The purpose of the outreach was to work with Members to ensure that the new global secretariat meets the needs of the Council and strengthens membership engagement everywhere. The regional meetings aimed to:
- get inputs from Members on their priorities for the Action Plan;
- identify strategies for increased impact of the Council in the region;
- provide feedback on the proposed regional governance structures.
The ISC Governing Board invited expressions of interest from Members from the Latin America and Caribbean, and Africa regions to work with the Board on establishing and hosting regional ISC secretariat structures – either as ISC Branches or ISC Champions. The Council is now developing a strategy to promote new, more flexible models of regional presence based on exploratory conversations with Members. The Governing Board has agreed to work with the Colombian Academy to establish a regional focal point for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), which will include the establishment of a LAC Liaison Committee under the leadership of Enrique Forero, President of the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences. This follows the closure of the ISC Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in May 2020 as a result of a financial decision by the government of El Salvador.
A call for expressions of interest to host a regional presence in Asia and the Pacific was open until April 2021 and discussions with Members in Africa are ongoing.
Image: P. Horálek/ESO.