WORKING GROUPS
Version June 2024
1. WG Officers and Activities
ISPRS Working Groups (WGs), under the direction of the respective Commissions, are responsible for the scientific work of the Society. Working group officers are one Chairperson, a maximum of two Co-Chairs and one WG secretary. The responsibility for running the WG rests with the Chairperson. The Co-Chair and the Secretary assist the Chairperson in carrying out the activities.
WG officers organise the scientific activities of the WG, covering its areas of interest, according to the Terms of Reference (ToR) prepared in coordination with their TCP and approved by Council. WG activities may include specific research topics, tests, case studies, questionnaires, and other tasks of interest to the TC and ISPRS.
The Council and TCPs entrust each WG with the responsibility to address those Resolutions that have been approved by the General Assembly and are relevant to the WG. WG ToRs should be developed, addressed and status reported so that they reflect the essence of Resolutions and previous work in the area.
The officers shall be financially capable of attending the Symposium of the relevant TC (or TCs in the case of Inter-Commission WGs), the two Geospatial Weeks and the following Congress, to report on WG activities.
A WG can select individual members according to their expertise in the area of interest of the WG. In selecting individual members, WG officers should strive to include researchers from related inter-disciplinary areas.
All candidates for WG Chairs and Co-Chairs must sign a letter (see end of last section) accepting these guidelines as conditions of appointment by Council. Council has the final say in the composition and ToRs of WGs and may override decisions of the TC if needed.
2. Meetings, Symposium and Congress
WG officers are expected to organise ISPRS events and ISPRS co-sponsored events, preferably during the odd-numbered years between Congresses and Symposia. These events may take the form of a workshop, tutorial, seminar, or colloquium, see also appendix 2. Due consideration should be given to the possibility to organise the event as part of the ISPRS Geospatial Week. All events organised under the name of ISPRS must be approved by Council through the Secretary General prior to their announcement (see appendix 3 for the related form). This approval process will avoid clashes of dates of ISPRS meetings of like topics.
Events can be held in conjunction with other events provided they have their own identity, or they may be organised as separate events.
It is recommended to use ConfTool Conference Management System for these events. If this system is used, and a list of participants incl. names and addresses is provided to ISPRS with agreement of the participants, ISPRS will pay for the cost of the system.
Council requires a draft programme for Symposia and major workshops to be presented and approved at the Joint Meeting which will be held in the autumn of the Congress year. WG officers should submit their draft programme to their TCP in due time.
All WG officers are expected to attend the Symposium, the two Geospatial Weeks and the Congress, and to assist the TCP in preparing the technical programme of the Symposium and Congress sessions of the TC incl. reviewing abstracts and full papers.
3. Publications, Reports, and Communication
All contributions submitted to an ISPRS event are published online and under the Creative Commons licence in the Archives (if abstract reviewed) or the Annals (if full-paper double-blind reviewed), see also appendices 4. Specifications for preparation are given in the ISPRS Guidelines for Authors (see appendix 5); organisers of ISPRS events are responsible that these guidelines are followed. Publication must occur through Copernicus GmbH, see also appendix 2.
Except for rare cases such as an event organised by an ISPRS Committee, e.g. CIPA, proceedings of ISPRS co-sponsored events do not appear in either Archives or Annals and they are not handled through Copernicus GmbH; publication should instead be coordinated with the main event organiser.
A report on all ISPRS events and ISPRS co-sponsored events must be submitted by the WG officers to the Secretary General for publication in the ISPRS eBulletin no later than three months after the event.
Upon request WG Chairs/Co-Chairs should submit contributions to their TCP for inclusion into the ISPRS Biennial Report, as described in appendix 6. WG officers should publicise their activities through the ISPRS eBulletin. The text for these entries, prepared by the WG, should be submitted to the Secretary General.
To ensure regular communication with all parties interested in the WG activities, WG officers are encouraged to develop and maintain their own home pages, see appendix 7 for details. The provision of links between Commission, WG home pages and the ISPRS Home Page, and vice versa, must be coordinated with the ISPRS Web Master. WG officers should also distribute the ISPRS eBulletin to all interested parties.
It is essential for the progress of the scientific activities of ISPRS, that WG officers maintain contact with Council through their TCP. The first contact point for WG officers should be the appropriate TCP. However, if there are issues that will involve the Council the Secretary General should be contacted.
4. Changes to Working Group Officers
If a WG officer is unable to continue serving in the position he/she must notify the TCP promptly, preferably with a recommendation for replacement.
If a WG has been found to be inactive, it will be dissolved on initiative of the President of the Commission concerned, or the Council.