MessagefromEuropeChair22

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Welcome

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Dear SFPE Europe members,

We are entering a time of great hope! Hope that thanks to the summer weather and all of the measures each country has taken we can spend time together again and meet friends, socializing like in the old days (prior to 1.5 years ago). 

In this edition of the SFPE Europe Magazine I would like to give an insight to where we stand with setting up SFPE Europe.

The first General Assembly Meeting (GAM) took place on the 25th May 2021. Though meeting in person was not meant to be for our first GAM of SFPE Europe, which had to take place virtually. After going through the formal governance information of how SFPE Europe works, the GAM focused on the activities we are going to prioritize. To further the mission of SFPE Europe we believe working through Standing Committees is the way forward. We have decided on the need to establish three Standing Committees in the following topics: Conferences, Representation and Professional Recognition.

In terms of conferences we have a very well established working group for the SFPE Europe Conference that will spring into action again for the SFPE Europe Conference 2023 in Berlin. We still have plans to hold a SFPE Symposium on Engineering Solutions for Cultural Heritage in Rome. This is a symposium that needs to be held in person, so that the attendees can really benefit from visiting sites and discuss the approaches taken for the various buildings. SFPE Europe will also support the organization of the 14th SFPE International Performance-Based Codes and Fire Safety Design Methods Conference and Expo in Copenhagen in 2022.

The second Standing Committee will work on Representation and Relations. We have defined our goal: to advance the implementation of fire safety engineering in Europe by enhancing the presence and impact of SFPE Europe in European associations and standards-writing bodies. We are in the process of putting a team together for that standing committee. This will be a very important committee with a lot of work to be done in terms of getting SFPE Europe at the right tables to contribute, whether this is the EU Commissions Directorates-General, the relevant CEN Committees, or other key European Construction Industry Associations as well as National Bodies.

 

The third Standing Committee will further the Professional Recognition of Fire Protection Engineers throughout Europe. This Standing Committee is still in its infancy but we hope that over the next few months we will have made progress with establishing it. On the agenda will also be an update of the "White Paper for Professional Recognition for Fire Safety Engineering" in Europe (2014).

The Standing Committees will align their work and activities closely with the "mirror" Standing Committees of the Society SFPE. Anyone interested in joining the Standing Committees for Representation or Professional Recognition please contact any member of the board.

We have already held two SFPE Europe board meetings. They focused mainly on governance issues for SFPE Europe. For the legal side we get great support from Alfons Westgeest from Kellen Company based in Brussels. We also need policies that define the way we operate. Developing these is a major task and we are very thankful to SFPE for bringing in Kathleen Almand as a consultant to help set up the SFPE Europe policies. Additionally and very timely for us SFPE has employed a Chapter Engagement Manager. A big Welcome to Eva Przygodzki for taking on that role and providing us with administrative support and management for SFPE Europe as well as supporting all the SFPE chapters. We also thank Maxine Katz, SFPE Administrative Assistant, who provided that support up to now and who will introduce Eva to current tasks. In the name of the SFPE Europe Board of Directors we are very grateful to SFPE and all their staff for their continuous support that we receive.

Enjoy your summer break, whether it be local or in foreign lands.


David Grossmann SFPE Europe Council Chair 2021