‘I cannot say whether things will get better if they change. But I can say one thing: they must change if they are to get better.’ Georg Lichtenberg
‘I am not sure if there is such a thing as a “good relationship”. But I think one of the qualities that makes relationships good is the ability to communicate with someone in an open and honest way.’ Virginia Satir
Dear Members,
As an eventful year draws to a close, we would like to share a few thoughts with you about the end of 2024 and the outlook for 2025. The above quotes remind us that change and open communication should be part of a good and evolving relationship.
It seems that the world is spinning faster and faster! Many political events are unfolding rapidly, much of which we thought we would be able to end quickly is dragging on and bringing a lot of misery and uncertainty. Just a few years ago, we all had to deal with the fact that we live in a VUCA[1] world and now we have finally arrived in the BANI[2] world! Volatility, uncertainty and incomprehensibility have become our constant companions.
And yet we all work as coaches and supervisors every day to make our societies more resilient, to not lose courage and confidence in the face of the speed of events.
The EASC year was also marked by many moving, exciting and also sad moments. First of all, our joint congress in Prague in September of this year deserves special mention. Without the cooperation with CIS in the Czech Republic and the many people who contributed to the workshops and the organisation at various levels, it would not have been possible to work together, learn from each other, meet and break new ground together. Thanks to everyone!
The staff at our office have also contributed a great deal this year to ensuring that our organisation has functioned. Thanks to all our colleagues who were available virtually for our members in different locations and kept the organisation running.
Another thank you goes to the many volunteers who have contributed their time, ideas and enthusiasm to the board, the CQS, the institute meeting, the reform group and the ethics committee, so that this organisation can continue to move forward!
This year, we have won many new members, admitted new institutes and entered into new co-operations. New regional groups and new working groups have been established. More people are active and contribute at different levels. We are about to reach the 1,000-member mark. We are very happy about this. We are also represented in more and more European countries. These are events that have made this year successful and moving.
But there were also sad moments. We have lost a long-standing member in Hans-Georg Hauser, who helped shape EASC during his active time. May he rest in peace. But we have also lost people who have had a great influence on EASC due to their own will. We deeply regret that Matthias and Ulrike Sell resigned with their institute INITA. Above all, however, we regret that it was not possible to clarify the real reasons for this decision, neither on a personal level nor on a content-related level.
We also regret that at the general meeting we had to take a step that cost us a lot of discussion and effort as a board. However, with a view to the further development of the association, we are convinced that it was the right step to terminate a non-functioning cooperation with our ethics committee and to clear the way for new elections. We are all the more pleased that we were able to elect a new Ethics Committee at an Extraordinary General Assembly at the end of the year and we would like to thank the seven colleagues already for contributing their time and energy to the further development of the EASC's Ethics Guidelines and Ethics Standards!
We are also pleased to welcome two very committed new members to the board. Sebastian and Elena are still familiarising themselves with their new roles, but they have already contributed many ideas and will certainly enrich our work in the coming year.
Next year will be under the sign of implementation and realization. The reform group has developed a great product with the new manual, which now needs to be implemented in order to bring it to life. We have raised the bar for our quality standards even higher and will not only review our cooperations in the coming year, but also take the first steps towards implementing and establishing the manual. To this end, we will offer many discussion spaces with the institutes and for our members. Our goal is not only to take our standards seriously, but also to be able to proudly represent them to the outside world.
This year, we have repeatedly provided information about our activities on the board and in the association in 12 newsletters, numerous social media posts, 12 ‘It's EASC Time’ messages, circular emails and zoom conferences. We have invited people to online discussion groups and conducted another Quo Vadis EASC – all this and much more will continue in 2025.
Transparency, discussion and participation are just as important to us as quality and European exchange. So, if you have any questions, want to discuss topics with us, or have any suggestions or criticism, please do not hesitate to contact us via the office or the known email addresses. We are open to your ideas! Because WE are EASC!
We wish you a happy and peaceful festive season and a great start to 2025!
Susanne Rieger
On behalf of the entire EASC Board
[1] VUCA is an abbreviation for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity
[2] BANI is an abbreviation for Brittle, Anxious, non-linear, incomprehensible |
