ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ISCEAH)

Call for Expressions of Interest:  11th Terra Conference

Issued:  18 April 2008

Statement of Purpose:  The International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ISCEAH) is issuing this Call for Expressions of Interest to find organizations and countries to promote, host, run and administer the next international conference known as “Terra”.  The Terra conference, which occurs every three to five years approximately, is an international conference whose theme relates to the study and conservation of earthen architectural, archaeological and cultural landscape heritage. Terra 2008 took place in Bamako, Mali, lasted five days followed by post-conference tours, and was attended by approximately 450 people.  

Proposed Conference Schedule:  The next Terra conference will be scheduled for 2012 so as not to coincide with the 17th ICOMOS General Assembly in the fall of 2011.

Aegis:  The Terra conference will occur under the aegis of ICOMOS and its specialist international scientific committee, ISCEAH.  ISCEAH will actively participate in the organization of the Terra conference by assisting in the selection of a separate Scientific Committee for the conference that will include the conference host, major partners and representatives of ISCEAH.  The purpose of the Conference Scientific Committee will be to assist in proposing program contents, recommend and review the selection of speakers, solicit sponsoring organizations, review the conference budget and venue for adequacy, request financial assistance for participants from developing countries, peer review submitted papers, etc.  In addition, ISCEAH will provide the following:

• Validation and branding of the event as being internationally recognized as part of the ICOMOS Terra events lineage
• Assistance in promoting the event worldwide through broad dissemination and website postings for the call for papers and the event itself
• Advisory support from past organizers via ICOMOS
• Help with acquiring financial assistance from countries, international organizations, foundations, etc. for travel and subsistence of speakers, students and delegates from developing countries
• Advice on the form and scope of publications
• Dissemination of the meeting’s conclusions through ICOMOS’s (www.icomos.org) and ISCEAH’s websites (http://isceah.icomos.org), newsletters, national and international committees

1st Submission:  Responders to this Call for Expressions of Interest are to prepare a preliminary proposal identifying the following:

• Location and feasibility of venue
• Relevance of location to earthen architectural, archaeological and cultural landscape heritage
• Tentative schedule
• Proposed partners, collaborators and sponsoring organizations
• Preliminary costs
• Proposed sources of funding
• Suggestions for the main theme of the conference and the relevance of its scientific and social aim as a tool for the development of communities, as well as on a territorial basis

Deadline for 1st Submission: 30 September 2008.

2nd Submission:  Responses will be reviewed and proposers informed of the results by 15 October 2008.  A short list of responder(s) will be asked to further develop their proposal(s):

• Details of venue (accessibility to major airports and other transportation, capacity of conference venue in terms of number of participants expected, quality of conference venue, costs to participants, etc.)
• Suggestions for main scientific sub-themes
• Timeliness and potential of the venue for addressing relevant issues in terms of the conservation of earthen architectural, archaeological and cultural landscape heritage
• Preliminary program (number of days, number of presentations, suggested post-conference tours, etc.)
• Detailed schedule
• Committed partners, collaborators and sponsoring organizations
• Developed costs
• Committed sources of funding and proposed methods of financing
• Details of publication of proceedings
• Languages

Deadline for 2nd Submission: 15 January 2009.  Proposer(s) will be informed of the results by 31 January 2009.

Formalization of Agreement:  Agreements with partners, collaborators, sponsoring organizations, conference host and ICOMOS/ISCEAH will be formalized and finalized within a year of notification.  The Conference Scientific Committee will be selected and in place by 31 March 2009.

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