EFLA GA. Professional Practice Committee Meeting Minutes

In cele ce urmeaza va este prezentat, procesul verbal al Intalnirii de vineri, 20 noiembrie a Comitetului EFLA pe probleme de Practici Profesionale. Asa cum am anuntat zilele trecute de indata de voi intra in posesia proceselor verbale din restul Comisiilor EFLA, le voi face publice.
Lectura placuta !
 
ing. peis. Andrei Condoros
secretar general
AsoP Romania


EFLA General Assembly 2009: Friday 20th November, 3pm
Professional Practice Committee Meeting Minutes
 
Attendees:

Condoros ANDREI (ASoP Romania) CA; Fritz AUWECK (BDLA Germany) FA; Tore Edvard BERGAUST (NLA Norway) TB; Margarida CANCELA d’ABREU (APAP Portugal) MCA; Anne Bertine FAGERHEIM (NLA Norway) ABF; Juan José GALAN VIVAS (AEP Spain) JGV; Birgitte HELLSTRØM (NLA Norway) BH; Mario KAHL (BDLA Germany) MK; Ilya MOCHALOV (Russia ALACIS) IM; Lars NYBERG (SA Sweden) LN; Aysegul ORUCKAPTAN (TPMO Turkey) AO; Poul BØRGE PEDERSEN (DL Denmark) PP; Rusu RALUCA (ASoP Romania) RR; Anna SESSAREGO (AIAPP Italy) AS; Antonio SOPESENS (AEP Spain) TS; Nigel THORNE (LI UK - Chair) NT; Pierre-Marie TRICAUD (FFP France) PMT.

Notes:
 
1. Apologies for absence: None (Best wishes sent to Jennie Fagerstrom, Sweden for the forthcoming birth of her baby)
 
2. Minutes from Professional Practice Meeting of 15.11.08:
It appears that only some of the attendees had received the minutes from last year’s meeting; these were copied and handed out during the meeting. IM mentioned that the ISLO should read ILO (International Labour Organisation)
 
3. Matters Arising from 2 above: IM asked that items 2-5 on last year’s minutes continued to be pursued in order that they might be completed in the forthcoming year. NT reminded all members present that the information sought in the various repeat questionnaires that have been sent out during 2009 is vital to enhance the professional organisation for all parties. NT also reminded all parties that it is vitally important that each association keeps Christine Bavassa up to date with the most current contact details for each association as these change throughout the year.
 
4. EU Directive 2005/36 on Cross-border Professional Practice and Association Membership: The contact reference was sent out by NT on 16 January 2009 but it seems many present had not received it. The LI currently interprets the directive as allowing any full member of an EU registered association being able to join the LI as a full without further prescriptive training. The link is as follows: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2005:255:022:0142:EN:PDF
FA lead a discussion on the possibility of using the core of the directive in order to establish the profession of landscape architecture in its own right. (PMT pointed out that the directive had already been used against the establishment of landscape architects in France.) In summary, it was decided that a task force, lead by FA, would be charged with pursuing recognition of the profession within and across the EU. Volunteers within the room have suggested that France, Germany, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Turkey will seek volunteers to form the task force as soon as possible. LN raised the important matter of not trying to operate in isolation and the move to the new office may well offer us collaborative opportunities that we have often struggled to secure before now (e.g. IsoCARP and ECTPS).
 
5. EFLA Limitations: NT reminded everyone that EFLA has limitless resources ONLY if everyone in all the member associations is prepared to help out. It is not an organisation above us but it is all of us.
 
6. Definitions of Landscape Architecture: JGV raised the matter of the importance of defining the role of the landscape architect. NT warned of the dangers of getting too hung-up on definitions and being too prescriptive. This could hinder progress as much as help it. The discussion covered many aspects of education in France (PMT), Spain (JGV) and Turkey (AO). PMT helpfully distributed the ‘Référential de Bonnes Pratiques’ produced by FFP.
 
7. European Landscape Convention: Discussions concluded that ratification of the ELC has not necessarily changed anything in terms of landscape architectural improvements within the various EU states. Comments from JGV, BH, RR, and NT confirmed the importance of completing the exercise mentioned in Item 4 above.
 
8. Regulatory Organisations: IM raised the issue of regulatory bodies for landscape architects across the EU. In Russia it is now necessary to pay a fee to a regulatory body in order to practice with due diligence. This was found not to be the norm in other EU states.
 
9. Identifying the important matters that Landscape Architects are concerned with: MCA highlighted that we must not lose track of the important issues of practice that we are all involved with – climate change, sustainability and wind farms, etc. We need to be able exchange experience and knowledge. NT mentioned that the Landscape Policy working group had all of these issues on their agenda and everyone has the opportunity to feed-in to this process as they feel necessary.

10. Post-meeting Note: ABF mentioned that it might prove to be beneficial to contact all EU member states that have signed up to and ratified the European Landscape Convention asking them to identify just how the ELC has changed their approach to landscape and the environment and how they are monitoring the improvements made and progress in the future. Each association will be contacted and asked if they wish this to happen and a core letter will be sent out in 2010 from the EFLA president if agreed to.
 
11. The meeting closed at approximately 18.30 hours




Nigel Thorne
Vice-president, Professional Practice