For the first time in its history, the APECS Executive Committee decided that a critical review of the organization should be undertaken in order to develop a strategy for the development of the organization in the coming years. The ExCom appointed a committee to conduct this review, consisting of 8 people, both members and mentors of APECS.
The review consisted of informal interviews as well as a comprehensive survey of APECS members, mentors, and the wider polar community. The survey received over 200 responses from 29 different countries. After multiple virtual meetings, on the committee met in person alongside ASSW2015 in Toyama, Japan to discuss major results and outcomes of the survey and agree on recommendations for future strategic actions listed below.
Recommendations for APECS included:
- Moving to a more project-based operational strategy
- Consider new avenues of funding
- Continuing to stimulate the interdisciplinary
- Maintaining high standards of communication
- Expanding the APECS membership
- Focusing on core skill development and resource offerings
- Making the APECS leadership more open and transparent
- And considering future trends in polar research
To see more in-depth data from the survey, as well as the text of the survey itself, and more about the organization review process, please read the committee’s full report. APECS has already begun to implement recommendations from the committee (for example, in restructuring its Council). Continue to keep an eye out for more changes as APECS continues to innovate into the future. As always, if you have feedback for APECS, don’t hesitate to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!
