The International Year of Caves and Karst (IYCK) was created to teach people around the world about caves and karst. Organized by the International Union of Speleology (UIS), we now have 183 national and international organizations partnering with us. Together we have 110 upcoming events announced around the world and 79 other events are already complete, most of which you can watch or read about at http://iyck2021.org/index.php/event-results/.
The biggest single event for the International Year is the International Congress of Speleology (https://uis2021.speleos.fr/) which has been posted to July 2022 because of the pandemic. As a result, the UIS Bureau has decided to extend the International Year through 2022. We have contacted our partners directly so they can plan events through next year. We suggest 2021 as the virtual International Year, and as conditions improve with the pandemic we hope 2022 will be the in-person International Year when we can plan and celebrate events when we are truly together.
We encourage all of you as individuals and organizations to join us in reaching out to the world about the importance of caves and karst. Remember, the International Year website (www.iyck2021.org) has a Download page with the logo, posters, a video, and other resources you are free to use. The most important at the two Planning Guides, one for virtual events and one for when we can gather physically. They will give you many ideas of things you can do to support the International Year of Caves and Karst. Remember, no event is too small. It is all important. And please post all your events and their results on the International Year website to the address near the top of the Events pages.
Join us! And visit the UIS Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/uisspeleo), UIS Twitter account (https://twitter.com/uisspeleo), and/or the UIS Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/uisspeleo/).
George Veni
President, International Union of Speleology