Dear colleagues, dear friends,
First of all, I hope that this message of mine will find you in excellent physical and psychological health.
We are entering the second part of the year and we are very close to our 58th Global Congress: From Wealthy to Healthy Cities.
In a previous communication, we were rightly reminded that everything changes and that we must not be afraid of changes.
In this message that inaugurates the passage towards the second half of the year, I would like to talk to you about stability, and its value. In fact, after a first part of the year with some turbulence, we are now traveling at full speed towards:
- A Congress that is already having good numbers, excellent keynote speakers and excellent content (outstanding work by the Congress Director, the General Rapporteur and the whole ICC: Thank you!)
- A renewed and strengthened Secretariat that is giving new life to the ISOCARP Ecosystem (an important recovery from a financial and organizational point of view is taking place in this post-pandemic period: a big thank you to the Secretariat Team!)
- A Board that is fully committed to managing the complexity of an important transition and that has given remarkable results (e.g., the Cyber Agora with Japanese colleagues: From ‘Smart City’ towards ‘Smart Society’, The YPP event in Kocaeli and finally the return of a successful UPAT experience, in Mexico, Chapala, soon the results will be published!)
Our “boat”, as said, is now stable and at full speed after having made the halfway point, but we must not be happy, now we must also make the record!
I invite you all to register and participate, as far as possible in person, at the 58th congress in Brussels: From Wealthy to Healthy Cities!
Moreover, share the address of the congress portal among your colleagues and invite them to participate, but above all encourage them to be part of our Community, to become members of our ISOCARP Ecosystem.
Speaking of Ecosystem (Society and Institute) I would also like to thank the Institute team, new applied research projects have been gained and are about to kick off, this reinforces our role as a content and network generator, but also gives us new resources for present and futures initiatives to be invented together.
I want to close my message with two information of a logistic nature.
- The first concerns the AGM. This year the AGM will be held in November, immediately after the congress and it will be online: This form allows for greater inclusion of members and above all will avoid the various management problems related to the hybrid form. On the occasion of the congress, however, we will have an in-person meeting with the present members. A network meeting where the board members will report on their activities and their projects, and together we will build a draft agenda for the AGM, working on including immediately the motions and avoiding the usually poorly structured last second proposals.
- The second technical information concerns the elections. From 10 September it will be possible to start voting. We have 22 candidates for the Board (excellent number and great diversity, excellent sign for our network), 3 candidates for the important position of Secretary General and one candidate for the position of Treasurer. The electoral statements of the candidates will be published shortly on the ISOCARP website. I invite you to read them carefully and weigh their contents carefully before making your choice. The results of the new Board will be announced as usual during the congress. In accordance with the ISOCARP Constitution, the newly elected Board Members will officially take up their posts during the AGM in November. The transition period between announcing the results during the congress and AGM will serve for a better transfer of numerous tasks undertaken by the Board Members.
A warm virtual hug to all of you and do not hesitate to contact me for any initiative you want to develop through our ISOCARP Ecosystem.
Pietro Elisei
ISOCARP, President
Velletri (Rome), 24-08-2022