The 12th EBU General Assembly

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Lisbon, Portugal

Engagement, Balance, Unity
Reflecting on 40 Years, Envisioning the Future

Introduction

The European Blind Union (EBU) and the Portuguese Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted (ACAPO) held the 12th General Assembly of the European Blind Union at the Lisbon Marriott Hotel, Lisbon, Portugal.

"EBU and ACAPO express their enormous satisfaction with the official recognition of His Excellency, the President of the Portuguese Republic, Prof. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who in this way gives due importance to the 12th EBU General Assembly and the work we carry out within it.”, said Rodrigo Santos, ACAPO President and EBU Board Member.

Programme

Sunday 11 February

  • Arrival
  • 13:00 - 18:00     Work session of the EBU women network
  • 13:00 - 18:00     Work session of the EBU low vision network
  • 14:00 - 17:00     Cultural Visit
  • 16:00 - 18:00     Meeting of the outgoing Board
  • 17:30 - 19:30     Registration

Monday 12 February

  • 07:00 - 08:50      Registration
  • 08.30 - 09.00      Credentials Committee meeting
  • 09:00 - 09:30      Welcome by ACAPO, EBU, Partner organisations and and Portugal’s Secretary of State for Inclusion, Mrs. Ana Sofia ANTUNES.
  • 09:30 - 10:00
    • Report by Credentials Committee
    • Roll call
    • Obituaries
    • Approval of Programme
    • Appointment of scrutineers
    • Cinfirmation of Resolutions Committee
    • First Report of Nominations Committee
  • 10:00 - 10:30      Board report
  • 10:30 - 10:45      Treasurer’s report
  • 10:45 - 11:15      Coffee Break
  • 11:15 - 11:45      Q&A on all reports
  • 11:45 - 12:45      Exchange of views with a representative from the National Assembly of Persons with Disabilities (NAPD) in Ukraine, Moderation Lars BOSSELMANN
  • 12:45 - 13:00      Strategic orientation proposal - Introduced by Lars BOSSELMANN and Barbara MARTÍN MUÑOZ, with Dominique DANAU, SAGO Research, EBU external evaluator
  • 13:00 - 14:30      Lunch
  • 14:30 - 15:30      Discussion in the plenary of the proposal of the Orientation Plan, followed by adoption.
  • 15:30 - 16:30      Amending the constitution
  • 16:30 - 17:00      Coffee break
  • 17:00 - 17:30      Round Table (1): Laying the foundations, 40 years of EBU. With Des KENNY (moderator) Poul LUNEBORG and Kicki NORDSTROM.
  • 17:30 - 18:15      Report and discussion about possible Brussels Relocation, (introduced by Lars BOSSELMANN)
  • 20.00                    Dinner

Tuesday 13 February

  • 09:00 - 09:30      Round Table (2): Europe is opening-up: EBU after the fall of the iron curtain. With Wolfgang ANGERMAN, Moderator, Arnt BECKSTRØM HOLTE, Mehmet Emin DEMIRCI, Barbara KREJČI PIRY, and Monica LÕVI.
  • 09:30 - 10:00      Members Inspired Keynote : Develop fundraising strategies for financial support by Barbara MARTÍN MUÑOZ
  • 10:00- 10:30      EBU Secretariat staff presentation
  • 10:30 - 11:00      Coffee break
  • 11:00 - 13:00      Second and last report of the Nominations Committee (including instructions for voting) presentation by each candidate and Voting
  • 13:00 - 14:00      Lunch
  • 13.30 - 14.00      Scrutineers Counting the last two rounds of vote
  • 14:00 - 14:45      Keynote: Artificial intelligence: Opportunity or threat for inclusion?  Christopher PATNOE, Head of Accessibility and Disability Inclusion, EMEA, Google
  • 14:45 - 16:00      Break-out session: EBU for all: EU and non-EU countries coming together + sharing in plenary. With moderators Sinan TAFAJ (Non-EU) and Hakan THOMSON (EU)
  • 16:00 - 16:30      Coffee break
  • 16:30 - 16:45      Election Results
  • 16:45 - 17:15      Round Table (3): EBU and humanity, entering a new Millennium! With Mokrane BOUSSAID moderator, Vaclav POLASEK, Sinan TAFAJ John HEILBRUNN, and Katarina BIGOVIC KULIC
  • 17:15 - 18:15      Meeting of the Resolution Committee
  • 20:00                     Gala Dinner

Wednesday 14 February

  • 09:00 - 09:30      Round Table (4): Times of crises in Europe and how EBU continued to grow. Barbara MARTÍN MUÑOZ moderator, Bart SIMONS, Jakob ROSIN, Ana PELAEZ, Francesca SBIANCHI
  • 09:30 - 10:15      Report of Resolutions Committee discussion and adoption
  • 10:15 - 10:45      Coffee break
  • 10.45 - 11.00      Honorary Life Member announcement
  • 11:00 - 11:15      Closing remarks by the outgoing EBU President
  • 11:15 - 11:30      Address by the new President of EBU
  • 11:30 - 11:45      Thanks and close by ACAPO
  • 11:45 - 13:00      Lunch
  • 14:00 - 17:00      Cultural Visit

Departure in the afternoon

  • 14:00 - 16:00      Meeting of the incoming Board

All through the event, the Accessible Technology exhibition took place in a separate hall.

Also during the event, the European Central Bank conducted tests with blind and partially sighted volunteers on the accessibility of future Euro bank notes.

logo Under the High Patronage of the President of the Portuguese Republic

Assembly Documents