Preparation telecon for 2022 Sea Level Conference

A preparation teleconference for the 2022 Sea Level Conference was organized on 19th October 2021, with the participation of the WCRP Sea Level Grand Challenge (GC) co-chairs and members, local organizers and ICPO staff. The main issues covered by the telecon were: moving to a new pre-registration system; decision on translation services; budget and registration fee; conference programme and invited speakers, the call for papers and posters as well as the GC activities after the conference. The major outcomes of the telecon include:

  1. As of 20th October 2021, the total number of pre-registrations through the CLIVAR website is 192. ICPO will close the current system and add a note to redirect people to pre-register through the new conference website;
  2. The translation service will be dropped for now as it complicates the matters an remains unclear about what is required. The issue might be revisited when the Practitioner Day arrangement is clear and the specifications can be written;
  3. The suggested fee for early bird and late registration distinguished by Regular and Early Career Scientist for both in-person and online participation were discussed by referring the AGU rate. However, several committee members expressed their concerns to avoid high rate of registration fee. As the 2nd Sea Level Conference to be held in Asia is intended to attract more participants from Asian countries, and majority of which are less developed and cannot afford the high registration cost. We could probably waiver or lower the registration fee for participants from the Global South, and on the other hand, we need to seek more funding support from other sources to cover both the registration and travel cost for people who may have difficulty to afford the costs.
  4. The conference programme is being finalized by Robert and Roderik, and to be shared shortly. During the opening ceremony, representatives from Singapore government, IPCC, WCRP and other groups are considered and  the keynote speakers will also be identified and invited as soon as possible before the next preparation telecon;
  5. The Call for Papers and Posters is to be released in later November 2021 and closed in February 2022;
  6. As the SL GC will sunset with the conference, the group will try to organize some activities after the conference to discuss the future of the GC in the context of WCRP, as well as to maximum the engagement with local institutes;
  7. The next preparation telecon will be organized on 2 November.