Welcome
Dear SFPE Europe members,
We are proud to look back on the Berlin Conference. It was a real success with a great program, excellent speakers and 282 registrations from 36 countries. 49% of the participants attended for the first time. Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the success of the 5th SFPE Europe confer-ence.
Shortly after the Berlin conference, there were also some changes within SFPE as Nicole Boston stepped down as Executive Director. I would like to thank Nicole for her contribution as SFPE CEO over the years and, for her support in setting up SFPE Europe. She clearly shared our vision of SFPE Europe and was instrumental in setting up the legal entity with all its formalities. It was also clear to her that if we want to be a voice in Europe, we need to have chapters in most European countries. For this reason, she has been very supportive of the format of affiliated chapters and the expan-sion of the network of chapters in Europe. But times are changing and it was felt that a change in leadership was needed. Therefore, we thank Nicole for her work and welcome Chris Jelenewicz, who is well known to all, as SFPE CEO ad interim. We look forward to working together and taking SFPE Europe forward in line with our vision!
We are very pleased to have been invited by the JRC Fire Safety Engineering (FSE) Experts Network on 2 May 2023 to update them on SFPE activities and to present the highlights and conclusions of the SFPE European Conference in Berlin. SFPE Europe has formed a working group to look into the findings of the recent JRC report: "The status and needs for implementation of Fire Safety Engi-neering approach in Europe" and contributing to further understanding the situation in Europe.
SFPE Europe has also signed a letter to the European Commission initiated by the European Fire Safety Alliance on "Coordination of Fire Safety will help to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal". We support the initiative that the EU Commission should establish a structural coordination of all EU Commission initiatives related to fire safety of European buildings, as better coordination will ensure that fire safety is properly addressed and complements the energy transition.
We are making another contribution to European issues: I was invited to participate in a panel dis-cussion as part of #EUGreenWeek on "European Green Deal: The Role of Electrical and Fire Safety Skills" on 7 June 2023. This was organised by Fire Safe Europe and the Forum for European Electrical Domestic Safety (FEEDS). This topic is very important for SFPE: skills and competences. And it is good to see that others are also taking up this topic.
It is very nice to see SFPE Europe expanding its network and contributing at different levels.A big thank you to everyone who makes this possible.
Have a nice summer. Stay safe.
David Grossmann
SFPE Europe Chair