In anticipation of ICME-11

Very exciting things have been happening. In the beginning, in 2004, during and following ICME-10 in Denmark, ICMI (see page 4) invited twenty-three members of the international community of mathematics education to constitute the International Program Committee (IPC) and embark on the quadrennial expedition called ICME, this would be the 11th edition. The Sociedad Matemática Mexicana (Mexican Mathematical Society), with the support of the Mexican Federal Governement via the Ministry of Education (SEP), had successfully bid to have ICME-11 take place in Monterrey, Mexico, in July 2008.

The IPC met in Mexico City, in November 2005, and again in January 2007, in the city of Monterrey, the whole time working hard on designing the scientific program, planning activities for this major event, and selecting the people that would organize them. Both meetings were sponsored by SEP (Secretaria de Educación Pública). Close to 900 colleagues from all over the world were contacted to constitute the ICME-11 team, which at present numbers more than 500 people and is still growing. They are working to organize Survey Teams, National Presentations, Topic Study Groups, Discussion Groups, and Plenary Panel Debates; or preparing Plenary and Regular (concurrent) Lectures.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. The teams are busily engaging still more colleagues to contribute to the development of the tasks they were assigned, and many more, some among those of you who are reading this, are working on developing Workshops and Sharing Experiences Groups, and preparing Poster presentations of their work and their experience for the benefit of a still larger number of teachers, teacher educators, researchers, students of the last two, textbook and material developers, decision makers, and others, all of whose work and professional development revolves and evolves about mathematics education. And, why not, they are also doing it for their own professional development.

In parallel, the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), and the Ibero American Committee (IAC) were formed; the first in charge of the logistics of ICME-11, and the latter in charge of bringing together the region's educators. In addition to scientific, academic and educational concerns, there were also other matters of the body and the spirit. The LOC, with a large participation of and support from the Universidad de Nuevo León and the State Ministry of Education, is taking care of making the stay comfortable and entertaining for all ICME-11 attendees and those that accompany them; as in venue facilities, accommodations, cultural events, tours and tourist information, and so on.

All in all, thanks to a large worldwide and local effort by the international and the Mexican communities of mathematics education, ICME-11 promises to be a great opportunity for mathematics education professionals from all over the world to exchange ideas, information, and viewpoints; and develop productive dialog and working relationships with their peers.

We earnestly invite you to peruse this 2nd announcement, hoping you will share our enthusiasm and join us in this most worthwhile endeavor, participating and contributing (see “How to contribute”, page 6) in the program activities before and during the Congress, and/or registering to attend in July 2008.

On behalf of the ICME-11 team,

Alejandro Díaz Barriga
Sociedad Matemática Mexicana
Marcela Santillán,
Chair of the IPC for ICME-11
Carlos Signoret
Chair of the LOC for ICME-11