Isyp Information

Although student/young participation in Pugwash events was generally welcomed, persuading Pugwash to allow the formation of formal Student/Young Pugwash groups was a different matter altogether. The reservations of "senior" Pugwashites in this context mainly revolved around the desirability and feasibility of formal Student/Young Pugwash groups, and, if such groups were indeed allowed to be formed, what the exact nature of the relationship between these groups and Pugwash would be. The then Secretary-General of the Pugwash Conferences, Dr. Martin Kaplan, played an invaluable role in the process that led to the eventual decision to allow the formation of Student/Young Pugwash groups. Consequently, a group was established in 1979 when Jeff Leifer and some of his fellow students at the University of California in San Diego founded International Student Pugwash (renamed Student Pugwash USA, or SPUSA, in the early 1980s). In the same year, a Student Pugwash group was also launched in Canada. Since then, Student/Young Pugwash groups have been formed in over 30 countries around the world, in many cases with the direct involvement of Pugwash members. As time would prove, the successful development of Student/Young Pugwash activities required a symbiotic association with the "senior" Pugwash community, developing an intergenerational exchange of ideas and projects. Organising conferences for students and young professionals has been one of the most important activities of Student/Young Pugwash [6]. The first Student/Young Pugwash conference was organised in the Netherlands in 1988, followed by similar conferences in St. Petersburg, Russia (September 1990) and Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada (August 1992). In 1997 a Student/Young Pugwash conference was held in Lillehammer, Norway, prior to the annual Pugwash conference and thus initiated a tradition that has continued until today. To date, Student/Young Pugwash conferences have been held prior to the annual Pugwash Conferences in Metepec/Jurica, Mexico (1998), Rustenburg, South Africa (1999), Cambridge, UK (2000), Agra, India (2002), La Jolla, US (2002) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (2003), Seoul, South Korea (2004), and Hiroshima, Japan (2005). In nearly all of these cases, the Student/ Young Pugwash Conferences were organised by the local national Student/Young Pugwash groups with the help and support of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and the national Pugwash group in that country. In addition, two student Pugwash groups have held meetings which were associated to non-Pugwash events. In 2000 the Swedish Student/Young Pugwash group organised a student conference preceding the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES) Conference "Challenges for Science and Engineering in the 21st Century", while in 2001 the Danish Student/Young Pugwash Group convened a student conference prior to the Gender and Science A and Technology (GASAT) conference World Wise Wisdom socially responsible and gender inclusive Science and Technology". Student Pugwash USA, the Swiss, British and Togolese Student/Young Pugwash groups have also organised self-standing national and international conferences. Student Pugwash USA international conferences, held roughly every two years throughout the 1980s and 1990s, played an important role in fostering international communication prior to the establishment of regular ISYP conferences. During the Student/Young Pugwash Conference in Rustenburg, South Africa (1999), representatives from various national Student/Young Pugwash groups formally endorsed a proposal to establish an international Student/Young Pugwash organisation to improve, expand and coordinate the activities of national groups. An Advisory Committee was formed to investigate the feasibility of such an organisation, to be named International Student/Young Pugwash. The members of the committee were Paul Guinnessy (UK, chair), Hugo Estrella (Argentina) and Sandra Ionno Butcher (Student Pugwash USA), while Jeffrey Boutwell from the Pugwash Conferences participated in an advisory capacity. Having received financial assistance from the Norwegian Government (through the efforts from the Norwegian Student/Young Pugwash group) and Pugwash, the Committee invited applications for the position of an interim international coordinator for a six-month period from February to July 2000. Following Estrella's resignation from the Committee and subsequent appointment to the position of international coordinator, Tannia Falconer (Mexico) joined the Committee. At the Student/Young Pugwash Conference in Cambridge in July 2000, it was decided that a formally elected Interim Committee should replace the ad hoc Advisory Committee. During the election subsequently held in September 2000, the following persons were elected: Tom Borsen Hansen (Europe, Denmark, chair), Gina van Schalkwyk (Africa, South Africa), Hugo Estrella (Latin America, Argentina), Jin Xie (Asia, China), Susan Veres (North America and Australia, US), Carsten Rohr (UK), and Lise Østby (Norway). In addition, Sir Joseph Rotblat, President Emeritus of Pugwash, served on the Committee as non-voting advisory member and liaison with the Pugwash Council.