President’s Preface
Our Federation is growing and growing since we began on 2003! At the moment we enjoy the membership of 20 ergonomic societies in Europe and that figure will probably increase in the next couple of years with new members. This is an encouraging development that gives us increasing opportunities.
For other European organizations there is now a clearer understanding of the value of and need for ergonomics in Europe. Moreover this could contribute to a positive image of ergonomics to the rest of the world outside Europe. And – last but not least – FEES represents more than 6000 individual ergonomists. Such a figure is not negligible.
Although we are still a young organisation, at only 7 years old, in being an “umbrella” organisation we already have considerable diversity. We have an enormous variety of experience and expertise within our Federated Societies. Some ergonomics societies can celebrate their 50th or even their 60th anniversary, whilst some others became established very recently. And there are even countries in Europe where the process of establishing an ergonomic organization just has started!
One of the objectives of FEES is “to support the development of ergonomics within the European region”. It would be wonderful if we could develop a mechanism whereby ergonomics societies with a lasting and rich history of experiences could offer to help, or share their experiences with the ones who just have begun and who feel they still have many obstacles to overcome. Those starters – often located in Central and Eastern Europe – would be pleased to receive the support of other colleague-societies.
Why not use FEES as a virtual Meeting Point where fledgling and more established Societies could find each other and, to start with, communicate with each other through FEES? FEES will certainly try to facilitate such an initiative. The newer Societies could benefit from being mentored and the more established Societies would know that they would be contributing towards the strengthening of the profession in Europe.
I wish you all success!
Pieter Rookmaaker Eur.Erg. , President of FEES
P.S.
We have exactly 265 days to go before the First European FEES Conference on Ergonomics in Bruges/Belgium will start! For more information: please visit www.ece2010.be.
________ Page created 2003 - last revision 18.01.2010
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