Medium-To-Long-Term

i. SLIG plans, in the long term, to ensure that all practice of geoscience in the country meets legislated and/or policy requirements and specifications for quality and ethics, and that these standards will conform to international best practice.
ii. SLIG intends to influence government policy to the extent that quality training opportunities are made available, and an enabling environment created to ensure parity with international experience.
Why we think this Institution is necessary?
SLIG is intended to serve as a vehicle to help Sierra Leonean geoscientists harness and nurture geoscience practice in the country, and to provide an opportunity for geoscientists to give unique and constructive service back to society.
As geoscience practice around the world evolves, Sierra Leonean professionals need to stay in step, and cannot rely primarily on external organizations to set the tone and pace for local performance and regulation. An Institution like SLIG is necessary to provide local context and quality control of best practice.

Gaps the SLIG intends to fill

Currently there are gaps in the following areas, which SLIG is positioning itself to address:
i. Regulation of professional practice
To date, there is no official organization or law to regulate the practice of geoscience in the country, and no standards exist that practitioners must adhere to. Thus, each consumer of geoscience service takes primary responsibility for the quality of the service that they employ, and there is a vast spectrum in the quality of services available. SLIG intends to eventually be in the position to carry out such regulation of practice, and is currently seeking appropriate legislation.
ii. Provide opportunities for in-career professional development
Beyond the university, whose primary geoscience support is the provision of undergraduate studies in Geology, opportunities are limited for professional career development locally. SLIG intends to position itself to promote professional training improvement in the form of short courses, seminars, conferences, and monthly technical presentations. For example, SLIG currently provides access to low-priced geological and mining software (MineMap IMS), and will hopefully provide further opportunities in other directions in the foreseeable future.
iii. Bringing geoscientists together around issues of common concern
Conferences, symposia, and panel discussions and other SLIG activities will be held that will bring practitioners in the industry together to jointly develop thought for progress in the relevant sectors.
iv. Manage the perceptions of geoscience and geoscience issues in the country
The Sierra Leonean society has little appreciation of the geoscience issues, and demonstrates limited understanding of geoscience role in nation building. SLIG intends to bridge that gap by establishing a robust public relations team that addresses geoscience concerns that are hitherto unaddressed. For example, the recent report about earthquake off the SL coast received huge silence from the geoscience community. Similarly, slope stability issues around the country continue to remain unaddressed. SLIG intends to address such gaps.
v. Networking
To provide a platform for the interaction and collaboration among geoscience professionals in Sierra Leone.