As from the beginning of this year I am honored to shoulder the responsibility as Chairperson of the European Branch of the International Council on Archives (EURBICA). With over 900 members, EURBICA is one of the largest entities within the International Council on Archives (ICA). Apart from this, EURBICA is the main pan-European professional body which covers archival activity in and outside the European Union. The organisation was re-launched in 2016, following an extensive survey of its members. Under the Chairmanship of Dr Deborah Jenkins during the last two years the organisation witnessed a period of reinvigoration.
Looking back at these two years, we feel that we managed to reach our aims of providing a wide sweep of support to several European archivists and communities without re-inventing the wheel. Aware of the limited administrative resources the Branch has, we focused on bridge building with other structures to economise on resources and avoid duplication. The branch now has observer status on the European Archives Group. The branch also has ready access to the European Board of National Archivists (EBNA) through members of its Executive Committee. We also built collaboration with ICARUS mainly focused on the provision of content for the European Archival Blog. Participation in a number of European conference also made it possible for us to build new networks both on the personal and institutional levels.
During the coming two years, we plan to continue with our efforts in line with our strategy and business plan. However, this can only succeed through active engagement from our members. Thus, I do appeal for greater participation from archivists all over Europe. Sending us information about events, projects and challenges in your area of operation is already valuable support. We will use our social media platforms to disseminate such information and also stimulate debate where needed.
While thanking Deborah and my colleagues on the Executive, I look forward to further networking and activity in the interest of the archives community.
I take this opportunity to augur you all a year of health, peace and archival activity!