We would like to thank all ISC Members for making time to take part in the electronic extraordinary General Assembly (eGA), which took place last week and brought together nearly 300 delegates online.
The main objective of the meeting was to discuss and vote upon several proposed changes to the ISC Statutes and Rules of Procedure, and to elect the 2021 Elections Committee.
Background
In late 2019 the ISC Governing Board invited all ISC Members to submit suggestions for possible changes to the ISC Statutes and Rules of Procedure. During the first half of 2020, a dedicated working group reviewed all of the suggestions and developed a revised version. The proposed changes to the Statutes and Rules of Procedure were grouped in the following four categories in order to facilitate the discussions and voting procedure:
- Group I: Membership (categories and application)
- Group II: Governing Board (composition and role Officers & Chief Executive Officer)
- Group III: Elections (Committee and procedure)
- Group IV: Other
Voting on the proposed changes
On 1 and 2 February ISC Members provided feedback on the proposed changes during two rounds of online discussions. A few in-session amendments to the proposed changes were considered and the voting on the final version of the proposed changes was opened on 2 February.
By 5 February 98 ISC Members had cast their votes and over 97 % had approved the proposed changes in all groups.
2021 Elections Committee
The three-year term of the International Science Council’s Governing Board comes to an end in October 2021, and ISC Members will be invited to nominate candidates for the incoming Governing Board in preparation for the 2nd ordinary General Assembly, to be held from 11-15 October 2021.
An Elections Committee, which is chaired by the President and includes eight additional members, is responsible for advising on and managing the nominations and election process for the incoming Governing Board. In 2020 ISC Members were presented with a list of 16 candidates for the 2021 Elections Committee, and at the eGA 103 Members cast their votes to determine the composition of the committee. The following people were elected:
- Daya Reddy (Chair)
- Alice Abreu
- Cheryl de la Rey
- Yuko Harayama
- Rémi Quirion
- Flavia Schlegel
- Vaughan Turekian
- Ewine van Dishoeck
- Hebe Vessuri