The group will take forward discussions on developing transition plans for a new, merged council for all the sciences. Discussion at the SWG meeting will focus on a draft high-level strategy for the new organization, following the feedback from ISSC and ICSU members on the initial draft circulated at the end of March. As highlighted in a recent webinar with ICSU and ISSC members, the strategy will be further developed with reference to agenda -setting, particularly to expand on how the organization’s members and leadership will be involved in selecting priorities. Members of the SWG will also work to strengthen proposals on the new organization’s regional presence, on relationships with members, and on developing an impactful communications strategy.
The SWG meetings on 30-31 May will be followed by a two-day meeting of the TTF, which is responsible for developing statutes and rules of procedure for the new organization, a consolidated budget and multi-year financial analysis, as well as a legal framework for the merger.
Following the meetings, the final draft strategy and draft outputs of the TTF will be submitted to executives of ISSC and ICSU for their joint meeting which will take place on 28-29 June.
An updated version of the strategy and TTF outputs will be submitted to members in July 2017, ahead of the joint meeting of ICSU and ISSC that will take place during the ICSU General Assembly to be held in Taipei on 25-26 October 2017. At this joint meeting members hold a final vote on the merger between ISSC and ICSU.