Emerging Professionals Involvement Program

Definition of an Emerging Professional, and its application within IPHC

The IPHC By-laws (based largely on the ICOMOS template) say:

7. Emerging Professionals

7.1 An Emerging Professional means an individual member of ICOMOS who is a student or at an early stage of his/her professional career.

7.2 Emerging Professionals are recognised within ICOMOS to maintain scientific relevance for future generations and to achieve intergenerational engagement to secure the organisation's continuity, including through mentorship.

7.3 An Emerging Professional may be an Expert Member or an Associate Member and in this regard shall have the same rights and obligations that are accorded to each of those types of membership.

7.4 The IPHC shall encourage Emerging Professionals to join its work, introduce mentorship programmes, and strive towards achieving a 20% composition of Emerging Professional Members within the IPHC. At least one Emerging Professional shall be invited to join the Bureau of the IPHC as an observer without voting rights.

7.5 A member identified by the Committee as an Emerging Professional shall cease to be regarded in this category after a period of five years.

The complication for the IPHC is that some of its members who might qualify in terms of being early in their careers are not ICOMOS members, but are Non-ICOMOS Affiliates. While they are encouraged to become ICOMOS members, this is sometimes difficult to achieve or not particularly relevant to their career track in some countries.

This being the case, the IPHC takes a broader approach, providing opportunities for all early career members to participate actively in the business of the organisation, fostering a multi-generational voice for the organisation. The two approaches through which this aim is implemented are as follows:

Short-term EP participation in the ExCom meetings

EPs will be invited by way of email notices to join in ExCom meetings for six-month periods. There will be two such positions, staggered by three months to enable better transmission of experience between the members. Each EP would have one or two specific tasks allocated to them in that time, partnered by an ExCom mentor, and these tasks will form part of the advertising for the position. Tasks might include undertaking a piece of research or administrative work, achievable within the six months, for the ExCom. (eg helping draft IPHC submissions, undertaking tasks for Working Groups, gathering information for new IPHC Information Papers or their updating, preparing or organising others to provide materials for presentation on the IPHC website.). Each EP would also be asked to seek expressions of interest among the EP cohort (following advertisement of the position by ExCom) for the next EP to replace them as representative in the program, and to arrange their joining the ExCom meeting at the time of their appointment.

Longer-term EP Internship 

EPs will be invited by way of email notices to nominate for the position of ExCom EP Intern for a period of one year, to undertake one or several more complex specific tasks for the committee, partnered by an ExCom mentor, and these tasks will form part of the advertising for the position. These might include the organisation or IPHC sessions at conferences; EP representation at wider polar forums or events; development of IPHC Information papers or major reviewing; coordinating the development of web-based products for the IPHC website etc. The term of the Internship may be extended at the discretion of the ExCom to enable a project to be completed if it extends beyond the one year appointment.

Depending on the availability at any given time of EPs to participate in these opportunities, and the nature of the tasks to be undertaken, the ExCom may choose to extend the advertising of the positions to the broader IPHC Membership. 

Broader involvement opportunities

The IPHC ExCom will actively encourage the involvement of EPs as members of Working Groups set up by the IPHC. The presence of EPs on WGs is seen as an important opportunity for EPs to both broaden their experience and to contribute directly to the development of IPHC reports, submissions, policies and information materials. 

The IPHC ExCom will likewise actively encourage the involvement of EPs in any other events and activities of the organisation.

October 2021