This village well near Kayes, Mali, is one of many hydrological projects helping communities around the world. Courtesy of Pierre Hubert

Associations of the IUGG

IUGG is comprised of eight semi-autonomous Associations, each responsible for a specific range of topics or themes within the overall scope of Union activities. In addition, IUGG establishes inter-Association Commissions (see link below), and relationships with several other scientific bodies with similar interests. These eight International Associations are:

• International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS)
• International Association of Geodesy (IAG)
• International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA)
• International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS)
• International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS)
• International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean (IAPSO)
• International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI)
• International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI)

Inter-Association Commissions and Working Groups

The Associations are free to convene their own General Assemblies and to sponsor particular Symposia, often in partnership with one another, and, like the Union, are managed by a Bureau and Executive Committee whose members are elected during their General Assemblies. Within its own discipline each Association is responsible for determining its own programme of investigations and for supporting the activities of its own component parts.

The numerous Symposia and Workshops organized by the Associations, together with the General Assemblies, provide the opportunity for geodesists and geophysicists from the majority of the countries of the world to discuss their respective methodologies, results and hypotheses and to plan collaborative research projects.

The Symposia are intended to be particularly helpful to the younger scientists from the developing countries of the world. The IUGG has made special financial provision for them to participate in the Symposia organized under the aegis of the Union and its Associations.

Scientific Assemblies of the Associations