BGS Global Geoscience 2016-17: geoscience for sustainable futures

International work in BGS is entering a new and exciting phase of applied research. As part of the UK Governments initiative to increase investment on overseas development research a proportion of BGS — NERC funding has been re-aligned to focus on the UN 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). BGS Global will now lead an integrated Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) programme worth £7.3 M over the next 3 years. As a result, the BGS Global team is expanding and is now joined by Jo Mankelow, Diarmad Campbell, Colm Jordan, Keely Mills and Joel Gill; Mike Ellis will head up a new project on catchment science and observatories. Together, we will deliver an ambitious multi-topic programme across 13 countries and seek to attract GCRF and Newton funding to enhance the primary research aims. Under the banner of Geoscience for Sustainable Futures, BGS will integrate our technologies and expertise into three interlinked research platforms each with a set of coherent objectives to explore the interfaces between human and earth sciences. The research will be co-designed and co-developed using participatory workshops to build sustainable networks of scientists, policy makers, NGOs, and communities in the identified countries. It will deliver not only research papers and new data but impact that makes a difference to lives and livelihoods. In order to understand and phrase the research questions partnerships are key and Memoranda of Understanding and research agreements have already been signed with various institutes and geological agencies in Kenya, Vietnam, India, Malaysia and island states in the Caribbean. The BGS ODA programme builds on our extensive overseas experience and formally commenced in April 2017 with funding confirmed up to 2020. In the following pages examples of the types of project activities we will develop are described including, looking at the incidence of cancer in E Africa and potential links to soil chemistry, sub-urban planning for disaster resilient cities in SE Asia, geohazards in India, Malaysia and Ecuador and lakes and wetlands studies in China and Uganda. In addition, informatics and management of data systems will also be a key element in the ODA programme. In in 2016 BGS delivered a new geology app for UAE and is currently trialling a volcanic app in the Caribbean. The BGS digital mapping system SIGMA is now widely used around the world and increasingly being customised to key sectors. BGS is actively seeking partners across the wider research community and if you are interested in developing our understanding of human-earth systems then please get in touch. In other project work, offshore BGS teams have been involved in mapping seabed geology and geohazards with ARUP in UAE and our deep water drilling rig has been in operation drilling black smokers on the Mid-Atlantic ridge and in part of an international research team investigating the Chixilub impact crater. Finally, the Department for International Development (DFID) Investment Facility for Utilising UK Specialist Expertise (IFUSE) programme has been an important element of BGS Global activities in 2016. In West Africa, the DFID supported post-ebola programme in Liberia will finish in 2017 and in Sierra Leone deployments to the minerals and hydrocarbon sectors are opening up new opportunities. IFUSE deployments also took place in, South Africa for training in digital map production, in Morocco on digital capture and release of the national mapping dataset and in Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic on capacity building in geodata and laboratory facilities in conjunction with the German and Finnish geological surveys.