BPW Europe Presidents' Meeting in Barcelona

4 September 2021

After two years of pandemic, it was finally possible to meet with BPW Europe Presidents in Barcelona and have the hybrid Presidents meeting on 4 September. A great thank you to BPW Spain, President Silvia Vigata and Board members for the excellent organization of the Presidents' meeting and the side events – visit to the Foment de Trebal National, the Mercat de la Boqueria and meeting with the General Manager, Old Town walking tour.

There were 16 people present at the meeting and 18 participated virtually. BPW Europe Regional Coordinator Anu Viks welcomed new Presidents of BPW Europe Federations and Clubs.

ECC members Anu Viks, Carmen Taheny, Alice Minuto, Gudrun Jakobsdottir, and Sheerah Kim presented their Reports, and BPW Europe Representatives in European institutions introduced their Reports.

BPW Europe has representatives in the

Council of Europe – Laura Zamperlin - and
European Women's Lobby - Miette Dechelle

Lobbying Advisor Raffaella Femia presented her report as well as the Chairs of Working Groups:

Charter on the Girls’ Rights – Pinella Bombaci,
Women on Boards – Eufemia Ippolito,
Green and Sustainable WG Siiri Tiivits – Puttonen,
Equal Pay Day – Christa Kirchmair,
Leadership and Lifelong Learning (Leadership Training) – Connie Montague.

Two Teams presented reports: Working Groups Team – Moyra MacMahon and Myriam Heidelberger and Communication Team – Sheerah Kim.

Countries’ reports: Every Federation and Affiliate Club of the Europe Region sent in a paper on their major successful events of the 2020/2021 season. These reports were published in the first BPW Europe Newsletter of the triennium 2021-2024. You can subscribe to our newsletter here.

BPW Europe's next or 17th BPW Europe Regional Conference and 9th Young Symposium will take place in Reykjavik Iceland 27-29 May 2022. BPW Iceland together with the European Coordination Committee headed by Regional Coordinator Anu Viks are fully inspired in the preparation of the Regional Conference. Prominent speakers – Eliza Reid First Lady of Iceland and EU Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli are the key speakers at the Conference. Many exceptional and innovative workshops await BPW members to attend at the Conference. There is a special workshop section and specially designed events for young BPW members to be attended. The Fair on Icelandic production by Icelandic women entrepreneurs will be held during the Conference. The Conference venue is Hilton Reykjavik Nordica Hotel. The most amazing event is the Gala night on 26 May and the most wonderful and picturesque event is the Farewell dinner together with the Golden Circle tour to see the most prized natural wonders of Iceland. Please see the Conference webpage. The webpage will be constantly updated with new information; the registration will be opened in January 2022.

BPW Europe Presidents were interested in project cooperation and writing winning projects to receive funding from EU institutions to carry out different activities in their Federations and Clubs and also to cooperate between Federations. Therefore, BPW Europe members are invited to subscribe for the training for Writing Winning Projects that will take place virtually on 26-27 November 2021; the price for the participant is 320 € + VAT 21%. Please express your interest to the Regional Coordinator.

The President's meeting was a great success and set the goals for the new triennium. The next virtual Presidents' meeting will take place on 15 November.

Anu Viks

BPW International Regional Coordinator Europe 2021-2024