With our Christmas comic, we wish you and your colleagues a happy Christmas holiday. When everyday life feels too hectic, a rest can help. A break is a good opportunity to enjoy the natural environment, spend time in the company of friends and family. This allow the wind to clear one's head and put one's life into perspective.

During the last board meeting, we discussed al our tasks for 2024 but considered that the top priority is to convene a new junior board. At least two but a maximum of four under-30s should be proposed (by the board) at the next general meeting and confirmed by those entitled to vote. The Committee should have equal representation and reflect the perspective of our younger members. They shall act in an advisory capacity. Since this is about exchange and networking, we will not seek complicated changes to the bylaws, but rather take a pragmatic approach. All ERCA members are invited to submit nominations by 31 ^stJanuary 2024. Ideally, you should discuss this with the person to be nominated in advance.

Next year there will a lot of development in the areas of training, certification, knowledge exchange, creation of standards, international networking, safety statistics and meetings. For the meetings, please also read the separate article entitled “Save the Date(s)”. For a look back at what's happened this year, please visit our news blog: https://www.erca.uk/index.php/en/news-blog-members