Minutes, Business Meeting of the IGU Commission/ICA Working Group on Toponymy, held in the framework of the IGU Regional Conference, Cracow,Poland, 21 August 2014, 16.00-17.45

Provisional Agenda

1. Opening
2. Adoption of the Agenda
3. Report on activities since the Kyoto IGU Regional Conference
4. Paper by Paulo de Menezes
5. Future activities
6. Other business
7. Closure

Ad 1) Opening

PALAGIANO in his capacity of the IGU chair of the joint ICA/IGU WG/Commission opens the meeting and welcomes the participants. He mentions that the joint WG/Commission is now in its third year of operation and thanks especially JORDAN, but also DE MENEZES for their valuable cooperation.

Ad 2) Adoption of the Agenda

Taking into account that time may be limited due to the early departure to the gala dinner, JORDAN proposes to take item 5 of the provisional agenda before item 4 in order not to get under time pressure when dealing with the real business items. The proposal is accepted and results in the following final agenda:

3 Report on activities since the Kyoto IGU Regional Conference

4 Future activities

5 Paper by Paulo de Menezes

6 Other business

7 Closure
Ad 3) Report on activities since the Kyoto IGU Regional Conference

PALAGIANO reminds of the IGU Regional Conference in Kyoto, August 2013, where the WG/Commission had organized a session and thanks the organizer of this session, WATANABE. He announces that the proceedings of the Kyoto session to be published in a journal of his La Sapienza University will appear in September 2014. The delay is due to the fact that one of the contributions had been received rather late. He further mentions the joint seminar on historical maps, atlases and toponymy in Leipzig, August 2013, jointly organized by three ICA Commissions /WG (ICA Commission on Atlases, ICA Commission on the History of Cartography WG/Commission on Toponymy). Also the proceedings of this seminar are still to appear as a volume of a book series of the hosting Leibniz Institute of Regional Geography [Leibniz Institut für Länderkunde]. Finally PALAGIANO refers to a presentation of the WG/Commission during the 28th UNGEGN Session 2 in New York, May 2014.

Ad 4) Future activities

PALAGIANO hints at the symposion on place-names changes in Rome, 17-18 November 2014. 40 papers have already been selected for presentation, but the deadline is still open up to 15 September 2014. JORDAN confirms his offer to have the proceedings published in the book series Name & Place, edited by Paul Woodman and himself.At the IGU Regional Conference in Moscow, 17-21 August 2015, neither DE MENEZES nor JORDAN can be present due to obligations at ICC Rio de Janeiro, 23-28 August 2015, and a pre-conference seminar in Rio to be organized and attended by them. JORDAN approaches therefore HERZEN from the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow asking him to function as the organizer of a WG/Commission’s toponymic session. HERZEN in principle agrees asking for support as regards addresses for the dissemination of the call etc. JORDAN offers any kind of support requested.
RAPER proposes to organize a symposion on toponymy in South Africa in the third or fourth week of September 2015, or the first week in October, depending on financial and other organizational preconditions. This is warmly welcomed by JORDAN, who emphasizes the great relevance and experience of South Africa in this field. CHOO suggests to develop the theme “place-names changes” into a series of symposia with a growing penetration into more specific subitems. MACHA raises the concern that this would reduce participation, since symposia on subitems will
attract rather a smaller group. Finally, RAPER receives all support from the meeting as regards his proposal for a next symposion on place-names in South Africa in 2015. DE MENEZES explained that will be proposed to the 16th ICA General Assembly, during the ICC2015 in August, 2015, Rio de Janeiro, the change of the current Joint IGU/ICA Working Group/ Commission on Toponymy to a new Joint IGU/ICA Commission on Toponymy, once the ICA Working Group will complete four years and present all conditions to be changed to a ICA Commission. Once the joint IGU/ICA model worked very well during three years, having large demand on both organizations, it will be asked to the new ICA Commission on Toponymy, continues working jointly with IGU Commission under the same model previously used.

Ad 5) Paper by Paulo de Menezes

DE MENEZES presents a paper on “Toponymy on Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil: From Historical to Actual Maps – Research State of Art”.

Ad 6) Other businesses

JORDAN raises the question, whether also the 18 papers of the toponymic session in Cracow are’nt to be published as proceedings. He mentions that – although having been the organizer of this session – he would be overburdened by this task due to other publication projects he is conducting at the moment. He asks, whether there was somebody willing to function as the responsible editor of these proceedings. ZAGÓRSKI offers to take this responsibility provided that the Polish Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography would be ready to publish the book for free as it has done it with the proceedings of the Gdańsk meeting of the UNGEGN Working Group on Exonyms in 2012. He also hints at the necessity to engage an English native speaker for cheking the English style. JORDAN mentions the British UNGEGN delegates as an opportunity and offers his support as 3regards the collection of papers. ZAGÓRSKI’s offer if warmly welcomed and it is agreed upon that the procedure should run as follows:
(1) Based on these minutes ZAGÓRSKI will ask the Polish Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography, whether it was willing to publish the proceedings for
free. (2) Should the Head Office agree, an English native speaker for proof reading has to be found. (3) All this provided, ZAGÓRSKI will shoulder the task of the responsible editor doing all the basic editorial work.

Ad 7) Closure

PALAGIANO closes the meeting and thanks all the participants for coming.

Vienna, 30 August 2014

Peter Jordan m.p.

Enclosure: List of participants

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