International Geological Congress 2024

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Thanks to Silvia Peppoloni (IAPG Secretary General and Chair of the IUGS - Commission on Geoethics) and the availability of 37th IGC organizers, geoethics was included among the themes of the congress for the first time in the history of the IGC:

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Theme T39 "Geoethics and Societal Relevance of Geosciences":

Convener: Silvia Peppoloni (silvia.peppoloni@ingv.it)

Geoethics and Societal Relevance of Geosciences focus on the ethical considerations and societal implications of geoscientific research and practices. It explores the responsibility of geoscientists to contribute to sustainable development, environmental protection, and social well-being. Geoethics promotes integrity, transparency, and accountability in geoscience research and decision-making processes. It encourages geoscientists to engage with local communities, stakeholders, and policymakers to ensure that geoscientific knowledge is accessible, relevant, and beneficial to society. This field emphasizes the ethical dimensions of geoscience education, professional conduct, and the ethical implications of resource extraction, land use planning, and natural hazard mitigation. By integrating geoethics, geoscientists can foster a more inclusive, responsible, and ethical approach to addressing global challenges.

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Under this theme, the IAPG organizes the following session:

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Session 1 "Geoethics at the hearth of all geoscience: serving the public good"

Convener: Silvia Peppoloni

Session description: Geoscience knowledge and practice are essential for the functioning of modern societies, in particular for dealing with the global anthropogenic changes of our times. However, how can geosciences serve society? Which societal role can geoscientists play? How should the geoscience-policy interface be managed? How much is ethics important in guiding geoscience decisions and solutions? These are only some of the fundamental questions that modern geoscientists, who are aware of the ethical and societal implications of their profession, should ponder. Geoethics aims to provide an ethical reference framework to answer those and other questions, and to nourish a discussion on the fundamental principles and values, which underpin appropriate behaviours, and practices wherever human activities interact with the Earth system. The complexity of the planetary interactions and world issues requires interdisciplinary approaches and cooperation, capable of synthesizing a range of knowledge, methods, tools and strategies. As any scientist, geoscientists have a responsibility to develop excellent science and international cooperation, transfer scientific outcomes to different stakeholders, as well as improve methods and technologies, which assure people’s safety and a responsible land management, public welfare and sustainable life conditions for present and future generations, while respecting biodiversity and geodiversity. Geoscientists, who are aware of their ethical and societal obligations, will be able to put their knowledge at the service of public good and increase society trust in geosciences. The spectrum of topics geoethics deals with includes: philosophical and historical aspects of geoscience, their contemporary relevance and their role in informing methods for effective and ethical decision-making; geoscience professionalism and deontology, research integrity, including issues related to harassment, discrimination, equity and inclusion in geosciences; ethical and social problems related to the management of land, subsoil, air and water, including environmental changes, pollution and their impacts; socio-environmentally sustainable supply of georesources (including energy, minerals and water), recognising the importance of effective regulation and policy-making, social acceptance, and understanding and promoting best practices; resilience of society related to natural and anthropogenic hazards, risk management and mitigation strategies; ethical aspects of geoscience education and communication, and their societal relevance, as well as culture and value of geodiversity, geoconservation, geoheritage, geoparks and geotourism; role of geosciences in achieving socio-economic development that respects cultures, traditions and local development paths, regardless of countries' wealth, and in promoting peace, responsible and sustainable development and intercultural exchange. Conveners invite colleagues to present experiences, considerations, methods, questions, best practices, and also case studies to enrich and explore the ethical, social, and cultural aspects of geoscience knowledge and practice, to address local and global challenges, such as climate change solutions, natural resources management, risk reduction, conservation of geoheritage, geoscience communication and education strategies. The session aims to provide food for thought and create connections between scholars from different disciplinary fields, in order to build a genuine geoscience community, open to cross-fertilization with other scientific and humanities communities. The session is co-sponsored by International Association for Promoting Geoethics (https://www.geoethics.org) and International Union of Geological Sciences (https://www.iugs.org).

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37th IGC website: https://www.igc2024korea.org/