Group 3 Forum

Thanks Mick,

I am very happy that you brought up the new CONECT group and some of its goals. It prompted me to do more research to find the Terms of Reference of CONECT and while doing so I also found that the Management Group has a lot of overlap with the CALMet Working Group and contributors to this conference. I wanted to share some thoughts through this forum since asynchronous participation works better for me this week.

While CONECT has some predecessors, I believe it has been established with more careful thought to be representative of all WMO Members. Kudos to WMO ETR for thinking that through, and kudos to those who have volunteered to be part of the management group, representing each WMO region. It could generate the energy needed to make the WMO Global Campus work.

I will go out on a limb here and suggest that in some ways, the CONECT group can be seen as being inspired by the success of CALMet.

CALMet has a longer history (30 years!) than other groups focused on sharing the challenges of education and training. Yes, CALMet was an idea that emerged from a past WMO Symposium on Education and Training (and SYMET has been occurring for a longer period), and the WMO Regional Training Centre network is a loose association that stimulates some sharing and helps to address WMO priorities. But CALMet has had more continuity and more direct sharing at regular meetings.

I will go even further out on a limb and suggest that the WMO Global Campus itself can also be seen as inspired by the success of CALMet.

But who came first and who inspired who doesn’t really matter. What matters is who goes forward.

I would like to suggest that a linkage be created between CONECT and CALMet. This would have several advantages:
• It could create broader representation at CALMet conferences and be a mechanism for achieving some of the goals of CONECT.
• It could help to ensure that CALMet more broadly addresses many WMO priority areas, and these should be well in line with the CALMet community priorities anyway, since it represents Members. It avoids the potential of one part of the community dominating the themes and topics of CALMet.
• It could help to ensure participation from all WMO regions.
• It could bring new energy.
• Having a linkage to a WMO mechanism gives CALMet validity, even if that WMO mechanism is not part of its governing structure. This validity helps to gain a critical mass of participation and to justify costs.
• CONECT not being part of the governing structure is even a good thing, because it means CALMet can remain nimble. It can preserve its Community of Practice character.

I hope these thoughts are welcome and can be of use as the community moves forward. Kudos to the Working Group for again organizing a successful conference.