UNESCO, Earth Sciences

Introduction
The United Nations General Assembly in New York has proclaimed 2008 International Year of Planet Earth. The Year's activities will actually span 2007-2009 and support research projects within defined themes focusing on Earth Sciences in the service of society. The International Year of Planet Earth will be officially launched at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on 12-13 February 2008. Initiated jointly by UNESCO and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the Year will demonstrate over the next 24 months just how important Earth sciences are for society.

How the Year came about
In April 2005, the initiative for a Year was put forward by the Tanzanian Delegation to UNESCO's Executive Board, which adopted the proposal nem. con. A Draft Resolution on proclamation of the International Year of Planet Earth in 2008 was adopted by Commission III at UNESCO's 33rd General Conference on 12 October 2005. By then, 97 UN Member States had explicitly expressed support for the initiative.

Nautilus: a living fossil

The UN proclamation of the Year by consensus took place on 22 December 2005 during the Plenary Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The General Assembly designated UNESCO as the body responsible for organizing activities during the Year, in collaboration with UNEP and other relevant United Nations bodies, the International Union of Geological Sciences and other Earth sciences societies and groups throughout the world.

Deep Earth	The themes of the Year The themes of the Year are: Hazards: reducing vulnerability to natural and human-induced hazards; Earth and Health: improving understanding of the medical aspects of Earth science; Resource Issues: discovering new natural resources and making them available in a sustainable manner; Soil: getting under Earth's living skin; Megacities: going deeper, building safer; Climate change: determining the longer term variations in climate change; Groundwater: detecting deep and poorly accessible groundwater; Earth and life: removing some of the question marks surrounding the evolution of life; Oceans: abyss of time; The Deep Earth: how it influences our environment.	Climate Change
Hazards		Groundwater

Attracting more young people to geosciences
With fewer students opting for geoscience courses, Earth scientists fear we may be heading for a collapse of geological educational infrastructure worldwide. This could happen because, by the time rising prices encourage further exploration, historically low student recruitment may have already led to the closure and dispersal of university departments.

Given the central importance of Earth sciences for our future, this prospect should worry everyone. After all, everything we cannot grow - all the power and raw materials on which society depends - comes from the Earth and therefore has to be 'unearthed' by geologists.

Tragedies like the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina provide a graphic demonstration of how indispensable geoscientific knowledge can be in mitigating natural disasters. The truth is however that geological knowledge benefits all of society all of the time.

After Germany initiated its own National Year of Earth Sciences in 2002, university enrolment figures increased countrywide. At the University of Tübingen, they even quadrupled. Since the Year, long-term funding for Earth sciences has also increased, owing to the reorganization of universities and the creation of interdisciplinary 'geocentres' at several universities, including those in Frankfurt, Munich and Göttingen.

Over the next 18 months, the International Year of Planet Earth will strive to replicate this success story on a global scale. The Year will be urging political leaders around the world to act to staunch the hemorrhage of young talent in Earth sciences.

Click on the picture
©IYPE

Reaching out to the public
During the Year, there will be a strong focus on public outreach, via contests, events and publications. The Year will strive to show the exciting side of Earth sciences and underscore the remarkable contribution they make to sustainable socio-economic development.

One of UNESCO's windows to the public is its Global Network of National Geoparks. Comprised of 53 geoparks in 17 countries, the network strives to develop geotourism and high-quality local geoproducts for the benefit of the local economy. Each geopark proposes a strong educational component to help visitors understand the evolution of their local landscape.

The first-ever International Summer School on Geoparks was organized on the island of Lesvos in Greece in September 2007, under the aegis of UNESCO. Some 30 graduate students, doctoral candidates and geopark managers participated in the school, the theme of which was Geopark Management and Geotourism. It is planned to establish an annual international school for graduates at the same location.

UNESCO is also producing publications for the general public on themes related to the Year. One of these is Explaining the Earth, a richly illustrated book which describes basic aspects of the Earth sciences in languages teenagers can understand (see below).

A second publication entitled Geoparks: Celebrating Earth heritage - Sustaining local Communities is due out in 2008. It will give an overview of the level of natural heritage protection and management of the 32 geoparks located in Europe.

UNESCO is also reaching out to the public via its quarterly journal, A World of Science. Australian palaeontologist Patricia Vickers-Rich is the author of the story in the October 2007 issue of the journal of how life evolved on Earth. This fascinating tale encompasses the findings of an ongoing research project involving Prof. Vickers-Rich and others which is sponsored by UNESCO and the IUGS within the International Geoscience programme. Go to the story on The Rise of Animals (English, French, Spanish).

Photo contest
One outreach activity of the International Year of Planet Earth is a photo contest for those aged 15 years and older around the globe on the theme of The Changing Face of the Earth. There are 40 book prizes to be won and cameras for the best entries. Each winner will receive a copy of both Explaining the Earth (see below) and The Changing Face of the Earth on continental drift since the breakup of Pangaea 250 million years ago. Entries close on 30 June 2008. Click here for the entry details in English, French and Spanish.

Explaining the Earth
UNESCO published this book with Nane Publishing in 2006 as a contribution to the International Year of Planet Earth. With a target readership of 11-16 year-olds, this concise little book explains basic aspects of the Earth sciences: our planet's place in the Universe and in our Solar System, the Earth's structure, plate tectonics, the role of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, the formation of reliefs, the ice ages and natural hazards. It is one of two book prizes being awarded within UNESCO's photo contest on The Changing Face of the Earth (details also in French and Spanish). For details and to order a copy in English or French. Read also the outreach brochures produced by the IUGS by clicking here.

Key research projects within the Year
Projects within the International Geoscience Programme
Earth scientists around the world have set themselves a demanding research agenda for the Year. They have selected ten themes of particular interest for society. Many of these themes mirror the current priorities of UNESCO's own International Geoscience Programme (IGCP), cosponsored by UNESCO and the IUGS. These are:

OneGeology
In March 2007, the British Geological Survey hosted a kick-off event for perhaps the most ambitious mapping project yet. Over the next two years, geologists will be putting together the details of a global project which will ultimately see each nation providing data on the Internet about the rocks from their territory, effectively putting together the biggest jigsaw puzzle ever.

Known as OneGeology, the project involves leading scientists from national Geological Surveys in more than 55 countries and is supported by UNESCO and six other global umbrella bodies.

The project is creating dynamic geological map data across the surface of the Earth which will then be converted to a new international standard: a geological exchange language known as GeoSciML. Greater use of this language will allow geological data to be shared and integrated across the planet. It will also transfer valuable know-how to the developing world, thereby shortening the digital learning curve.

All geologists know well that geology and rocks don't respect man-made political frontiers', comments Ian Jackson, who is leading the project for the British Geological Survey. 'Nor do the environmental problems and natural resources that go with them. With our changing climate, there is even more urgent need for good quality and more complete data about our environment to be available for those who need it. By contributing to OneGeology, each nation can do something locally to make a huge difference globally.

Key events within the Year
Key events over the next year include the Planet Earth Exhibition at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, which took place from 16 October to 3 November 2007, the 3rd International Conference on Geoparks in Germany in June 2008 and the International Geological Congress in Norway in August of the same year, under the patronage of UNESCO. A wealth of national events are also planned in more than 60 countries for scientists or the general public.

The Planet Earth Exhibition: from Space to Place covered the origins of the Earth, plate tectonics, natural hazards, biological and geological diversity, indigenous knowledge, climate change and sustainable development. Visitors were able to watch films shown on five linked plasma screens and observe plants from different regions of the Earth, displayed in three 'glasshouses. There are also examples of how UNESCO uses space technology to assist Member States in managing their natural resources. Go to the website.

Thematic Meeting for Permanent Delegations and Observers to UNESCO
UNESCO invited Permanent Delegations and Observers to attend a meeting on the themes of the International Year of Planet Earth on 14 December 2007.