Events & Courses

Course overview

What is Geoethics?

All branches of geosciences have cultural, social and ethical implications. Geoscientists are becoming increasingly aware of their ethical responsibilities to serve society and foster public trust in geosciences. Geoethics aims to provide a common framework to responsibly manage questions such as geo-resources, geological risks, pollution, geoheritage, as well as geoscience-society-policy interaction.

Geoethics consists of research and reflection on the values which underpin appropriate behaviours and practices, wherever human activities interact with the Earth system. They identify and orient responsible behaviours and actions in the management of natural processes, redefining the human interaction with the Earth system based on a critical, scientifically grounded, and pragmatic approach. Solid scientific knowledge and a philosophical reference framework are crucial to face the current ecological crisis. The scientific perspective must be structured to help different human contexts while respecting social and cultural diversity.

Geoethics is proposed as a new reading key to rethinking the Earth as a system of complex relationships, in which the human being is an integral part of natural interactions.

It is increasingly clear that the current ecological crisis cannot be faced only from a technical point of view, but also requires a profound change in the interpretative paradigms of the world in which we live. Geoethics provides new keys to understanding reality and the role of geosciences in dealing with the complexity and uncertainty of modern societies and in changing the ways in which human beings interact with the natural environment.

Learning Objectives

1. Knowledge: the primary goal is to introduce the participants to the foundations of geoethics and its theoretical structure.
2. Raising awareness: participants will increase the awareness on the value, meaning and importance of the ethical and social issues affecting geosciences.
3. Sense making: geosciences are commonly considered as a set of technical-scientific disciplines. However, the course also aims to highlight their cultural value and importance for making ethical decisions for the benefit of society and the environment.
4. Mind shifting: geoethics is a new way of thinking and practising geosciences that can help changing the interaction between human beings and the Earth system. This and other related aspects will be highlighted during the course.
5. Providing tools: geoethics is now a well-established discipline, founded on a significant number of publications, documents, videos, etc. Participants will be provided with information about resources on geoethics.

Programme

This course will be held virtually over four days, with each module lasting two hours, on 26 March, 2 April,  9 April and 16 April 2025, starting at 16:00 GMT/BST and ending at approximately 18:00 GMT/BST.

This course aims to illustrate the theoretical foundations of geoethics, providing the categories, principles and values that underlie its conceptual framework.

The course will start discussing the definition of geoethics and after an excursus on the roots of geoethical thought and on the development of geoethics, the structure of geoethics will be described with references to environmental ethics. In particular, the fundamental and aspirational principles of geoethics, its relational domains, the reference values for each domain, its main characteristics will be discussed.

The course will then move on to address the application of geoethical thinking to important questions related to geosciences.

The course will be organised in modules:

Module 1: 26 March 2025, 16:00–18:00 GMT

• Definition of geoethics, roots of geoethical thought, development of geoethics.
• Structure of geoethics, geoethical domains, principles and values, issues and dilemmas, main characteristics of geoethics.
• Professionalism and integrity of research.

• Socio-economic implications of geosciences.
• Responsible management of natural resources and sustainability.

• Geoethical issues in georisks and disaster risk reduction.
• L'Aquila Earthquake case and the New Zealand volcanic eruption case
• Ethical and societal relevance of geoheritage and geodiversity.

• Climate change and aspects of climate and intergenerational justice.
• The concept of Anthropocene.
• Geoethics applied to specific issues: deep sea mining and geoengineering.

Speakers

Silvia Peppoloni & Giuseppe Di Capua

International Association for Promoting Geoethics (IAPG), Italy – Commission on Geoethics of the International Union of Geological Sciences

Location

This course will be delivered virtually via Zoom. Joining details will be sent out the day prior, alongside any course materials that may be needed.

Fees (including early-bird rate)

* Early-bird discount applicable for all registrations until 26 January 2025. Simply select your delegate type on the registration form and the discount will be applied and reflected in the payment section at the bottom of the registration form.*

Group Discounts

We offer competitive group discounts on all Training Courses:
5 – 9 delegates: 20% off
10 – 14 delegates: 25% off
15 delegates or more: 30% off

For more information on how to access the Group Discount, please email [email protected]

Concessions

We offer students a generous discount. Please verify your student status by either registering with your student email address, or uploading a photograph of your student identification/acceptance letter.

The Society offers a limited number of concessionary rates for those in financial hardship. Contact [email protected] (Please note you may be required to provide details/evidence to support your application for this.)

If you require an invoice to register for this course, please email [email protected]

Registration will close 24 hours before the event takes place.

GSL reserves the right to postpone or cancel a Training Course in the event of low interest. In this instance, a full refund will be offered for registration fees.