Outcome of the first meeting of the new ICA Executive Committee in Gent International Cartographic Association

On 22 November the newly elected Executive Committee met for the first physical meeting during the 2019‒2023 term in Gent (Belgium).

A full day of intense discussions and a huge list of work items on the desk set out the agenda for ICA for the next four years. Following ICA’s Strategic Plan and the President’s motto, that «Maps make a difference» and that «Cartography is more relevant than ever today in an increasingly complex world», the EC discussed next steps and necessary actions in order to reach these goals and make our discipline and society visible and heard by decision makers and a larger audience.

The Executive Committee at the commission meeting in Ghent, Belgium

Achieving the goals of the next term is of course a collaborative project that the EC, national members, affiliate members and ICA commissions need to undertake together. Every member of the Executive Committee has an important role to play in this context as a coordinator, enabler and facilitator. Hence, each EC member were given specific tasks and roles for the next four years. And all Vice-Presidents were assigned a liaison with commissions and working groups. The list of Liaisons for all current ICA commissions can be found here: https://icaci.org/executive-committee/

4 new Working Groups for the term 2019‒2023

As some of the strategic tasks that the new Executive Committee wants to tackle during the next term are very specific or transversal in character and not fully covered by existing commission work, four new Working Groups were set up by the EC during the meeting:

Cartography and Sustainable Development (Philippe De Maeyer)
Cartographic Body of Knowledge (Terje Midtbø)
History of ICA (László Zentai)
New Research Agenda in Cartography (Liqiu Meng)

The respective EC members (in brackets) will help with startup and organization, find members and supporters, and lay out the work schedule for the next 4 years.

Nominations of Heads of Committees and ICA Officers

Furthermore, the EC nominated the new Heads of ICA Committees and Officers to the ICA Secretariat who will help to keep the society running and inform members and the public in the best possible way through the various channels. Congratulations to the following nominations for the next term 2019-2023! It is a pleasure to work (or continue to work) together with this excellent team!