Photo Gallery SPGSE2

Photo Gallery Policy of PCDC

Photo Gallery RCLAC4

Photo Gallery SPGND2 and UNESCO

The First Meeting of the Scientific Planning Group in Sustainable Energy, SPGSE1,from ICSU Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean was held at the Brazilian Academy of Sciences on the 18th e 19th of February last. The meeting was chaired by Professor Décio Gazzoni from Brazil, and had the presence of Professor Ivan Azurdia from Guatemala, Professor Gabriel Blanco from Argentina, Professor Claudio Estrada from Mexico, Professor Isaías Macedo from Brasil and Professor Elena Vigil, member of the Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean and a specialist in solar energy from Cuba, representing the RCLAC in the group. Professor Alice Abreu Director of the Regional Office, also attended the meeting.(03-04-2008)

The first grant of 25,000 US dollars from the ABC-CONACYT agreement was used to partially fund the 3rd Meeting of the ICSU Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean and 1st Meeting of the Scientific Planning Group in Mathematics Education, that took place in Mexico City in the months of September and October, last.(10-29-2007)

The First meeting of Scientific Planning Group in Natural Disasters was held on 05-06 December 2007, and was hosted by IDEA Instituto de Estudios Ambientales of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, in Manizales, Colombia The event was chaired by Professor Omar Dario Cardona (Colombia).

Also participated of the event professors Tony Gibbs (Barbados), Michel Hermelin (Colombia), Allan Lavell (Costa Rica), Carmen Samayoa (Guatemala) as liaison, and Alice Abreu Director of ICSU-LAC.

The participants presented reports and information on risks and prevetion of natural disasters, natural and human-induced environmental hazards and disasters, interface of natural-social science and stakeholder, involvement challenges and research needs.

The members proposed a first outline of the Science Plan and discussed the dates and places of next meetings, including the UNESCO regional meeting of the Consultative Group on Natural Disasters Mitigation in Montevideo to be held in Montevideo in March 2008. .(10-29-2007)

The First Meeting of the Scientific Planning Group in Mathematics Education took place at the Mexican Academy of Sciences, on October 1 and 2, 2007. A Second Meeting is scheduled for January 24 and 25 of 2008, in Santiago de Chile.(10-29-2007)

The Third Meeting of the ICSU Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean, RCLAC3, took place in Mexico City, Mexico, September 27th and 28th, 2007, with the generous support of CONACYT Mexico. It was chaired by Professor José Antonio de la Peña from México, and attended by Professors Juan Asenjo from Chile, Tara Dasgupta from Jamaica, Mahabir Gupta from Panama, Enrique Lessa from Uruguay, Carmen Samayoa from Guatemala, Elena Vigil from Cuba, and Alice Abreu Director of ICSU-LAC. The new Science Officer from ICSU, Patricia Ocampo-Thomson, represented Professor Thomas Rosswall who was unable to attend. The Fourth Meeting was scheduled for March 10 and 11 2008, in Santiago de Chile. The Regional Committee also approved the dates for its Fifth Meeting, together with a Regional Consultation, that will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 20, 21 and 22, 2008. The Regional Committee discussed the progress report of the four Scientific Planning Groups in the defined priority areas. All Chairs have been appointed: Professor Carlos Bosch, from Mexico, for Mathematics Education; Professor Omar Dario Cardona, from Colombia, for Natural Disasters; Professor Décio Gazzoni, from Brazil, for Sustainable Energy; Professors Mary Kalin Arroyo, from Chile, and Rodolfo Dirzo, from Mexico, co-chairing the Biodiversity SPG).

The XV Brazilian Symposium on Antarctic Research will take place in São Paulo in the period of September 19th to September 21st, 2007. The event will be promoted by the Antarctic Research Center with the support of the Geosciences Institute of the Sao Paulo University.

This Annual event attracts national researchers involved in research in Antarctic. There will be presentations about their research findings and general questions about Brazilian activities in the Antarctic continent.

Besides the traditional activities, the XV SPA includes in their program, attached, various activities to promote the IV Polar Year International. A series of lectures will be held about the most important scientific aspects in Antarctic specially developed for students and general public. One of the activities will include an exhibition with the Antarctic equipments and samples utilized by Brazilian researchers who worked in that continent.

The Third Meeting of the Regional Committee has been scheduled for September 27 th and 28 th , 2007, in Mexico City, Mexico. It will be hosted by the Chair of the ICSU Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean, Professor José Antonio de la Peña, who is the Director for Scientific and Technological Development of CONACYT, the National Council for Science and Technology of Mexico

The Vice President Of ICSU Professor Hernán Chaimovich and the Director of ICSU-LAC Professor Alice Abreu will visit the UNESCO Regional Office for Science in Latin America and the Caribbean, in Montevideo, Uruguay, on August the 23rd.. This meeting aims to initiate a process of collaboration between the ICSU Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ICSU-LAC) and the UNESCO Field Office in Montevideo for the next three years.

Professor Alice Abreu, Director of ICSU-LAC was appointed by the Chilean Government to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Program "Millennium Science Initiative", the scientific centers of excellence program of Chile. The MSI program is recognized as being one of the main significative efforts to strengthen good quality scientific research in Latin America.

The International Planning Meeting of Inter Academy Panel (IAP), organized by the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of USA, and supported by IANAS (Rede Interamericana de Academias de Ciências) took place on May 11th, in Atibaia,São Paulo. The event discussed the promotion of access and use of resources, and digital knowledge in development countries and transition economies, with focus on the role of Latin American academies of sciences.

The Academic Rogério Meneghini greeted the participants and made a short introduction. In this first session, the goals and the proposal of the meeting were exposed, as well as the recent activities made by IAP.

Several entities, like IANAS, ICSU, CODATA, UN GAID e SDDC Project, showed interest on a fellowship with IAP. The Vice-President of ABC, Hernán Chaimovich, represented IANAS, and Alice Abreu, Director of ICSU Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, based on the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Professor Alice made a small presentation about the Office and the new possibilities of regional cooperation.

Among several topics, the Meeting decided to come up with a agenda for the sciences academies in order to promote the access, as well as the use, of research and education networks, like the digital knowledge resources in Latin American countries. The discussion had concerned about identifying the concrete action areas so that the Latin American Academies of Sciences manage to act collectively as well as individually. The Meeting also discussed the needs in terms of tools, mechanisms, roles and resources to implement this agenda.

The Meeting was closed with a sum up of the discussions and proposals for the following steps and actions.

The ICSU Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean was inaugurated on April 18 th at the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the presence of the Minister of Science and Technology of Brazil and other authorities. In conjunction with the inauguration, the International Symposium: "Priorities in Science and Technology for Latin America and the Caribbean: planning the future action" was held and discussed the four priority areas being considered to develop programs in the region: Mathematic Education, Biodiversity, Sustainable Energy and Natural Disasters.

On April 4 to 6, 2007, 142 young scientists, from 71 countries, met in Lindau, Germany, for a Conference to celebrate 75 years of ICSU. "Global Scientific Challenges: Perspectives from Young Scientists" was a truly unique event, focusing on the changing global context for the conduct of science, and it will surely have an impact on the long-term strategic directions of ICSU. It would not have been possible without the generous support and sponsorship of individual ICSU Members. The Director of ICSU-LAC, Prof. Alice Abreu, attended the Conference and made a presentation entitled " An Exercise in Science for Policy: establishing a hemispheric agenda in S&T in the Americas".

Among the young scientists, six young women that have won the L´Oreal fellowship were present : Ghinwa Naja (Lebanon), Rehana Jauhangeer (Mauritius), Adriana Jalba (Romania), Andrea Mantesso (Brazil), Dilfuza Egamberdiyeva (Uzbequistan), Solange Fagan (Brazil).

Source: ICSU insight and ICSU-LAC

The Director of ICSU, Prof. Thomas Rosswall, participated in the annual meeting of the Scientific Committee (SC) for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme , which took place in Angra dos Reis, Brazil on 13-16 March immediately followed by a joint meeting with the Scientific Committee of the IHDP.

Apart from review of its Core Projects and Joint Initiatives, the SC IGBP discussed a scoping paper on a possible merger with the World Climate Research Programme. The meeting also approved plans for the 4th IGBP Congress, which will be organized in Cape Town, South Africa on 4-9 May 2008 on the topic; "Sustainable Livelihood in a Changing Earth System"; Plans were also presented for the IGBP 20th Anniversary Symposium; "Earth System Science and Society" ; which will be organized in Stockholm, Sweden on 17-18 September 2007.

The Director of ICSU, Prof. Thomas Rosswall and the Director of the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Prof. Alice Abreu, participated in the annual meeting of the Scientific Committee (SC) for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme , which took place in Angra dos Reis, Brazil on 13-16 March immediately followed by a joint meeting with the Scientific Committee of the IHDP. Apart from review of its Core Projects and Joint Initiatives, the SC IGBP discussed a scoping paper on a possible merger with the World Climate Research Programme. The meeting also approved plans for the 4th IGBP Congress, which will be organized in Cape Town, South Africa on 4-9 May 2008 on the topic "Sustainable Livelihood in a Changing Earth System". Plans were also presented for the IGBP 20th Anniversary Symposium "Earth System Science and Society", which will be organized in Stockholm, Sweden on 17-18 September 2007

Source: ICSU insight and ICSU-LAC