The IGCP is a cooperative enterprise of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and IUGS (the International Union of Geological Sciences) and has been stimulating comparative studies in the Earth Sciences since 1972. After three decades of successful work, the "International Geological Correlation Programme" continued, as "International Geoscience Programme".

    Since its inception in 1972, the IGCP has been a research program designed to attain globally-homogeneous advancement of the geosciences so as to improve the prosperity of nations and the quality of human life. Over 300 projects in about 150 countries with the participation of thousands of Earth scientists, and a continuous flow of published results, attest to the scientific and applied quality of this program. All these initiatives have been enriched by high-quality scientific supervision aimed at obtaining maximum efficiency through better coordination of efforts in interdisciplinary approaches, international cooperation, evidence-based decision-making on national and international levels, and sharing of scientific knowledge.

    IGCP projects that has been active since 2011 focus on key geological issues for the people of today and are divided among the following five themes:

Earth Resources: Sustaining our Society

Global Change: Evidence from the geological record

Geohazards: Mitigating the risks

Hydrogeology: Geoscience of the water cycle

Geodynamic: Control our environment

The Programme has always built bridges between disciplines and between scientists, including young ones, with aims of stimulating cutting-edge research and sharing scientific knowledge for the benefit of all.