#IPSERASpirit live, bright and expanding
I am honored to start my term as Vice-President of IPSERA. This community embraced me in 2013 when I attended the Doctoral Workshop in lovely Nantes, France. There I met IPSERA members that became colleagues, co-authors, and great friends. The community has taught me a lot; and, since 2018, I have been lucky to serve at the Executive Committee.
I am humbled be considered up to the post, challenged to keep up the great work done by those that preceded me, and energized by an amazing Executive Committee led by our President Donna Marshall with Antonella Moretto, Anni-Kaisa Kähkönen, Frederik Vos, George Zsidisin, Hakan Karaosman, Jenny Bäckstrand, Marika Tuomela-Pyykkönen, Nadine Kiratli; and most recently, Davide Luzzini and Robert Suurmond. I could not write an incoming message without citing the EC members. I should also pay my gratitude to Michael Henke, Steve Kelly and Niels Uenk. The last years taught me that IPSERA is sustained by team effort and collegiality.
Early April we have successfully closed the #IPSERAConference 2021, which marked our first online conference and our 30th birthday celebration – two respectable achievements. Feedback tells us we have manage to adapt to troubled times while keeping the community engaged and ensuring the financial health of our association. We, as a community, should all be proud and enjoy a nice sense of accomplishment as we read this Newsletter.
In the years to come, we should advance on embracing diversity and enhancing our global reach and impact – at education and research fronts. We should also explore new ways to foster engagement in-between conferences – either online or offline, now that we have mastered ‘the beast’, and for that we need help from the whole community in finding innovative ways to connect, stay together, and share knowledge.
Happiness and joy fill my heart thinking that I have been giving the opportunity to keep serving our community so full of #IPSERASpirit ! Hope to catch up soon!
Leonardo Marques
IPSERA Vice President
