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EUROPEAN COUNCIL OF CIVIL ENGINEERS ANNUAL REPORT 2002 |
°
Statutory
Business
The
European Council of Civil Engineers (ECCE) met twice in 2002.
The first meeting of the year was held in Helsinki, Finland on 6th
and 7th June. The second meeting of the year was held on 12th
and 13th September in Athens, Greece. The
first meeting of the year approved the accounts for 2001.
At the Athens meeting the draft budget for 2003 was approved and an
election was held to select a new Executive Committee.
The previous Executive Committee had been in place from 1999-2002.
ECCE President Antonio Adao da Fonseca (Portugal) who had held the
Presidency since 1998, retired from office.
Past President Gerard Baron (France), Alberto Dusman (Italy) and
Carl-August Guenther (Germany) stepped down from the Committee.
The new Executive Committee from September 2002 comprises:-
The
new President of ECCE, Yrjoe Matikainen, has emphasised the importance of
promoting the development of higher knowledge in civil engineering technology
and economy by means of improved education, effective research and by using the
most advanced ICT systems. Sharing
and partnership must be encouraged to achieve these aims. It is his view that ECCE goals should be better
sustainability, changing the attitude of the profession from “hard business”
to “service” and taking into consideration the opinions of society. ° Task
Forces
ECCE
activity is predominantly carried out through the various Task Forces.
Some of these, such as the Ethics Task Force set up to draft professional
guidelines for a code of conduct, may be of an ‘ad hoc’ nature.
Activities of current Task Forces in 2002 are set out below. EDUCATION
and CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Activity in 2002 was focussed on involvement in the EUCEET thematic network
project on civil engineering education in which Executive Committee member
Professor Iacint Manoliu has played a leading role. The EUCEET project is entering a further one-year phase.
Themes in the new project will be curricula issues: - enhancing
attractiveness of the civil engineering profession; recognition of academic and
professional civil engineering qualifications; development of the teaching
environment; life-long learning and promoting the European dimension in civil
engineering education. ENVIRONMENT: A new Task Force Chairman, Santiago Hernandez of Spain, is leading activity. The Task Force is moving forward with work on an ethical commitment to sustainable engineering and an exchange of information on environmentally beneficial projects. INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY: Work in
the Information Technology Task Force focuses on involvement in the European
Commission Working Group on Information Technology in Construction
Competitiveness. ECCE Secretary
General Diana Maxwell is rapporteur to the group and ECCE/ICE member David
Leonard represents the industry view. The
final report for Phase II is
nearing completion and will be launched in
February 2003 at a construction industry fair
in Berlin. Members have also
supported the EU-funded Roadcon ‘roadmap’ project to set out future
guidelines for construction IT research. IT
experts have responded to the Roadcon questionnaire investigating the status of
IT research in the industry. Future
Task Force work will include dissemination of IT research results, including
those of the EU-funded ICCI project. PROFESSIONAL
RECOGNITION:
Work continues in considering a Register of Chartered Civil Engineers. Activity in the year was centred largely on responding to the European
Commission Proposal on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications. Task Force Chairman, Professor Carsten Ahrens prepared a questionnaire to
which members responded over the summer months. A detailed review on the Directive was submitted to Commission and
Parliament in the autumn. RESEARCH
AND DEVELOPMENT:
Task Force Chairman Olavi Tupamaeki has kept members fully informed of progress
on the Sixth Framework Programme and the Development of a European Research
Area. A number of member
organisations have supplied information on national research organisations.
This has been placed on the ECCE web-site. The Task Force was represented at the ECCREDI Conference on research in
the Sixth Framework Programme held in Brussels at the beginning of October.
An additional meeting of the R&D Task Force was held in Croatia, to
coincide with the third European Engineering Forum held in Dubrovnik. ° Public
Affairs
ECCE
maintains contact with senior officials in the European Commission and with
elected representatives in the European Parliament to ensure that the concerns
of the profession are given due consideration at European level.
This includes making representation on position papers, such as that on
Professional Recognition. A
new Parliament Forum, ‘FOCOPE – The Forum in the European Parliament for
Construction’ was set up by UK MEP and civil engineer, Den Dover, in 2002. The
launch meeting was held in the European Parliament in May 2002 and two further
meetings were held throughout the year on fire safety and public procurement.
Secretary General Diana Maxwell represented ECCE at the first two
meetings of the year. The
European Commission held its first revised Construction Contact Point meeting in
October 2002. ECCE had previously
been included in a group comprising secretaries of Brussels-based organisations,
hosted by a senior Commission official, Karlheinz Zachmann, in his capacity as
adviser to the construction unit. In its new format the Commission’s Contact Point group
encompasses a wider range of European construction associations and provides
presentations on a comprehensive range of construction-related policies
including construction standards. ° Associated
Organisations
ECCE is a subscribing member of the European Council of Construction Research, Development and Innovation (ECCREDI). Professor Lamas of Portugal has been nominated to represent ECCE on the Steering Group of E-Core. ECCE is also a subscribing member of SEFI, the European Association for engineering training. ECCE
also participates in the European
Construction Forum. This provides a platform for exchange of information and for joint
activities to raise the profile and concerns of the sector. ECCE also has bilateral agreements with the
American
Society of Civil Engineers and the Japan
Society of Civil Engineers based on exchange of information and publications
and common concerns for the profession. Contact
and information exchange is also carried out with WFEO, the World Federation of Engineering Organisations and contact is
maintained with FEANI, the European Federation of National Engineering Associations. ° Publications
The ECCE web-site was partially restructured in 2002 to encompass a wider range of information on Task Force activities and to allow easy access to ECCE publications. In 2002, the ECCE publications produced by the secretariat on behalf of members, comprised the illustrated twice-yearly newsletter and the monthly Brussels Brief launched in December 2001. This gives a round-up of developing European policies in key areas affecting the profession. Technical presentations given at twice-yearly meetings are also posted on the web-site. The 2002 Annual Report will also be posted on the web-site. Consideration is also being given to up-dating the member publication “The Civil Engineering Profession in Europe” which was last published in 1998. Diana E Maxwell, Secretary General December 2002
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