With around 450 days to go, everything’s pretty much going according to plan.

That was the consensus coming out of a meeting of the International Geological Congress Committee (IGCC) in Cape Town on 27 May 2015, a meeting dedicated to discussions on the 35^th International Geological Congress (IGC) to take place in the city on 26 August to 4 September 2016. The flagship event of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the congress hopes to draw some 6 000 delegates to South Africa.

Agenda items included the scientific programme for the Congress, publications to come out of the gathering, scheduled field trips, and progress on GeoHost, a programme to help young geology students get to the Congress. And early signs are that preparations are ticking along nicely.

“I’m rather convinced that the state of preparation is where it should be, and that we’re looking forward to a successful meeting,” reported IUGS president, Professor Roland   Oberhänsli “Of course the success doesn’t lie only in the organisation,” added Oberhaensli, “but in the fact that South African geology is so attractive to many people around the world.”

“The organisation is going fantastically well; we are on track to put on this highly important conference in Cape Town,” echoed Dr Jeannette McGill, co-president of the South African LOC. “We’re very happy with the progress, and they’re very happy with the progress.”

To give the IGCC a taste of what to expect in 2016, the LOC took them on a field trip, similar to one that will be offered to delegates. Under the seasoned eye of Dr John Rogers, former head of geology at the University of Cape Town, committee members received a comprehensive introduction to the geology of the Cape Peninsula. Stops included the contact zone in Sea Point where the Malmesbury Group was intruded by molten granite, a feature recorded by Charles Darwin in 1844 while on his famed voyage of discovery aboard the HMS Beagle.

“Field trips are always an integral part of any geological congress,” said Dr Greg Botha, co-president of the South African LOC. “It’s an opportunity for people who perhaps so far have only read about these rocks, to go and visit them with a specialist, to understand them in more detail.”

As has become standard for such IGCC meetings, the committee included members from previous IGC LOCs – there to share their experiences – as well as representation from the host country of the 36^th IGC, to be held in India in 2020.

From left: Wang Wei (director, IUGS Secretariat), Xu Yagi (part-time secretary, IGCC), Greg Botha (co-president, local organising committee, 35th ICG), Dr Shuwen Dong (IUGS treasurer), Prof Roland Oberhaensli (IUGS president), José P Calvo (secretary-general, IUGS), and John Rogers (field trip leader).