STATUTES

National Committee for Geological Sciences (NCGS)

Mission of the National Committee for Geological Sciences: The National Committee for Geological Sciences (of Belgium) forms part of the Classe des Sciences de l'Académie Royale de Belgique and the Klasse der Wetenschappen van de Koninklijke Academie van België. The mission of the committee is to promote geology and to coordinate both at a national and international level, the activities of professional geologists in Belgium.

The National Committee of Geological Sciences has a close relationship with the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) which is a member of the International Science Council (ISC). The IUGS is a non-governmental organization that promotes and encourages the study of geological problems, especially those of world-wide significance. It supports and facilitates international and interdisciplinary co-operation in Earth Sciences.

Internal Regulations National Committee for Geological Sciences (2023)

1. To accomplish its role as coordinator of activities dealing with the geological sciences in Belgium, the NCGS is composed of members that belong to universities, scientific and technical institutes and scientific societies that the NCGS acknowledges as being involved in geology and geoheritage (Annex 1).

2. Membership rules for the National Committees are defined by the Royal Academy of Sciences of Belgium (RASAB/NC). Mandates in the NCGS last for 4 years. They are renewable. In case of early resignation of a member, a new member can be elected for the duration of the mandate of the resigning member.

3. The NCGS has one subcommittee, the National Commission of Stratigraphy (of Belgium) and appoints the chairperson of this subcommittee. The National Commission of Stratigraphy (of Belgium) reports to the NCGS but can create its own internal working rules.

4. Two regular meetings are scheduled per year, preferably in May-June and in November-December. Within two weeks after the end of each meeting, the date of the next meeting is fixed. The secretary asks RASAB for the reservation of a meeting room in the buildings of the Academy in Brussels. If useful, additional online meetings can be organised at the initiative of the president or at the request of any member of the NCGS.

5. Voting occurs according to the rules imposed by the RASAB/NC. It can also be organized by electronic mail.

6. The agenda of a regular meeting will generally cover the following items:
   1. Discussion on the present state of geosciences in Belgium and the need for specific initiatives.
   2. Presentation by the different members of the upcoming activities organised by the institutes/societies they are attached to.
   3. Discussion of possible synergies in the activities proposed, establishing of missing activities and discussion on how to remediate this.
   4. Updating the program of upcoming events, summarising all activities in all institutes and by all societies involved in a single timetable to be published widely and to be put on the website of the NCGS.
   5. Matters related to international contacts: IUGS and its international commissions (stratigraphy, geoheritage ...), UNESCO, IGCP projects,
   6. Miscellaneous
   7. Date of the next meeting

The agenda is sent to the members by the secretary at least 2 weeks before the meeting date.

7. A draft of the report of a meeting is sent within two weeks to the board committee members and within one month to all committee members.

8. The NCGS maintains a website that is hosted by one of the institutes that are represented in the NCGS. The NCGS secretary and/or vice-secretary maintains regular contact with the webmaster of this website in order to keep it informative and up to date. Links to the website must be promoted among all the institutes and societies involved in geology in Belgium.

9. Honorary memberships of the NCGS to former members are based on exceptional merits in the committee and/or in the Belgian geological community in the The procedure is outlined in article 4 of the NC General Regulations. At the initiative of the president, honorary members can be invited to meetings for advice.

Annex 1

Proposal for 15 organizations to be represented in NCGS as from 2023

* indicative only.

This proposal serves to achieve representation of the listed 15 organizations. Each organization should be represented by only one person, except for the Geological Survey of Belgium (one for each language role). In this way, an even number of members can be achieved with 8 members for each language role (mandatory by the academy).

The names of the representatives in the right hand column are not part of the proposal and will be addressed after approval of the 15 organizations in the left hand column.

In case an organization will have no representative, e.g. because there is no suitable candidate interested, or a representative leaves the organization, or steps out of NCGS, an ad hoc solution will have to be sought to achieve 16 members again.