Special Interest Groups (SIGs) were agreed by the PASCAL Board as part of a recent review of PASCAL structures in order to give focus to the advice required by the Board in particular areas of its work; PASCAL is therefore now establishing a series of these SIGs.

The Groups will have a membership generally of 6 to 8 people, with a mixed membership drawn from academics and practitioners in the public, private and NGO sectors and will have a wide geographical spread and gender balance so far as possible. The members of the Groups will serve for up to 3 years with the possibility of renewal and the Groups will report to the Board at least annually with the invitation to report more frequently when needed.

The Groups will  communicate electronically, meet face-to-face annually and post think pieces to the PASCAL website on topics where contributions from the wider membership would add value. Therefore it is envisaged that the Groups will not only advise the Board, but will also provide content for the website.

All members of PASCAL are urged to follow the work of the Groups, contributing views and comments. PASCAL members are strongly encouraged to support and become active members of the SIGs as they develop.  

The first SIG to be established, Public Sector Interface, will be chaired by Dr Ilpo Laitinen of the city of Helsinki with a focus on the interface between PASCAL and the public policy sectors, and reports directly to the Board. The other members are:

• Peter Welsh (United Kingdom)
• Jane Niall (Australia}
• Norm Walzer (United States)
• Frédérique Bonnard (Atlantic Arc Cities – France)
• Blanca García (Mexico, LATAM)
• Vijay Jagannathan (Citynet, South-Korea)
• Willie van der Schyf (Councillor, South Africa, City of Johannesburg)
• Dermot Coughlan (Ireland)

Dedicated sections will be created on the PASCAL website featuring contributions from each of the SIGs together with discussions and comments from other PASCAL members.

Those interested in participating in the PASCAL SIG programme and perhaps creating your own interest area should contact Chris Shepherd.