Actes du colloque

Proceedings of the 18

International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013

RELATIONSHIPS WITH SISTER SOCIETIES ISRM

AND IAEG AND WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL

BODIES

The President felt that FedIGS was a positive development with

the Sister Societies, in terms of general cooperation, but that it

required new direction, and less bureaucracy. At the moment

the Board included the Presidents, Past Presidents and the

Secretaries General of the sister societies and that this may need

to be reviewed in view of the possible additional members (IGS,

IAHR, ICOLD, ITA, etc). It needed to be flexible, and less

intensive. The next meeting would be in Stockholm in May

2012, and would be hosted by the ISRM.

Flor de Cock (Belgium) commented that this was a sensitive

issue in the Belgian Society, and that a good platform for

cooperation needed to strike the right balance between

independence and collaboration.

PRESENTATION OF AUDITED ACCOUNTS 2009, 2010

The Secretary General presented his report on the audited

accounts for 2009 and 2010 and the accounts are given in

Appendix 7.

Robert Holtz (USA) commented that at the Istanbul Council

Meeting it was reported that the Society would be without funds

by 2008, so it was heartening to see that its financial standing

was sound.

The motion to accept the accounts was proposed by Luiz de

Mello and seconded by George Heerten. Votes were cast as

detailed below:

Votes

For:

Against:

Abstentions: 2

The Audited accounts were thus approved.

BUDGET 2011 – 2013

Michael Davies presented the budget, which is given in

Appendix 8. Regarding the webinars, Michael Davies noted

that no income had been received yet, but that was not an issue,

as it was part of the outreach program and was covered by the

budget. Once the potential of the webinars programme to

generate income was known; it could be added to the budget.

He also presented a summary of the Foundation account from

its creation in 2010 to date. Following the award of grants from

the Foundation of £2,317 during 2010 and 2011, in October

2011 the funds held in the Foundation were £74,214.

ISSMGE FOUNDATION ACCOUNT - (to October 2011)

2010

2011

RECEIPTS

Donations

44,646

Transfer from ISSMGE general funds

32,000

Interest

TOTAL INCOME

76,660

EXPENDITURE

Grants

233

2,084

Audit fees and bank charges

109

TOTAL EXPENDITURE

342

2,135

OPENING BALANCE

76,318

CLOSING BALANCE

76,318

74,214

Tim Lansivaara (Finland) commented that the webinars

were a great way to reach members, and wondered if they could

be free. The President commented that the ASCE-GI charged

about USD350 per 60 min webinar, while ISSMGE was

planning on charging USD200 for a 90 minute session. The

President felt that it was reasonable to charge for such a service

since there were costs involved, and added that the charge was

per computer registered, so that the webinar could be

transmitted via a large screen to a greater audience, which

would bring the per capita cost down. The President then asked

the delegates if they thought charging was a reasonable policy.

George Heerten (Germany) thought the charge reasonable and

also that the speaker should not be paid. He asked if the

Foundation could be used to support the activity. Tim

Lansivaara (Finland) thought that would be sensible and the

Foundation should be promoted at the same time as advertising

webinars.

Robert Holtz (USA) proposed that the budget be accepted,

and this was seconded by Arsenio Negro (Brazil). Votes were

cast as detailed below:

Votes

For:

Against:

Abstentions: 2

The Budget for 2011- 2013 was approved.

ISSMGE 75 YEARS CELEBRATION

The President introduced this item, affirming that the driving

force behind the celebrations was the immediate Past President

Pedro Sêco e Pinto. Typically, this was a one hour session

involving the Past (represented by the past regional Vice-

president), the present (the present regional Vice President) and

the Future represented by a young members, most likely from

the SYMPG. Commemorative events had taken place at the

ICEG, and at the Asian, African, and European Regional

Conferences. The Pan-American edition would be held during

the conference, and the Australasian version would be held at

the Conference in Melbourne in 2012. A special issue of the

Bulletin was being planned in time for the International

Conference in Paris in 2013.

18TH ICSMGE - PARIS 2013

Roger Frank outlined the preparations that were well underway

for the 2013 International Conference in Paris. The themes

were already agreed and the Committees were working well.

The structure of the conference would be the same as used in

Alexandria with plenary sessions on the first two days followed

by parallel discussion sessions on the next two days. The

conference website had been created and this would be the

prime source of information for the event. The French Society

would retain copyright of papers at the conference so that they

can be later downloaded free of charge. It was anticipated that

early bird standard registration fee would be EUR600 and for

students EUR300. The iYGEC was being arranged

concurrently (from 31 August to 1 September) so that those

delegates would also have access to the plenary lectures.

The President commented that he was really looking

forward to the conference, and was excited about the various

Honours lectures. Roger Frank noted that there was expectation

that the honours lectures and the workshops fitted around the

central themes of the conference.

Ikuo Towhata (Appointed Board Member) asked if satellite

conferences could be organised before or after the conference.

Roger Frank said that both would be possible, and even during

the event itself as there were plenty of rooms available but that

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