[Excom] Fwd: [centr-ga] CENTR meetings in 2021

[barrack at aftld.org]

Dear EXCOM,

As we plan for 2021, it might be worth looking at what the other 
Regional Organizations are doing. I am sharing a decision by the CENTR 
board shared by the Chair Barbara.It would be interesting to get the 
thoughts of EXCOM members.

Regards
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [centr-ga] CENTR meetings in 2021
Date: 2020-12-17 12:07
 From: Barbara Povše <barbara.povse at register.si>
To: ga at centrlists.org, fm at centrlists.org

Dear Members,

I hope you are well.

At its November meeting, the CENTR Board looked into the meeting plans
for next year. With regret, we have decided to schedule all CENTR
meetings until 1 September 2021 as online events.

Our decision is based on two factors.
First of all there is the health and safety risk. While there are
positive messages about vaccine tests, the very high numbers of
contaminations and the unpredictability of vaccine distribution has led
us to conclude that the restrictions caused by the pandemic are here to
stay for quite some time.
We believe that under the current circumstances it would be
irresponsible for CENTR to organise physical meetings. Even if the
situation in the host country were to improve, it would be unacceptable
to organise a meeting requiring members from all across Europe (and
beyond) to travel.

Secondly, we believe that the best way for CENTR to prepare for the next
9 months is to plan for virtual meetings from the earliest stages of the
planning process. We need to avoid online meetings becoming a poor
surrogate for physical meetings. They should not mimic these physical
meetings, but ambitiously explore the potential of the online
environment to provide us with a platform to get the work done. Only if
the secretariat plans for this from the onset can we succeed in
delivering high value online events.

We have therefore tasked the secretariat to plan for all CENTR meetings
until 1 September 2021 to be held online.

We are saddened by the prospect of not seeing each other for such a long
time, and we are very much looking forward to autumn 2021.

Stay in touch and keep safe!
Barbara Povše, on behalf of the CENTR Board