Elections … for the International Geothermal Association, make sure to vote
IGA Board Meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, April 2016 (source: ThinkGeoEnergy)
Alexander Richter
27 May 2016
The elections are on for the Board of Directors of the International Geothermal Association (IGA). Make sure to make your voice heard in the industry's international association of the associations.
Representing the interests of the geothermal sector is a core element of geothermal associations, but they are doing a lot more to promote geothermal energy and the opportunities it provides. There are a number of different geothermal associations, some with a focus on education and research, some purely on representing industry aspects, others have a purely national focus, or a more of an international focus … and there is the International Geothermal Association (IGA).
Running again for board membership at IGA, more details here, I am seeking your support and vote, but more about this later.
The International Geothermal Association (IGA) functions as an “association of associations,” serving as a coordinating body for the international geothermal community. IGA was founded in 1988 and with approximately 5,000 individual and corporate members in 35 associations in 33 countries, it is the largest representation of the global geothermal energy industry. Its aim, as defined in the Charter of the Association, is to encourage, facilitate and, when appropriate, promote coordination of activities related to worldwide research, development and application of geothermal resources.
Having served on the Board of the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) in the U.S. and for the past several years on the Board of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA), I joined the Board of Directors of IGA in the fall of 2013.
Being German, based in Iceland, but working essentially globally put me into an interesting position within the board, despite being seen as an “Icelandic” board member. But my view has always been broad and focused on the international aspects of the industry.
The last three years taught me a lot on the functioning of the geothermal sector and the activities of associations. The fine people of the industry that invest their time, efforts – and often personal money – to drive the geothermal energy industry forward through their volunteer work on the Board are amazing. It has been a very diverse and unique group of individuals that worked over the past three years on the Board of IGA. Some have been part of the industry for nearly 40 years, some – like me – a “bit” shorter, but there has always been a great understanding and appreciation of all our views.
There have been things we all agreed on, things where we would not agree, things we debated extensively on and things were we made a huge impact for the industry. What is amazing is the genuine passion for geothermal energy among all of us.
I am grateful for having worked with this great group of individuals from all corners of the world and appreciate the hospitality of our hosts for all the board meetings in Germany, the Philippines, France, New Zealand, Mexico and last in Iceland.
From the beginning of my board membership, I had the ambitions to see how we can strengthen the role of IGA and the way we present ourselves to the outside world. So I joined three committees to learn more on how the association functions, but also look at ways how we can revisit some of the activities and tasks of IGA. So I passionately worked in the Programme & Planning, Information and Finance Committees, with a particular focus on strategy work, communication and visual identity.
We held a very interesting strategy session in Morelia, Mexico, where we discussed how we can strengthen IGA, its role and activities, but also its standing towards its membership, mostly being other geothermal associations, but also other members.
If re-elected to the IGA Board, I would like to continue that discussion and help strengthen efforts on the value provided to membership, enhance the visibility and standing of IGA, its member associations and geothermal energy in general.
If you are a member of a national geothermal association, you should have received details and login details for the election platform of IGA. More information about the election can be found here.
I am looking for your support and vote in these elections. If you have any questions, comments or thoughts to share, please drop me an email at:alex@thinkgeoenergy.com
For the full list of candidates for the IGA Board of Directors elections for the 2016-2019 period, see all the statements here: http://www.geothermal-energy.org/bod_election_2016/candidate_statements.html
