The FEEC (Federació d’Éntitats Excursionistes de Cataluńa) hosted the 55th ERA Annual Conference from 3 to 6 October, 2024, in the remarkable setting of Montserrat Monastery in Catalonia, Spain, with 67 participants from 24 countries, including guests from Colombia.
Friday’s Know-How sessions covered a range of valuable and engaging topics that will be instrumental in the future planning of ERA activities, especially in enhancing member engagement and communication. Topics included:
- Leading Quality Trails – Best of Europe, Day Walk & Long Distance
- Accessibility in private areas
- Digital behaviour of hikers
- The idea of a European Club
- Increasing involvement among ERA members
- Hiker’s friendly label for Baltic trails
- Hiking in Colombia – the country of biodiversity
- Outcomes of various projects undertaken by individual ERA member organizations
Although the General Meeting was condensed, it brought forward several key decisions:
- Approval of the ERA Board activities for 2023
- Strategic plans for ERA in 2025
- Approval of updates to the ERA constitution
- A new ERA name/logo
- Two new organizations joined the ERA family:
- Clubul Montan Transilvania (Romania)
- Federata Shquiptare e Alpinizmit dhe Turizmit Malor (Albania)
ERA now has 63 member organizations across 33 European countries, with 56 full members and 7 associate members.
Thanks to the beautiful weather, participants enjoyed a walk on Montserrat Hill, where a commemorative mosaic for this conference was unveiled. A special thank you to President Jordi Merio i Urbano, Vice-President Josep Casanovas, and the entire team for their exceptional organization of the event and the program.
Photos: FEEC archive, ERA archive, Böjthe-Beyer Barna, Sophie Chipon, Anthie Gabrielides, Arthur Guni, Liane Jordan,
Olga Karagianni, Steen Kobberoe-Hansen, Lehel István Kovács, Hansueli Kunz, Nenad Lečić, Joep Naber, Mimmo Pandolfo