Greetings:

Here are the salient points of the meeting. There were about 30 connections; apologies, I did not record all the names. 

The recording is uploaded to the meeting agenda page. Please refer to the meeting agenda for details on the following points.

1. The ASFAP report going to the symposium and beyond
   • We prepared the report draft version 2, dated October 17. In this version, many comments from the UNESCO reviewers have been addressed. We would like the IAC to review this version in preparing its inputs / comments for the symposium. You may just review a chapter in your area of expertise. 
   •  We added the Advisory Committee and the Reviewers as co-authors. Any omission in the author list is not intentional. Please review it and send corrections or point out omissions and we will fix.
   • We are advised to get the report translated into French for a broader continental reach to French-speaking countries. We are seeking institutional support to cover the cost of the translation. Please send suggestion to the Steering Committee (STC) or contact the STC if your institute can help. The translation will be entertained only after the English version has converged:
     • We have addressed all the comments received so far and the comments during the symposium.
     • Copy-editing of the English version is carried out.
   • While we recognize the importance of having the French version of the report, it was suggested that the process of translating should not require a significant work from the report authors to ensure translation accuracy. It was also suggested that the English version may be released first while the translation is in progress. 
   • In draft version 2, dated October 17, and onward, we have re-arranged the report into 4 broad categories to bring "structure" to the narrative, as follows:
     • Societal engagements group all the chapters on societal issues that impact development / progress in physics.
     • Light sources and applications deal with chapters on the physics fields where light sources are significantly used.
     • Particles and applications aggregate the chapters on the usage of particles in fundamental and applied physics.
     • Cross-cutting fields contain the areas with relevance to—and impact in—many fields. 
2. IAC input 
   • Rob Adam has put together a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). You are invited to look and send comments. If you have already made comments on the SWOT and your comments have not been captured, please re-sent to Rob Adam.
   • We hope for additional comments from the IAC.
3. Scientific Agenda of the symposium. We reviewed the preliminary scientific agenda of symposium; it is organized as follows
   • November 17: inputs from stakeholders and inputs from other regions where the developments of their physics strategies might inform ASFAP.
   • November 18 Presentations and discussions about Societal Engagements and Light Sources & Applications.
   • November 19: Presentations and discussions about Particles & Applications and Cross-cutting Fields.
   • November 20: Presentations and discussion about Agricultural Science, Air Quality, Waste Management, Ethics in Physics, and Observers' report.
   • November 20-21: Reviews of the contents of the reports and closeout session.
4. Logistics
   • For issues related to visa applications or travel arrangements, please contact Viktoriya.
   • We suggest a registration fee of 125 euros for in-person participants to cover coffee breaks. While we will accept cash on arrival, we will suggest a payment method to receive the registration fee beforehand so that catering arrangements may be carried out.