other Earth sciences societies and groups throughout the world. Also by that draft, the Assembly would encourage Member States, the United Nations system and other actors to use the Year to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences in achieving sustainable development and promoting local, national, regional and international action. Background The project was backed by the following founding partners: International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) International Geographical Union International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) International Lithosphere Programme (ILP) National Geological Survey of the Netherlands (NITG-TNO) Geological Society of London International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC) A consortium of the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAEG) International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) American Geological Institute (AGI) American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) The Year was also supported by 23 Associate Partners, including all major international geoscientific and other relevant organisations: International Council for Science (ICSU) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) International Permafrost Association (IPA) International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits (IAGOD) Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) European Federation of Geoscientists (EFG) African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE) Science Council of Asia (SCA) European Association for the Conservation of the Geological Heritage (ProGEO) Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP) Geological Society of Africa (GSAf) United Nations University (UNU) Association of Geoscientists for International Development (AGID) United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) North-eastern Science Foundation (USA) (NESF) Association of American State Geologists (AASG) International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) Geological Society of America (GSA) North American Committee for Stratigraphic Nomenclature (NACSN) Objectives The Year's stated objective was to: Reduce risks for society caused by natural and human-induced hazards, reduce health problems by improving understanding of the medical aspects of Earth science, discover new natural resources and make them available in a sustainable manner, build safer structures and expand urban areas, utilizing natural subsurface conditions, determine the non-human factor in climatic change, enhance understanding of the occurrence of natural resources so as to contribute to efforts to reduce political tension, detect deep and poorly accessible groundwater resources, improve understanding