SPONSORS

To date, almost all funding for sampling based on recommendations by Darnley et al. (1995) has come from government agencies, mostly national geological surveys, within those countries conducting geochemical mapping projects.  In the decade-long effort that led to the publication of the two-volume Geochemical Atlas of Europe [http://www.gtk.fi/publ/foregsatlas/], funds were provided by the following: 

One of the functions of the Task Group is to seek additional funding for these activities.   Any company or institution interested in providing financial support for geochemical mapping projects should contact Alecos Demetriades (E-mail: ademetriades@igme.gr).

Some projects are also receiving support from the private sector:  In 2005, the geotechnical company GeoInvest Ltd. (http://www.geoinvest-cy.com) financed the floodplain sediment sampling in the part of Cyprus controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.  The samples have been prepared, according to the specifications of the IUGS/IAGC/EuroGeoSurveys project (Salminen, Tarvainen et al., 1998) by the Cyprus Geological Survey Department [http://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/gsd/gsd.nsf/], and BGR in Germany [http://www.bgr.bund.de]   has agreed to analyse the floodplain sediment samples for total element concentrations by XRF on a free gratis basis.

Regarding sponsorship by:

(a) Public Welfare Foundations and Public Organisations:  Their public welfare role will be in fact verified, since this particular project is truly for the common good, because the resulting data and information will be very useful to humanity as a whole, for they will contribute to the improvement of living conditions on our home planet Earth.

(b) Companies, Banks and Individuals:  They will raise their public image, since they will donate part of their profits to improve the living conditions of their customers, proving, therefore, that they are not only interested in profit.

(c) Scientific Societies and Institutions:  They will show to people from all walks of life that they are interested in producing information, which is not only relevant to science, but also of practical importance to people and their quality of life.

Benefits to all sponsors:  Their sponsorship will be continuously advertised, through the project’s internet site (with hot links to their Websites), because the resulting information will be of interest not only to the present, but to all future generations.  Their contribution will also be mentioned in all presentations at conferences and in printed material (scientific and popular magazines of large circulation), both at the national and international level.  Results will also be published in books and booklets, in easy to understand language, to be used in schools for the environmental education of pupils and students, but also for the general public.  Further, project information will be distributed in exhibitions with international participation, but also at international events, such as the International Day of the Environment, the International Day of Children, the International Day of Geological Inheritance, etc.  All sponsors will receive, therefore, the greatest possible return for their donation.