Past June 20 in the afternoon was organized a Commission meeting within the 4th Conference on Cartography and GIS in Albena, Bulgaria. The meeting counted with the participation of colleagues from nine countries and the following topics were presented and discussed:
Due to the rich and rigorous conference programme the time for a detailed discussion was short (the meeting was one hour long). By this reason, before and after the meeting the Com. Chair met colleagues personally to talk about the main themes. Some of the opinions given during these conversations were also added to the presentation and discussed in the meeting. Special attention was paid to the debate about the organization of the next Barbara Petchenik competition and our decision was to organize a voting process to ask all the members and interested colleagues about significant proposals related to possible changes in the rules (see the 2nd point below).
Commission Chair and all the participants in the meeting wish to thank Temenoujka Bandrova, Past Co-Chair, for all her remarkable efforts to ensure the best conditions for a successful meeting.
2. Results of voting process for changes in the rules for the Barbara Petchenik Competitions in 2013 and 2015
Between the 26th of June and 15th of July was organized a voting process about proposed changes in the rules for the next Barbara Petchenik Competitions in 2013 and 2015. The organization of this voting process was decided in the Commission meeting in Albena, in the interest of collecting the major number possible of opinions about these topics. After our meeting in Paris (July 2011), Commission members sent their opinions about possible changes in the rules, opinions based in their practical experiences organizing the competition in their countries. I tried to group the proposals into four main themes, asking the different options proposed by the members in their messages. The voting form was sent for all the members and interested colleagues in the Commission mailing list and I received the votes of 36 colleagues from 23 countries. The results by themes are as follow (the decisions taken by majority are in first place, Bold and Italic font):
1st theme - Structure by age groups
The rules for the Barbara Petchenik Competition in 2013 and 2015 were modified according to these results. The latest version of the rules and the Parent Permission for 2013 Barbara Petchenik Competition can be downloaded from the Commission website.
3. Participation in EUROGEO 2012 Conference (Dublin, 1-2 June, 2012)
The conference was organized by the European Association of Geographers (EUROGEO) under the theme "Geography and Global Understanding: Connecting the Sciences". Commission Chair, Jesus Reyes participated in this event, representing ICA and the Commission. The conference counted with the participation of more than 150 delegates from 36 countries, who arrived not only from Europe but from other continents too. Prof. Karl Donert, President of EUROGEO, gave us the opportunity of introducing ICA for the EUROGEO members during the Opening Ceremony.
One of the topics presented in several sessions was the Digital Earth, an international project coordinated by the University of Salzburg and with the active participation of EUROGEO members. Listening the 12 presentations dedicated to this project I found many common points of interest between them and our Commission, worth considering the official participation of ICA and specifically of the Commission as an organization (centre of excellence) in their activities.
During the event were presented papers from all areas of Geography and connected disciplines, including GIS and Cartography. All the papers presented in the different sessions during these two days can be found at: http://www.eurogeography.eu/conference/dublin-2012/dublin2012-presentations.html
4. Upcoming conferences in 2012
1) IGU-CGE Experience-based Geography Learning 2012 Symposium (Freiburg, Germany, August 22-25)
The IGU CGE Symposium will be held immediately before the IGU's 32nd Congress. Commission Chair will participated in this event, because this is a good opportunity to meet colleagues of the IGU Commission on Geographical Education, to exchange ideas and experiences with them about the future of the relations between both Commissions, trying to strengthen our contacts with more specific common activities.
If you are interested on this event, the detailed programme and further information can be found in their website: http://home.ph-freiburg.de/geo/igu/index.html
2) Other events planned for the next months
ICA Commissions are organizing or actively participating in events during the remaining months of the year. To obtain information about them, please visit http://icaci.org/calendar/
5. Next Commission meeting
Our next meeting will be held in Dresden (Germany), during the 26th International Cartographic Conference. We are having contacts about the possible organization of a pre-conference extended meeting or workshop; more information will be supplied in our next newsletter.
6. Commission profile in Facebook
I am creating a Commission profile in Facebook by two main reasons: the first one is practical, because sometimes I can find a member quicker and easier in Facebook than in other way. The second one is because of our interest to make known the Commission and our activities for a wider spectrum of people, and Facebook can be an excellent media to do it. I hope to have the profile ready in some days and I shall send a message to inform all of you when I made it public.
5. Possible date for our next newsletter:
December 2012
José Jesús REYES NUÑEZ
Chair
Associate Professor
Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics
Eötvös Loránd University
Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, Budapest
H-1117
Tel: +36 1 372 2975 Fax: +36 1 372 2951
jesus@ludens.elte.hu
HUNGARY
Diah K. KRESNAWATI
Vice Chair
Cartographer,retired from:
Center for Information and Services
National Coordinating
Agency for Surveys and Mapping
(BAKOSURTANAL)
Jl. Raya Jakarta - Bogor
Km.46
Cibinong 16911
dkirana@bakosurtanal.go.id
INDONESIA