mardi 26 juillet 2011

Funding from Australia to attend the 34th IGC / Bourses de Stages offertes par l'Australie à l'occasion du 34ème Congrès International de Géologie

The 34th International Geological Congress Organising Committee is very pleased to inform you that we have received final approval for funding from Australia’s aid agency AusAID to cover expenses for approximately 90 African participants for a training workshop on sustainable mining to be held in conjunction with the 34th International Geological Congress (IGC). The training workshop is likely to take place over 4 days, beginning on or about Wednesday, 1 August, 2012 and it will be conducted in English. We are meeting with relevant organisations in Brisbane later this week to resolve some of these practical details.

In addition to AusAID, a major sponsor of the congress, Vale, has an interest in the GeoHost scheme and will be represented on the sub committee that will review applications and select successful candidates.

As the financial support is from AusAID’s Africa program, all supported participants must come from that continent. AusAID has received specific requests for assistance from, or funded initiatives in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda. While representatives from these countries are particularly encouraged to apply, the workshops will be open to suitable applicants from other African countries.

While the focus will be on mining, applicants with suitable petroleum experience will also be considered as many of the workshop modules will also be relevant to this sector. Participants will need to have some geological knowledge and/or awareness of extractive sector.

In summary, participants should have a working understanding of English and be employed (or have real prospects of being employed) in:
• geological survey organisations,
• government minerals/petroleum/environmental agencies,
• university departments providing geoscience training, research and/or advice related to extractives sector, or
• other positions linked to extractives sector policy, promotion or regulation.

The objective of the training workshop is to provide a comprehensive overview of the full range of generic requirements for achieving a sustainable mining sector. So the workshop will be broad ranging and will include modules on:
• obtaining and managing geoscience information,
• assessing and reporting mineral resources,
• leading practice mining,
• resource policy settings and approvals process,
• regulation, mine closure and governance.

We look to you and your colleagues to proactively promote this training workshop through your networks to suitable individuals, groups and agencies across the length and breadth of Africa. Applications should be made before 1 November 2011 and can only be submitted using the online process available through the IGC website www.34igc.org<
http://www.34igc.org/ >. [Select GeoHost Support Scheme tab, then GeoHost Training Workshops tab. The application template is accessed by clicking in the TWP Application box.]

Successful applicants will have costs covered, including air ticket, visa expenses, accommodation, living allowance and Workshop. Their attendance at the training workshop will be monitored. GeoHost Workshop participants will also have their costs (including registration fees) covered for attending the 34th IGC (5-10 August 2012).

You will note that I am copying this to several other contacts in the hope that they will also be able to assist in encouraging suitable African people from their networks to apply for this generous offer. We need many people helping us identify suitable participants. Please feel free to provide this information to whosoever you think might be interested.

Kind regards

Paul Kay
Principal Adviser
Mineral Resources
Geoscience Australia


Women in Geoscience Survey