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Welcome to the International Section of the IACMST Web Site
The United Kingdom contributes substantially to international science and technology planning and programmes. Within the UK, highly developed consultative networks enable delegates to be briefed rapidly, tapping quickly into relevant professional and administrative expertise in order to focus on issues under scrutiny. The lead delegate system means that the Government Department or Institution with the primary interest carries responsibility for formulating a United Kingdom line, and ensures commitment and clarity in discussing and deciding issues in the international fora.
There is also a responsibility to provide feedback and to keep the United Kingdom community, including themselves, informed. This publication reports on how the United Kingdom interfaces with European, North Atlantic, North Sea and Global activities in marine science and technology. We know that those with an interest in the international dimension of marine science and technology find its wider perspective useful in the discharge of their own responsibilities.
The Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology (IACMST) includes, among its responsibilities, maintaining an overview of national and international activities in MST, and ensuring that there are satisfactory arrangements for the co-ordination of national and international MST activities.
The entries in this document have been prepared as a summary of UK international marine science and technology interests. They are not structured in a hierarchical sense. Some large international organisations have a small marine component (for example, FAO, UNEP), whereas for others (ICES, IOC) the marine interest is central. In some cases in this summary the focus is on programmes within the larger organisations, rather than on the organisations themselves.
Further pages will be prepared and published from time to time. The IACMST Secretariat (c/o Southampton Oceanography Centre, Empress Dock, Southampton, SO14 3ZH) welcomes suggestions for the content of future pages and, corrections and updates to the present ones. The information published here is also available from the IACMST Secretariat.
Access to the individual pages can be obtained either from an alphabetic listing on the Contents page or via a Summary Table where the organisations are loosely grouped according to regional interest and status.