European Association for the Conservation of the Geological Heritage Ассоциация по охране геологического наследия Европы Associazione Europea per la Conservazione de Patrimonio Geologico Association Européenne pour la Protection du Patrimoine Géologique Europäische Gesellschaft für Geotopschutz Treasurer’s report Financial Situation, ProGEO, September 2002 ProGEO’s financial status undergoes an annual balance and revision at the end of the year. Bank account, debts and assets are summarized and reviewed by appointed auditors within the Association (internal revision). This review is required by the Swedish Tax Authorities (TA) and a function of the present official status of the Association. Carl Erik Johansson and Veli Suominen have audited the financial th documents for calender year 2000 per the 10 September 2001 and for calender year nd 2001 per the 22 February 2002. Annual reports are filed to the Executive Committee and to the TA. These reports are official and public documents and can be obtained from the TA. Problems with payments of Membership Fees, membership status and categories, and general problems with communication have caused a rather difficult situation with regards to membership status (ProGEO News 2002:2). Most liberal rules have been used during the last ten years, regardless of memos about payment deadlines. This causes great problems for EC and Treasurer in keeping an up-to-date membership list. It must be stressed that strict rules will be in effect from 2003, the 10 anniversary of the Association. From coming year, payment will be required before January 31 that year, or voting rights will be lost. Please bear that in mind as from the date you read this message.
Balance for the years 2000 and 2001 Year 2000 2001 DM SEK Ingoing 1.908,86 47.548,07 Bank assets 13.581,95 102.624,86 Debts 1.413 ,04 2.835 Sum 12.948,91 99.789,86
Preliminary balance, 2002
SEK124.846,04
Membership status Year 2000 2001 2002 Individual members Institutional members 30 152 179 10 9 8
Gunnel Ransed Treasurer ProGEO SGU Uppsala
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Executive Secretary’s report for period between General Assemblies Since the last General Assembly of ProGEO met in Estonia in 1987, much water has passed under the bridge, and the Association has grown in several significant ways: in member numbers, in countries participating, and in confidence. Its early geographical bias to northern Europe has disappeared and a more balanced suite of representatives now meet. Balance of effort also changes, as some newer dynamic country networks strengthen and others fade, when established members retire. Nevertherless, ProGEO grows. The Digne Declaration, written by the ProGEO council, appears everywhere that geoconservation is discussed, and its philosophy is taken for granted now. The movement in Europe grows and there are many individuals and organisations who have put their time and commitment, and that of their agencies, into progressing ProGEO’s aims – too many to list here, for which I am sorry. Outputs from ProGEO are many and varied. There have been country publications, too numerous to mention, but collectively since Estonia we have published the enormous Roma proceedings (editors Gissotti, G. & Zarlenga, F. 2000), the Madrid conference proceedings (editors Barettino, D., Vellejo, M. & Gallego, E. 1999; Barettino, Wimbledon & Gallego 2000) in three parts, and the Belogradchik proceedings in Geologica Balcanica (editor R. Nakov 1999). All demonstrate the valuable collaboration with other agencies: Geological Service of Italy, SIGEA, as it was ITGE, and Bulgarian Academy of Science, for instance. A new leaflet for the Association is in press. It is impossible to mention all publications, and for that I apologise, but I must draw attention firstly to the superlative work of our Italian colleagues in spreading the ProGEO ethos in print, just two examples of several – Geositi: testimoni de tempo (editor G. Poli, 1999), and I geositi: conservazione del patrioniio geologico (coordinator R. Massoli-Novelli 2002) - and to the inspiration given by the association in generating Geodiversitat I nordisk naturvard (editor C.E. Johansson 2000).
Our ProGEO web site has been set up and develops. I think it true to say that countries have yet to use its many possibilities and great potential. Thanks to Lars Karis for his efforts. And to Lars Erikstad, many thanks for maintaining a regular newsletter. Web-site support from the Swedish Geological Survey is very gratefully acknowledged. Successful meetings of the whole association have taken place in Estonia (1997), Bulgaria (1998), Spain (1999) and the Czech Republic (2000): thanks to all national teams, led by Rein Raudsep, Todor Todorov, Daniel Barettino and Jiri Kriz, for making all this possible. To create such meetings means many months of effort, time which is lost from other work and initiatives in the home country, and which exhau sts the resource for a period. Regional working group meetings have been held in each region including in Krakow (Representative Geosites of central Europe Polish Geological Institute Special Papers 2, Alexandrowicz, Z. editor), Riga, Athens and Ankara, and several ad-hoc regional group meetings in Prague. Spain and Portugal have held a bipartite meetings to discuss future cooperation. The SIGEA 2002 Genova meeting was used as an opportunity to have a planning meeting for possible geoconservation workshops at the 2004 International Geological Congress in Florence. National groups have been active and I should report changes of national representatives on the Council. Jose Brilha became the first representative for an energetic Portugal, and Aivars Markots the first for Latvia. There have been many changes due to workload and career changes. Natalya Gerasimenko has handed over toVolodymyr Gritshenko (Ukraine), who proceeds with the similar energy for the cause: and the following elections and replacements took effect - Daniel Barettino for Alfredo Perez-Gonzalez (Spain), Jan Urban for Dr Rubinowski (Poland), Gerardo Brancucci for Maurizio Burlando (Italy), Radoslav Nakov for Ivan Zagorchev (Bulgaria), and Gunnel Ransed for Carl Erik Johansson (Sweden). Attempts to form open groups of activists in Croatia, Slovenia and Netherlands continue. In a number of countries we still strive to form permanent structures and have a regular election of a national representative. No changes of national representative, other than those listed above, have been notified to the secretary (list of council members appended) We have seen a growth in membership in this period, and notable increases in country teams, for example, in Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Czech and, spectacularly, Portugal. The Riga meeting introduced ProGEO to an enthusiastic network of professional colleagues in Latvia. Latterly, following the pioneering membership of Hulya Inaner, “Jemirko” has been formed in Turkey and Nizamettin Kazanci has joined us as national representative on Council. A meeting (Ankara 2002), including the Minister for Culture, cemented our working relations with the Turkish team. It was with pleasure that we welcomed members to ProGEO from Bosnia-Herzegovina for the first time in 2001: and currently discussions proceed over election of a national representative. There are two hundred and thirty-five members at present. A Geosites and Geopark workshop was held in collaboration with IUGS and UNESCO at Belogradchik (1998), and one on geosite databases in Estonia (1997): funding from UNESCO World Heritage Centre and International Union of Geological
Sciences aided the first meeting. Support from several agencies made possible the larger ProGEO meetings: Earth science division UNESCO, Geological Survey and Ministry of Environment of Estonia, Geological Survey of Sweden, IGME Athens, IGME Spain and ENRESA Foundation, and Ministry of Science and Technology Madrid, Geological Institute and Academy of Sciences Poland. MTA, Jemirko and IUGS supported participation in the Ankara meeting; and the Czech Geological Survey and Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection the Prague conference. Valuable support for newsletter production from Ola Skauge and the Directorate for Nature Conservation in Trondheim has been important. The process of finding new members and allowing for natural wastage of active established colleagues is a permanent task for the secretary. The retirement of Steen Andersen (a founder member) has left a void in Denmark that it is difficult to fill, but discussions continue with Steen and Lisa Holm on how best to develop the contact network. Similarly, with Germany the retirement of Ernst Look and the move of Alf Grube to new pastures put pressure on members remaining. Discussions go on as to how best to mobilise contributors within a complex federal country. We still fail to develop an active group in France, where geoconservation is poorly developed. In Belgium, contact with the national committee of IUGS promises new collaboration. A new regional group for Spain, Italy, Portugal and southern France was formed at the Prague meeting, with Daniel Barettino as chairman and Gerardo Brancucci as secretary: Krista Taht took over as northern group secretary from Gunnel Ransed in Riga. Thanks to regional working group chairmen: Zofia Alexandrowicz (3 central), Irini Drandaki (1, Balkan), Jonas Satkunas (2, north), Daniel Barettino (5, south), and Andrei Lapo (5, Russian Federation). Thanks are due to Carl Erik Johannson and Ivan Zagorchev for charismatic chairing in the period of the N and SE working groups, respectively. Todor Todorov was elected President by the membership at the Estonia general meeting, Carl Erik Johannson stepping down. At Prague, the following executive committee was elected by the Council to assist the president: Gerard Gonggrijp, Alf Grube, Daniel Barettino, Gerardo Brancucci, Jan Urban, Francesco Zarlenga, Dusan Mijovic, Lars Karis, Lars Erikstad, Rein Raudsep, Irini Drandaki, and W.A.P. Wimbledon. Alf Grube subsequently resigned and Gunnel Ransed was coopted as treasurer. In 2002, elections are due, and there has been one resignation from the executive, Lars Karis, and one nomination of a new member, Radoslav Nakov. Lars Karis leaves the executive with our heartfelt thanks: retirement of Veli Suominen from the executive at Prague should be noted, and his participation as an auditor from Prague to Dublin is acknowledged with thanks: both Lars and Veli happily remain on council. Following approval by the Council at the Prague meeting to switch registration from Germany to Sweden, ProGEO was legally registered on November 8th 2000, at the Tax Authority in Uppsala, after a lengthy scrutiny of our actions as an open association, working methods, and particularly of our Articles. This registration is valid in Sweden and relative to financial matters abroad (ProGEO’s registration number 817605-8769). The official name registered has been changed to add the short form “ProGEO” to the association’s full name: our logo is also registered, as is an official address in Sweden at the SGU.
Voting papers for the election of a new president and for changes to the articles were posted to paid-up members in April 2002. At Madrid, the ProGEO Council agreed to amend the Articles of Association agreed at Mitwitz, and to put it to a vote at the next general meeting. This was necessary because the timing of council meetings no longer conformed to ProGEO’s original statutes. To date, 130 voting papers have been received back by the secretary in the vote on the articles. Lastly, I record the loss of three special friends since Estonia: Walter Krieg, George Black and Gerard Gonggrijp. May they rest in peace, and may their ideals, and concern for fruitful cooperation, guide us as an association in the future. W.A.P. Wimbledon Executive Secretary ProGEO July 15 2002
Council members, July 2002 Albania: Bulgaria: Bosnia: Macedonia: Yugoslavia: Croatia: Slovenia: Greece: Romania: Russia: Spain: Italy: Portugal: Poland: Ukraine: Belarus: Czech Rep.: Slovakia: Switzerland: Latvia: Lithuania: Estonia: Sweden: Germany: Denmark: rep A. Serjani, rep R. Nakov, founder T. Todorov, rep pending, rep S. Klincharov, rep D. Mijovic, rep L. Marjanac, rep B. Hlad, rep I. Theodossiou-Drandaki, founder D. Grigorescu, rep A. Lapo, rep D. Barettino, rep G. Brancucci, founder F. Zarlenga, rep J. Brilha, founder Z. Alexandrowicz, rep J. Urban, rep V. Gritshenko, rep V. Vinokurov, rep J. Kriz, rep P. Liscak, founder B. Sturm, rep A. Markots, rep J. Satkunas, founder/rep R. Raudsep, rep G. Ransed, founder L.O. Karis, rep pending, founder S. Andersen,
Finland: Norway: UK:
rep/founder V. Suominen, founder T. Kananoja, founder L. Erikstad, founder S. Smith Mayer, rep C.J. Cleal, founder W.A.P. Wimbledon.
Rep = representative of country group/network Founder = founder member invited to Weymouth meeting, where open ProGEO association was founded.
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