ECCE NEWS - AUTUMN / WINTER 2005

Istanbul – historic capital and bustling metropolis – a crossroads between two continents

Dear friends,  

I am delighted to send you  my greetings for the year ahead, a time of considerable change within ECCE.   A new Executive Committee has been in place since late November and a new Secretary General has commenced duties in preparation for our forthcoming meeting in Budapest.   We are pleased to welcome Diana Zlatnanska of the Slovak Republic as our new Secretary General.

I am sure you will give her a warm welcome at our Spring meeting and that she will be able to rely on your support to move ECCE ahead to face new challenges and opportunities.

We will have much to report when we meet in Hungary in May and I look forward to meeting you all in person.  In the meanwhile I wish you and your families personal and profession happiness and success in the year ahead.

Richard

Dear friends and colleagues,

I completed my Presidency of ECCE at our Istanbul meeting in November.  This has been an interesting and rewarding period in my life and I have been very happy to see the collaboration between our members and to welcome our most recent new member Latvia in 2005.

In 2005 we have visited two very different parts of Europe and we realise what the challenges are that will face the engineers of the future.  We need to make sure that engineers continue to play a useful role in society and that our young engineers are prepared for the challenges they will face. 

We have created a strategic plan for ECCE to focus on our goals for the future.  This plan will be reviewed by the new Executive Committee in 2006.  We intend to also revise the Articles of Association in 2006.  I am sure that the new President will be able to rely upon your support as he considers the ECCE business plan for 2006. 

I would like to wish you the best in your daily professional lives and also in your personal lives -  I wish you and your families a happy Spring time,

ECCE’s NEW PUBLICATION:

“The Civil Engineering Profession in Europe - 2005”

At the Istanbul meeting, members were given a preview of the publication.  The book has been a collaborative effort with all member organisations responding to a questionnaire to provide a snapshot of the qualifications required to become a professional civil engineer,

Printing of the book took place in Slovenia with the support and assistance of Slovenian representative Branko Zadnik.  Copies of the book were then circulated to all member organisations and to a number of ECCE contacts and associate organisations in Europe and internationally.

Plans are under review to produce and make available a CD-Rom of the publication in the course of 2006. 

CONFERENCE INFORMATION: “Safety 2006 – Accidents and Safety in the Construction Sector “  -  Helsinki, 10th-12th May 2006

This conference, organised by ECCE member organisation RIL in Finland, will focus on practical issues and case studies from a number of countries. Details are to be found on: http://www.ril.fi/Resource.phx/seminaari/semi-safety/index.htx

(Conference information regularly appears as part of ECCE’ s monthly on-line “Brussels Brief”).  

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