The 54th ERA conference was held from 28 Sept. to 1 October 2023 in the hotel “Stary Tartak” in Ilawa, Poland. 54 participants from 24 countries spent their time in the NE of Poland, in the Masurian Lake District.
The topics of Friday’s Know-How sessions were not of a large scale, but were very interesting and useful for the participants as well as for the further planning of ERA activities (enhancing member engagement and communication). Topics:
- Leading Quality Trails – Best of Europe, Day Walk & Region
- Digitalization
- Slow traffic
- Involvement of ERA membership
The ERA president Boris Mićić welcomed to the General Meeting a representative of the ERA partner: Andreas Aschaber (EUMA) and the ERA honorary president Ingemund Hägg. The delegates expressed their farewell to honorary president Arthur Howcroft who died on 25 Feb. 2023.
The delegates unanimously approved the ERA Board activities for 2022.
Three new organisations joined the ERA family:
FFRandonnée Nouvelle Aquitaine, F (as a full member)
Wanderverband Bayern e.V., D (as a full member)
Tourismusverband Erzgebirge e.V., D (as an associated member)
Newly, ERA has 64 MOs from 33 European countries, of it 57 are full members and 7 are associate members.
The highest point of this conference was the election of one half of the ERA Board. Delegates approved Mimmo Pandolfo and Joep Naber as ERA honorary members and Sandra Bertholet was awarded with a Thank-you note.
Delegates approved the Plans for the ERA strategy in 2024, the membership fees for 2024 and the completion of the ERA constitution.
The organisation of the EURORANDO 2026, hosted by the German-Czech organisations Tourismusverband Erzgebirge (D), Destinační agentura Krušnohoří (CZ) and Klub českých turistů – Region Ústí/Labem and Region Karlovy Vary (CZ) in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) on the German-Czech border, with the centre in Oberwiesenthal (D) was approved by great acclaim.
The wonderful weather allowed the participants to walk along the Silm lake and visit the Ship Handling, Research and Training Center. The bus trip brought the group to the castle ruins and the unique viewing tower Wieza Widokowa in Kurzetnik. Finally, Nowe Miasto Lubawskie was visited.
Finally, on Sunday 1st October 2023, in pursuance of the 54th ERA conference in Iława (PL), a smaller group celebrated the existence of E9 nearby Eblag and the Baltic Sea by taking part in a walk. The path is enjoyed very much by the local habitants. We hope to see there an ERA sign for E9 in the near future.
Thank you for the organisation of the ERA conference to Marian Jurak from PTTK, Olsztyn section.
The next ERA conference will be held in Montserrat, Catalonia (E) from 3 – 6 October 2024.
Pictures from the conference:
Photos: Angelo Latorre, Gerhard Ermischer, Romano Cassar, Rúben Jordao,
Steen Kobberoe-Hansen, Tatjana Ivanovič and ERA archive