ICL strategic plan 2012–2021—To create a safer geo-environment

Abstract

The International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) was founded on 21 January 2002, during the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization–Kyoto University Joint Symposium on Landslide Risk Mitigation and Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage, as an activity of IGCP-425. In its first decade, ICL established the first scientific full-color journal Landslides, a new International Programme on Landslides, organized and held the First World Landslide Forum in 2008 and the Second World Landslide Forum in 2011, and recognized 15 World Centres of Excellence on Landslide Risk Reduction. A 10th anniversary conference was held on 17–20 January at the facility in which ICL’s founding meeting had been held. This conference was jointly organized by ICL and ICL-supporting organizations. During the conference, the ICL Strategic Plan 2012–2021: to create a safer geo-environment—was developed and adopted. This strategic plan accompanies this preface.

The ICL 10th anniversary conference

On 21 January 2012, International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) entered its second decade, calling for both celebration of ICL’s accomplishments and plans for the next decade of achievements. Ninety-six people from 23 countries met in Kyoto from 16–20 January 2012 to develop ICL’s Strategic Plan for 2012–2022 and to acknowledge the substantial accomplishments of ICL’s past decade. Participants represented ICL members and international organizations of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the United Nations University (UNU), the International Council for Science (ICSU), the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR), the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). Participants included key players of ICL and ICL supporting organizations through the first decade of ICL: Badaoui Rouhban (Director, Section for Disaster Reduction, UNESCO, draft writer of the 2002 Kyoto Declaration “Establishment of an International Consortium on Landslides”), Hans van Ginkel (Former Rector of UNU and the chairperson of the Independent Panel of Experts for the World Centre of Excellence on Landslide Risk Reduction (WCOE)), Salvano Briceno (Former Director of UNISDR, Chair of the Global Promotion Committee of International Programme on Landslides (IPL) and a senior adviser of ICL), Thomas Hofer (host of WLF2, Forestry Department of FAO), Wolfgang Eder (Former Director, Earth Science Section of UNESCO and technical advisor of ICL), Peter Bobrowsky (Secretary General of IUGS, Fomer Vice President of ICL) as well as ICL President-Paolo Canuti, ICL Executive Director Kyoji Sassa, and ICL vice presidents: Claudio Margottini (Chair of WLF2), Kaoru Takara (Japan) and Yueping Yin (China). The participants at the 10th Anniversary Conference are shown in Fig. 1.

Fig.1

Assembled attendees at the tenth anniversary of the founding of ICL in Kyoto on 18 January 2012

The need for ICL to have a strategic plan for its second decade was recognized at the ICL-organized Second World Landslide Forum in Rome, Italy on 3–9 October 2011 (Sassa et al. 2012). The ICL’s 10th anniversary in January 2012 provided a suitable occasion for key ICL participants to meet for such planning and this was financially supported by Japanese and International organizations.

Landslides: Journal of the International Consortium on Landslides

The first issue of the journal Landslides was published in April 2004, and Landslides became identified as a SCI journal by Thomson Reuters in 2005. The first Impact Factor for Landslides was 0.986, released in 2007. Landslides began as four issues, each with 80 pages = 320 pages/year. Since 2004, the number of contributions has increased substantially; in 2011, 154 manuscripts were submitted and 59 were accepted. The total number of printed pages in 2011 was 554 pages, and the impact factor in 2011 was 1.625. The achievements of Landslides are reviewed in Mikos (2011). The number of Landslides papers downloaded electronically from Springer WEB papers has steadily increased from 29,570 in 2008, to 42,665 in 2011 (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2

Number of downloaded papers in 2008–2011

After discussing the relative merits and demerits of quarterly versus bimonthly publication, and the need to increase the number of published pages, which is related to both the acceptance rate for papers and the length of individual papers, we have decided to change Landslides to a bimonthly journal, namely 6 issues, each with 100 pages = 600 pages/year. Frequent publication is both good for fast publication and as a tool for timely information dissemination, especially of ICL-IPL activities.

The increase in the number of papers submitted and in the number of published pages will create a greater editing load, although the cost of printing and mailing is not a problem. It is difficult to find an editor and reviewers suitable for every paper, as the editing and review of papers is by ICL members and cooperating members from around the world who volunteer to carry out editing for the journal, and must find the time in their busy schedule. Submitted papers are matched to suitable editors and reviewers, based on the classification of the submitted papers and the personal classification of editors and reviewers. The classification outlined in Landslides vol. 1, no. 1 has not always been suitable for this matching process. We have therefore examined and reduced the number of categories from 10 to 4. The old and new classifications are shown in Table 1. To facilitate identifying suitable editors and reviewers, minor classifications are neglected. Special consideration, however, is needed for papers that do not match any category in the classification. However, most papers can be categorized on the basis of the background science, the methodology, the application, and the type of landslides (see Table 1).

Table 1 Old and new classifications of submitted papers and personal classification of editors/reviewers

Request to editors and reviewers

The classification of submitted papers is to be changed from 1 June 2012. At the same time, the personal classification of editors and reviewers must be updated. We wish to minimize the transition period as much as possible for a smooth shift to the new classification. Every author can register as a reviewer in the WEB editing system of Editorial Manager of Springer.

http://www.editorialmanager.com/lasl/.

An editor will search for reviewers suitable for a submitted paper in the Editorial Manager, and reviewers will be assigned. Reviewers with substantial reviewing experience are requested to work as editors. Landslides involves multidisciplinary science and submitted papers cover diverse backgrounds. Without cooperation from landslide researchers as editors and reviewers, Landslides cannot succeed in the second decade of development as a bimonthly journal, beginning in 2013.

ICL strategic plan 2012–2021

An aim of the 10th anniversary ICL conference was to create the ICL strategic plan for the second decade. But the content and frame had not yet been decided. A small group of participants arriving in Kyoto on the afternoon on 16 January, one day before the conference, met to discuss a potential structure, content, and items to be covered by a “new” Strategic Plan of ICL. A potential sub-title of the Draft Strategic Plan was suggested: “Multi Hazard Approach to Landslides”. The plan’s content was to be structured in three chapters with the following items:

• 1. The first 10 years of ICL (2002–2011)

  • Initial mission

  • Achievements

  • Knowledge gaps (scientific or regional)

  • Relevance (why Landslide Research? The interest in human disasters)

  • Key questions (type of topics ICL tries to address)

• 2. The next decade: ICL 2012–2021

  • Widening the scope (thematic, institutional, and geographic)

  • International cooperation and partnerships

  • Sustainability (inviting young generations, etc.)

• 3. Plan of action

  • Objectives, activities and inputs (logical frame)

  • Regional and thematic networks

  • Implementation (members, fund raising, etc.)

The “Strategic Plan” could be published as a brochure plus an Appendix containing numerous abstracts and/or short papers of projects reflecting the objectives of ICL/IPL.

The first day of the conference on 17 January was allocated to proposals for regional and thematic networks. Establishment of regional and thematic networks are considered to effectively mobilize self-driven activities under the initiatives of ICL members. The proposed thematic networks and regional networks are as follow.

Thematic networks

• 1. Capacity Development Network

• 2. Landslide Risk Management Network

• 3. Landslide in Cold Regions

• 4. Landslide and Cultural & Natural Heritage Network

• 5. Landslide Monitoring and Warning Network

Regional networks

• 1. Adriatic–Balkan Network

• 2. South-East Asian Network

• 3. North-East Asian Network

• 4. Latin American Network

In addition to those, a Eurasian Terminology Network and the preliminary concept for an African Network were also presented. After that, the strategic plan was discussed. Numerous components for the Strategic Plan were proposed by the participants. A small working group met in the evening in order to streamline the inputs for the draft document of the Strategic Plan 2012–2021. The result was presented, discussed, and amended during the morning session of 18 January 2012. In the morning discussion of 18 January, Working document 1 was prepared. The afternoon was given to a ceremony of welcome, with an address by ICL President Paolo Canuti, the representative from the Government of Japan, Rikio Minamiyama of MEXT, and supporting addresses from UNESCO, UNISDR, FAO, UNU, IRDR, WFEO, IUGS, and Kyoto University. Recognition of Contribution to ICL and IPL activities and awards then were bestowed.

Appreciation of contribution to ICL and IPL activities

Badaoui Rouhban for contribution since ICL foundation 2002

Salvano Briceno for contribution for 2002–2011 as the Director of UNISDR

ICL conference award

Claudio Margottini for the Organization of the Second World Landslide Forum

2010 best paper award of Landslides

Christopher Massey, Vernon Manville, Graham H. Hancox, Harry J. Keys, Colin Lawrence and Mauri McSaveney: Out-burst flood (lahar) triggered by retrogressive landsliding, 18 March 2007 at Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand—a successful early warning. Landslides, 2010, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 303–315.

Recognition of contribution to ICL supporters

Kawasaki Geological Engineering Co., Ltd (Takeshi Kato), Kokusai Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Yoshiko Abe), Marui Co., Ltd. (Taketoshi Marui), Ohta Geo-Research Co., Ltd. (Hidemasa Ohta), Okuyama Boring Co. Ltd. (Shinro Abe), Osashi Technos Inc. (Maki Yano), OYO Cooperation Co. Ltd. (Wataru Nakagawa)

In the morning discussion of 19 January, Working document 2 for the strategic plan was prepared, and all items were examined and agreed upon. The ICL Strategic Plan was adopted, leaving its finalization to a working group. During the afternoon session, the steering committee of ICL received Claudio Margottini’s report on WLF2, and Yueping Yin presented the plans for WLF3 in 2014 in Beijing, Chin. The publication of ICL Journal Landslides in the second decade was examined and a presentation was made by the publishing editor of Earth Science at Springer, Johanna Schwarz. It was decided for Landslides to shift from a quarterly to a bimonthly journal. The final day, 20 January, was allocated to an IPL symposium. Eighteen papers were presented and 152 pages of proceedings were published and uploaded onto the IPL WEB. The final version of ICL’s strategic plan 2012–2021 was examined by the working group and finalized as below. It will be a milestone for ICL and IPL activities.