INQUA International Council

The International Council (IC) is the body that approves INQUA’s remit, business, policies, organisation and statutes; the formal, prior approval of the IC is required for any proposed changes to policy or procedure. The IC is composed of the assigned representatives of all of the National and Regional Member bodies of INQUA. The IC meets during each INQUA Congress, usually on three separate days, to receive, consider and adjudicate upon reports and proposed policy changes submitted by the Executive Committee or other INQUA officers or IC members. Only the representatives of fee-paying member bodies of INQUA can vote on policy decisions; representatives of non-fee-paying National and Regional bodies are invited to attend the meetings of the IC and to participate in its deliberations, but are not eligible to vote on policy matters.

The current National and Regional Representatives list is up-dated on an annual basis. There is wide variety in the process by which different representatives are nominated, as well as in the role that they play in their relevant member organizations: most, but not all, are elected to represent a corresponding national or regional learned society or specialist Quaternary research group. To find out more about the links between a National or Regional Member body and INQUA, first contact the relevant representative, but if this proves problematic, then contact the INQUA Vice-president responsible for liaison with the IC.

During an inter-congress period, the IC members are circulated with occasional bulletins that draw attention to matters considered by the Executive Committee during its annual meetings; attention is drawn to particularly important matters on which the views of the IC members are invited by return, or that are to be debated and voted upon during INQUA congress meetings. In this way, National and Regional Member groups can be kept abreast of the executive’s thinking and proposed developments, in preparation for the matters to be debated at IC meetings held during the Congress.

The current Vice-President responsible for liaison with the IC membership is: