Welcome

Dear SFPE Europe members,

On the brink of Christmas and 2020 is knocking on the door. Most likely you have also experience the “end of year rush” to try and finish things and close files. It’s the time of looking back as well as looking forward: what has been achieved and what’s in the pipeline …

This year will go in the history book as crucial for the development of SFPE in Europe. Major and essential decisions have been taken and steps made to formalise and create an official stronghold in Europe. With the emphasis on “strong”: many years of collaboration and exchange of knowledge have brought us were we are today in Europe. Of course, this would not have been possible without a strong vision and commitment from SFPE, for which we are very grateful and highly appreciative. Jose Luis has joined our ranks as European director: with Spanish charm and relentless commitment he has been and will be the bridgebuilder both internally in SFPE as externally with partners and stakeholders. The Malaga conference is another major achievement, in terms of attendees as well as speakers and presentations. There is much more to say, but one other thing stands out: the 1st expert meeting of fire engineers with the European Commission (DG JRC) in beautiful Ispra. SFPE has engaged in this meeting and taken on tasks matching SFPE’s ambition and experience, aiming at the exploration and possible development of European performance based design standards and regulations.

Ahead of us is a period of further carefully help growing and harvesting what we have sown. With all the challenges, ranging from political (Brexit), environmental (climate change, sustainability goals), social (aging population), to technical (electricity, digitalisation), we are in a good position as fire engineers to build bridges between stakeholders and “connect the dots”. This should go in parallel with developing the fire engineering profession itself: education, recognition, research are key to build up trust and image. Concretely, we will see fantastic growth in new chapters and members in Europe, and will launch many activities (webinars, seminars, etc.), as well as a fantastic conference on cultural heritage in June in the eternal city Rome.

Wishing you and your beloved ones a happy X-mas and 2020!

Best regards,

Kees Both
SFPE Europe Council Chair