The 28th IUGG General Assembly (IUGG2023) will be held from 11 to 20 July 2023 at the CityCube in Berlin, Germany.

This General Assembly is a special opportunity for participants from around the world to come together and discuss the full range of geodetic and geophysical themes, and further enhance the important interdisciplinary collaboration for a better understanding of our Earth System. IUGG2023 will provide a platform for personal meetings, exchange of ideas and developing new concepts for international science collaboration, all of which have suffered a setback during this pandemic crisis. IUGG2023 will help to create a new spirit to address pressing large societal challenges such as global environmental change and natural hazards and to stimulate novel geoscience research.

The Berlin-Brandenburg region has one of the largest geoscientific clusters in the world. Participants will have a unique opportunity to meet their scientific partners from many projects in person, here in Berlin, or to combine this with a visit to the research organizations GFZ, AWI or DLR. We are planning an exciting excursion program, in particular, an attractive program for young scientists to provide them with opportunities for exchange, presentation and discussion beyond the sessions.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the city of Berlin changed significantly, transforming into the dynamic, creative and highly innovative cosmopolitan capital of today’s Germany. As a visitor you come to understand why Berlin is ranked as one of the most liveable cities, with its many sights, attractions and UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and experience its extensive, fast and secure public transportation system and its lush natural environment. Summer in Berlin offers the best conditions to enjoy the city after an exciting conference day, with July temperatures averaging around 20-24°C. The local organizers of IUGG2023 will consider, irrespective of the further development of the COVID19 pandemic situation, a hybrid assembly taking place both in Berlin and online so that the advantages of the current development of digital conferencing can be shared by many more colleagues in the scientific community.

On behalf of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of IUGG2023, I welcome you to Berlin.

On behalf of the German National Committee of Geodesy and Geophysics (NKGG), and as Chair of the Science Program Committee (SPC), I welcome you to the 28th IUGG General Assembly in Berlin (IUGG2023). The General Assembly will give us the opportunity to present Germany and the Berlin-Brandenburg region as a showcase of an innovative research community.

Geosciences explore the complex Earth System through interdisciplinary and international cooperation. Since its formation in 1919, the IUGG has sought to foster international collaboration between the geoscience disciplines. From the time when Germany joined the IUGG in 1951, the country has actively worked on the realization of joint international activities. Today, Germany is an excellent location for science that offers outstanding research infrastructure and many opportunities for scientists from all around the world. All eight associations of the IUGG have a strong anchor in German research institutes. Of the multitude of institutions, I would just like to mention a few here: the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, the Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research – Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), a large number of German universities, and, last but not least, some federal agencies such as the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Resources (BGR).

I wish to draw attention to one example of fruitful cooperation between the various geoscience disciplines. German geodesy has taken a lead role in developing and realizing gravimetry satellite missions such as GOCE, GRACE and GRACE-FO. Their data have contributed remarkably to globally determine the Earth’s gravity field with unprecedented accuracy and resolution. In collaboration with all other geosciences, such as the hydrologic, oceanographic, cryospheric sciences and geophysics, mass variations and interactions in the Earth System could be studied and better understood, including critical phenomena such as ice melting in Greenland and Antarctica, regional sea level variations, and ground water loss due to climate change.

On behalf of the NKGG and as Chair of the SPC, I believe that the IUGG2023 in Berlin will further enhance the interdisciplinary collaboration necessary for a better understanding of our Earth System. It will help create a new spirit to address pressing societal challenges such as global environmental change and natural hazards, and to stimulate novel geoscience research. In addition, Berlin is especially attractive for early career geoscientists.