Welcome
Dear SFPE Europe members,
Thanks to Corona having less of an impact on our daily lives, it was possible to meet as SFPE Europe for the first time in person. In fact the last time we met as Chapter Presidents was in December 2019. Then it was still known as ECCG (European Chapter Coordination Group). It was very enjoyable to meet most of the Chapter Presidents on 16th May 2022 in London in person. The day started with a Chapter Leadership Forum to promote best practice in running a chapter. We had some inspiring contributions from the Swedish, Italian and Swiss Chapter in how they organise themselves and operate as a Chapter in their countries. In the afternoon we held the ordinary 4th General Assembly meeting. As Armelle Muller left the SFPE Europe Board at the end of last year (many thanks to Armelle for her contributions) it was time to bring in 2 new Board Members. We welcome Wojciech Węgrzyński and Robert McNamee in their new roles. They join the existing Board members with Beth Tubbs as SFPE President, Kees Both as SFPE Europe Past Chair and myself as Chair. We also finalized and adopted the Policies for SFPE Europe. I am glad to say that now SFPE Europe is properly established and fully operational. The day closed with a social evening at a British Pub. A big thank you goes to the UK Chapter for facilitating the event and everyone for joining in.
In SFPE Europe itself, we had the pleasure of welcoming yet another new European chapter during our 4th General Assembly: Austria. This rises the number of Chapters in Europe to 20 and the total in SFPE to 120.
Following a discussion at the London GAM about the SFPE Symposium on Engineering Solutions for Cultural Heritage to be held in Rome on 10 – 11 November 2022 it was decided due to several uncertainties to postpone the event. On the other hand the preparations for the SFPE Europe Conference in Berlin, Germany (27-31 March 2023) have begun with the great support of SFPE. I am really looking forward to that and hope you have the dates already in your diary.
David Grossmann, SFPE Europe Council Chair 2021