28/09/2022
Summary of the key decisions taken during our last General Council, the most important one being the renewal of the Presidents of EMA.
The General Council of the European Magnetism Association (EMA) held its annual meeting in July, taking the opportunity of JEMS2022 hosted in Warsaw. Out of 44 voting members, including officers and national representatives, 31 took part either on-site or online, and 3 members delegated their vote. The General Council is the supreme decision-making body of the association. During its regular meetings, the General Council reviews the activities led since the past meeting by the presidents and officers, defining the future strategy.
At the meeting in July, the activities of the association during the past year have been reviewed and approved, followed by a number of key decisions. The first key decision to make was the approval of EMA’s position concerning the aggression of Russia towards Ukraine, discussed between the president and officers immediately after the aggression started. The second key decision was the approval of Daniela Petti as the new officer for digital networking (e-seminars) and of Matthieu Bailleuil as the new treasurer. We would like to thank our new colleagues for joining and those colleagues who have been serving EMA so far: Bertrand Dupé for creating and managing the EMA seminars during the past two years and Elisabetta Agostinelli for managing the budget with high standards ever since the creation of EMA in 2016. A third key decision was the approval of three documents pertaining to the organization of our events, JEMS and ESM: a guideline for sustainable events, prepared by Bertrand Dupé as officer for carbon footprint; a guideline for gender and diversity and a code of conduct, prepared by Nuala Caffrey as officer for gender and diversity. With regards to the structure of EMA, the General Council also approved a revision of the statutes and by-laws, designed to allow better management of the budget and give a former ground to the concept of members of EMA, either individuals or organizations. The detailed provisional minutes of the meeting are available on EMA’s website.
Yet, the cornerstone of the meeting was the process for the renewal of the Presidents of EMA. Consistent with the statutes of the association, the mandate of President Burkard Hillebrands came to an end with this edition of JEMS 2022, i.e., after three years of service to the community. He has successfully contributed to dramatically expanding the actions of EMA during his mandate, introducing the system of officers, awards, online seminars, as well as actions on carbon footprint and gender/diversity. Let him receive our full appreciation for these important contributions! Olivier Fruchart, so far Vice-President, has been confirmed via a vote to become President of the association for the three years ahead of us. He will be assisted by Dennis Meier, who is the newly elected Vice-President. Burkard Hillebrands will remain active as former president and can be called for specific duties by the President. We, Olivier and Dennis, intend to conduct discussions during the fall, involving all officers. Our aim is to review the current status of our activities and accordingly define a shared strategy of the association for the coming three years, which is the duration of our mandates as President and Vice-President, respectively. By the end of the year, we will come back to you and share our vision for the future of EMA.
Olivier FRUCHART, President
Dennis MEIER, Vice-President
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| Burkard Hillebrands and Olivier Fruchart at JEMS 2022 | Dennis Meier |