EGIS (1994), copyright EGIS Foundation.
At the EGIS'92 conference in Munich, an Education Special Interest Group (SIG) was set up under auspices of EGIS. Since then, the Education SIG has been responsible for the organization of education tracks and workshops at EGIS conferences in Genoa, Italy and Paris, France. The coming of a new Joint European Conference on Geographical Information will have repercussions for the Education SIG. One important repercussion is the proposed change of name into Education and Awareness Special Conference Committee (EASIG). This paper describes the kind of changes that could be necessary for the Education SIG with respect to its scope, objectives, activities and structure. The proposed changes are subject to discussion at the General Assembly of the Education Special Interest Group meeting at EGIS/MARI'94 in Paris.
The EGIS/MARI'94 conference in Paris is the fifth and last EGIS conference. As of 1995, a Joint European Conference Committee (JECC) will be, on behalf of EUROGI (European Umbrella Organization for Geographic Information), responsible for the organization of a new European GI conference. For this purpose, three conference organizations, AM/FM European Division, UDMS and EGIS, have agreed on future cooperation. This new Joint European Conference on Geographical Information will have the character of a series of dedicated parallel sessions with a number of joint events and one large exhibition. Special Interest Conference Committees (SICC's) will be responsible for the organization of special tracks with papers, posters, workshops and, eventually, additional social events. Papers, posters and workshops should reflect the 'prevailing' culture of a SICC's target group.
All organizational and operational activities related to both the conference and the exhibition will be contracted out to AKM AG in Basel, Switzerland. AKM will provide the SICC's with reasonable budgets to cover their costs. The volume of budgets will be (partly) based on performance (realized number of presentations/ registrations). The exact way in which the activities of the SICC's will be financed will be worked out in the next months. The JECC will take care of all necessary financial and organizational arrangements with the SICC's.
These developments have of course their repercussions for the EGIS Education Special Interest Group: This Education SIG was set up at the EGIS'92 Conference in Munich under the auspices of EGIS. The Education SIG has, up to now, been responsible for the organization of Education workshops and paper tracks at EGIS'93 in Genoa and EGIS/MARI'94 in Paris. At the moment the number of 'members' of the Education SIG is almost one hundred (98) and almost every European country is represented. With the help of members, information has been made available on the 'state of the art' of GIS education throughout Europe. Although the Education SIG is still in its early existence, it has already proven to be a valuable network for those involved in GIS education and it shows that the structure of an
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education paper track within a conference provides a stimulating environment for discussion and exchange of ideas. The Joint European Conference Committee, that intends to organize in 1995 its first conference probably in The Hague, had urged the Education SIG to consider how to continue with this SIG. Although a connection with EGIS will remain, the ties won't be as strong. Also it has been suggested to widen our scope and to include GIS awareness as well.
This brings us to the following proposals.
The Education and Awareness Conference Committee (EASICC) should be considered as the continuation of the EGIS Education Special Interest Group, but the target group should also include those involved in awareness matters. The following themes could be included:
The following objectives of the EASICC could be formulated:
The 'Joint European Conference on Geographical Information' The suggested tasks of the EASICC with respect to the joint European Conference, as of each other proposed SICC, are:
Activities listed above are strongly related to the yearly conferences. There are other activities which can be derived from the objectives or could follow from ideas that will originate from contacts and discussions at these conferences. Possibilities are:
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The nucleus of the organizational structure already exists in the EGIS Education SIG. It is suggested to build upon this experience in the organizational structure of the EASICC. For this purpose it is proposed that an Executive Committee (EC) of three to four persons is established to oversee EASICC developments and to organize the special track at the EUROGI conference. It is also proposed that a Board of National Representatives (BNR) is set up to assist the executive committee in its tasks. A board of this kind has already been established as an integral part of the EGIS Education SIG. The primary task of members of this Board is to act as contact points between those involved in GIS education and matters related to GIS awareness in their particular countries and the Education and Awareness SICC itself. This involves two main activities:
In addition to these primary tasks it is envisaged that members of the Board will carry out the following tasks
It is proposed that the Education SIG Board of National Representatives continues in its existence and takes on the above tasks within the broader framework of the EASICC. It should be recognized that the present organization arrangements are essentially interim which will need to be reviewed at the EGIS conference in Paris and that the question of EASICC membership criteria is left unresolved for the moment.
It is suggested to put this proposal to change the EGIS Education SIG to the Education and Awareness Special Interest Conference Committee (EASICC) on the agenda of the plenary meeting at the EGIS/MARI'94 meeting in Paris. As agreed at the last plenary meeting in Genoa, the agenda has been mailed to all members well in advance to the conference. This will enable those members who will not be present in Paris, to send in their opinions on beforehand to the Education SIG Executive Committee. In addition, it will give other members who intend to join us in Paris the opportunity to think it all over and to take part in the discussion at the plenary session in Paris.
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