Dear All,

Please note that among the various interesting workshops available this year being organized in association with the ECS Conference to be held in MALTA this March, there is the HALF DAY WORKSHOP ON ETHICS on Sunday the 22nd March 2016 AM.    

Please find more info below and book your seats soon :)

Developing Professional Ethics Guidelines for European Cetacean Researchers  

Workshop Organizer Contact:  ECM Parsons <ecm-parsons(at)earthlink.net>  

Many professional societies have developed professional ethical guidelines, such as the Society for Conservation Biology, the Society for Wetland Scientists and recently the Society for Marine Mammalogy.  However, situations have arisen in the European cetacean research field that are unique to the region and field; for example, issues affected by European national laws, customs or traditions.  This workshop aims to produce a specific set of ethical guidelines that deals with, and provides professional practice advice and guidance for, European scientists in the cetacean research field. These guidelines would reference:

• Research conduct
• The intersect with politics and policy 
• Dealing with the media 
• Publication ethics
• Working in other (developing) countries
• Respecting indigenous cultures
• Fund-raising and ethics
• Competition and bullying
• Equality issues (gender, sexual orientation and minorities)
• Inappropriate behavior (e.g., sexual harassment )
• Environmental impact of research
• Animal welfare

The workshop will start with a short introduction to the field of professional ethics, with examples of appropriate literature and hypothetical case studies. 
The workshop will then split into focus groups to discuss specific issues and ethical concerns, followed by one or more discussion sessions.

Proposed output: A set of proposed guidelines and short report for the ECS council 

Best wishes

ECS Conf 2015 organizing team