic papers on education and training.

Further publishing outreach is reflected on the website, which lists Cartographic Resources including regular e-newsletters. The Commission regularly reports back in the pages of GIM International and ICA New, and there is a calendar of events relevant to cartographic educators. ‘Resources' also covers the potential creation of a package (workbook, CD) of cartographic teaching and learning resources for developing countries.

There is clearly much work to do in continuing ICA educational commitment, and a willing and able Commission resolved to do it.