IUGG in the 21st century

The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) has vigorously responded to a number of the natural, scientific, and technological challenges and driving forces that have marked the 21st century thus far. This paper reviews the actions of the Union that were precipitated by disasters caused by natural hazard events, climatic and environmental changes, and important scientific advances, as well as the opportunities to support International Years and other cooperative programs. This period has also given rise to a number of structural changes within the Union. IUGG added an eighth association, the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences, and inaugurated the new categories of affiliate and honorary memberships, introduced new grants, science education, and recognition programs, and formed new Union commissions on climatic and environmental change, data and information, planetary sciences, and a working group on history. Electronic communication was welcomed as a cultural norm. Overall, the development of the scientific landscape in the 21st century and a healthy future for the Union requires emphasis on fundamental Earth and space sciences as well as on transdisciplinary science to resolve urgent problems of society. IUGG will continue to evolve throughout the coming decades in step with the changing world of science and its international organizations, by responding to challenging problems as they arise.