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WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL UNION Contributed by Alexey on Monday, October 04 @ 16:47:48 EEST
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 What is the UIS?
The acronym UIS stands for the Union Internationale de Spéléologie, in the original French. Whatever form is used to write the name of the organization in other languages, the original acronym is maintained.
The UIS is a non-profit, non-governmental organization which promotes interaction between academic and more technical speleologists of a wide range of nationalities to encourage and facilitate the coordination of international speleology and promote its development, whether scientific, technical or cultural.
Speleology only took its first steps towards becoming a recognized science at the end of the 19th century. In the mid-1900´s, the international speleological community, mostly Europeans, had the idea to hold an international speleological congress, and the first was organized in Paris, France, in 1953. Since then, international speleological congresses have been held in Italy (Bari-1958), Austria (Wien-1961), Yugoslavia (Ljubljana-Postojna-1965), Germany (Stuttgart-1969), Czechoslovakia (Olomouc-1973), England (Sheffield-1977), USA (Bowling Green -1981), Spain (Barcelona-1986), Hungary (Budapest-1989), China (Beijing-1993), Switzerland (La Chaux-des-Fonds-1997), and Brazil (Brasilia, 2001).
The initiative of some of the speleologists at the 1965 congress led to the proposal of the creation of an international entity to unite speleologists from all over the world and coordinate their activities. The UIS was then founded on September 16, 1965, during the closing session in the Festival Room of the Postojna Cave during the 4th International Congress of Speleology. The first statutes were approved, and the first board of officers elected: Bernard Gezč (France) as President, Gordon T. Warwick (England) as Vice-President, Stjepan Mikulec (Yugoslavia) as second Vice-President, and Albert Anavy (Lebanon) as General Secretary.
At present the UIS is presided over by the following officers: a President, two Vice Presidents, a General Secretary, and several Adjoint Secretaries (their number is defined by the General Assembly); each must be from a different country. These officers are elected at the general assemblies organized at the international congresses. The officers also have the support of an Advisory Council, consisting of the past-presidents and past-officers.
To coordinate the technical and scientific development of international speleology, the UIS created various Departments, each composed of Commissions and Working Groups, and each one with its own individual president and members. All of these organs are independent and organize their own meetings; they also develop projects and interact with other institutions. Their presidents are elected at the international congresses of speleology and they report on their activities at that time. At present, the UIS has the following Departments, Commissions, and Working Groups:
Department of Protection and Management
Commission on Protection and Management of and Tourism in Caves and Karst Regions
Department of Scientific Research
Commission on Physical Chemistry and Hydrogeology of Karst
Commission on Paleokarst and Speleochronology
Commission on Glacial Caves and Karst in Polar Regions
Commission on Volcanic Caves
Commission on Hydrogeology and Speleogenesis
Commission on Mineralogy of Caves
Commission on Pseudokarst
Commission on Archaeology and Paleontology in Caves
Commission on Artificial Cavities
Permanent Commission on Speleotherapy
Working Group on Hydrothermal Karst
Department of Documentation
Bibliographic Commission
Commission on Large Cavities
Commission of the Atlas of Karst Regions
Commission on the History of Speleology
Commission on Informatics
Working Group on Topography
Department of Exploration
Commission on Cave Rescue
Commission on Materials and Techniques
Commission on Cave Diving
Department of Education and Instruction
Commission on Speleological Education
The number of commissions and working groups is not fixed, and new ones can be created or old ones eliminated if necessary. Working groups are created for a specific period of time, whereas the Commissions are permanent as long as they are operating. The creation of a commission or a working group is always to result of the initiative of some scientist or expert of the area. Interested people have only to contact the president and request that their names are included so they can participate in meetings and discussions.
In order to supervise the work of exploration and international expeditions, the UIS instituted a Code of Ethics. This code, although it does not have the force of law, provides ethical guidelines for such activities to promote the development of speleology, increase our knowledge about international speleological heritage, and foster interactions between speleological communities.
To verify the "State of the Art" of world speleology, the UIS promotes the International Congress of Speleology (ICS) every four years. In these congresses, papers on the various facets of speleology are presented, including papers on scientific areas (geology, hydrogeology, mineralogy, biology, climatology, archaeology, paleontology, geography, therapy, etc.), on technical work (topography, photography, education, computer information, legislation, management, tourism, safety, rescue, new techniques, etc.) and cultural themes (religion, art, music, painting, sculpture, and the collection of stamps and coins, etc.). In addition to the formal presentation of papers, these congress schedule meetings of the various commissions and working groups; opportunities are provided for the exchange of ideas and participation in various cultural activities, such as social gatherings, competitions, and excursions before and after the congress to visit the karst and caves of the host country.
The political directions of the UIS depend largely on the officers; official policy is outlined during the annual meetings of the officers, as well as during the general assemblies of the Union during the international congresses. The officers have administrative autonomy, but it is the General Assembly, constituted by all of the delegates of all of the member countries, which decides the direction of the UIS by their votes. It is in the General Assembly that the work of the previous four years is presented and voted on; this is also the space for the creation or extinction of commissions and working groups, and the analysis of the financial situation of the Union. This is also the time when new member countries are admitted, the statutes modified, and documents approved; moreover, new agreements are made and signed. The new officers are also elected for the four-year period at the general assembly, and the host country for the next congress is also chosen.
At present, the UIS has more than 60 member countries, located on all the continents of the world, and it is open to the affiliation of each national association or federation. The majority of the commissions is active and provides a copious scientific production; the UIS also publishes the UIS Bulletin, as well as maintaining a website on the air containing information about speleological contacts around the world. This website provides access to various information, including the Statutes, the Code of Ethics, the list of member countries, the list of the addresses of the officers of all the organs of the UIS, the list of the delegates, and the list of the commissions and working groups, as well as an infinity of links with the websites of all the commissions and national federations and speleological groups around the world. The UIS electronic address is: http://rubens.its.unimelb.edu.au/~pgm/uis/address.html. The official scientific journal of UIS is the International Journal of Speleology (presently vol. 29 is being issued) published under the care of the Societŕ Speleologica Italiana.
The present officers, elected at the last General Assembly in July 2001 in Brasilia, Brazil, for the 4-year period from 2001-2005 are the following:
President:
José Ayrton Labegalini (Brazil) – jal@tec3000.com.br
Vice presidents
Andrew James Eavis (England) – eavis@windcrown.co.uk
Aleksander Klimchouk (Ukrane) – klim@klim.carrier.kiev.ua
General Secretary
Pavel Bosák (Czech Republic) – bosak@gli.cas.cz
Adjunct Secretaries:
Roman Hapka (Switzerland) – roman.hapka@bluewin.ch
Andrej Mihevc (Slovenia) – andrej.mihevc@guest.arnes.si
Claude Mouret (France) – claude.mouret@wanadoo.fr
Fadi Nader (Lebanon) – fadinader@hotmail.com
Armstrong Osborne (Australia) – a.osborne@edfac.usyd.edu.au
Linhua Song (China) – songlh@igsnrr.ac.cn or songiyn@public.sti.ac.cn
Abel Vale (Puerto Rico) – enlacepr@caribe.net
George Huppert (USA) (Deceased on last September 2001)
If you are a speleologist, whether a scientist or an expert, or simply someone who likes speleology, enter into contact with the UIS and have your speleological group contact the National Federation or Society of your country. Encourage your group to join the UIS, and encourage your National Association or Federation to become a member of the UIS so it can select a Delegate and vote at the General Assembly. Help the UIS grow and create a truly international speleology, whether developing new techniques, exploring new caves, studying new theories, practicing radical sports in caves, preserving the national heritage, publishing information, or encouraging sustainable development. Enjoy speleology in your own way, but participate. Don’t wait to see what the UIS can do for you, but rather see what you can do to help develop speleology. Continue to enjoy speleology the way you always have, but share what you do with the rest of the international community.
Monte Siăo/Brazil, February de 2003
José Ayrton Labegalini
UIS President
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