Overview over all activities of the ETC in 2023
27th February 2024
The ETC annual report can be downloaded here.
The EuroTAB Council (ETC) is the governing body of EuroTAB (ETAB), the educational expertise board of the European and Israeli Feldenkrais Training Accreditation Board. The EuroTAB is one of the 4 international Training Accreditation Boards and has significantly more Trainings within its area than any of the other TABs. This report describes the changes and progress made by the ETC and EuroTAB in 2023.
ETC members 2023/2024:
Chair: Beth-Karin Danielsen (Norway), Treasurer: Mamie Wisker (UK), Secretary: Andrea M. Thiem (Italy) From December 2023, Nicola Zollinger (Switzerland) was elected to the board of directors (BoD) fulfilling the new BoD position of Policy and Strategy. Julia Kirchner continued as Office Manager for ETC and ETAB throughout 2023.
Other members and part of different task groups: Julia Rebekka Ahamer (Austria), Angelique Pradier (France) to June 2023, Claire Vialon (France) from September 2023, Tsippy Ganan (Israel), María Lastra (Spain) from September 2023 and Constantina Lomi (Sweden).
Organisational Development
The year 2023 was the start for several policy processes, initiated by the fact that DTAB started to accredit ATM only trainings in Germany. This led the ETC to review the current structures in international training policy and a recent statement, sent to the whole European and Israeli Feldenkrais Community clarified the processes which are to be followed, if there is interest in organising an ATM-only training within the ETC area. Further, the ETC is elaborating a new international training policy system, integrating the recent developments. In short: There will be a distinction between locally and internationally accredited Training Programmes in the future.
Additionally, the ETC is reflecting on its own structures and internal mechanisms, in order to put a framework in place, which allows the autonomous elaboration of new training standards for trainings taking place within the ETC/EuroTAB area. All this is to ensure that the Feldenkrais Method and its Training Programmes continue to flourish in Europe and Israel.
ETC and Feldenkrais Guilds - meeting with Guild BoDs
The ETC organised a meeting in October 2023 for all Guild BoDs within the ETC area, including non-ETC member Guilds, in order to describe the paradigm shift and to give an update on ATM only Trainings.
Professional Development
Changes in Feldenkrais Trainings - ATM only Trainings
Further discussion took place in 2023 throughout the Feldenkrais community. It was realised by the ETC that individual Guilds will need to decide whether to accept Practitioners who have done a 2-year ATM only Training in future and whether to allow such Trainings to take place in their country. To date, no 2-year ATM only trainings have been authorised by EuroTAB in the Europe/Israeli region.
Assessment Tool
Following the translation of the Assessment Tool into several ETC languages to facilitate understanding, ETAB enjoyed a full workshop on the tool as part of their live meeting in December 2022. ETAB recommended that further professional development would be required in order to make it useable by the Feldenkrais community.
The ETC decided in September 2023, as owner of the Assessment Tool, not to invest any further at present in the tool. The tool is to be made available to the Feldenkrais community as a free resource, with the proviso that if anyone develops the tool they will also make that development freely available.
Feldenkrais Professional Research Project
During 2023, an application was made for EU Erasmus funding for a joint project between the AIIMF (Italian Feldenkrais Guild), the IFF (International Feldenkrais Federation), the FVD (German Feldenkrais Guild) and the AISF (Italian Association Fibromyalgia Syndrome). Note that in January 2024, approval for this project was granted and is now in progress. A Representative from the ETC has joined this project. See https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/
Operational issues within the ETC
ETC/ETAB Website
Work on the new ETC website progressed well in 2023 and the new website is due to go live in Spring 2024. Project manager Ohad Nachmani and Office Manager Julia Kirchner have been working intensely on the content in close collaboration with the Israeli enterprise Simply Smart while receiving precious input from the joint task group of ETAB and ETC members as well as the educational community and the ETC Guilds. New Training Programmes will be able to apply via the new website, Training Organisers can upload compliance information via online forms. The News page will provide recent information and announcements such as new accreditations and governance documentation. The website will also include much more background information on various topics such as a Case Study library and a guide how to write an application.
ETC Office Manager
The Office Manager continued to liaise between the Training Community, ETAB, the ETC and the Guilds. Besides tasks like the bookkeeping and participating in several task groups, she was processing an unusually high amount of personal and training applications. She also spent a considerable amount of time designing new forms for the upgraded website as well as uploading and editing the information on there during 2023.
Finance Report
The Annual accounts for the year ended 31st December 2023 will not be available until later in 2024. These will be circulated once ready, for approval by ETC member Guilds via their ETC representatives. Early draft figures indicate a small drop in income - the main income for the ETC is Training Compliance fees and income from this source fluctuates from year to year.
Expenditure on usual activities such as running the ETC office and on ETC and ETAB meetings were in line with budget and previous years. Work is still ongoing on the new website, so some expenditure will fall into 2024 instead of as budgeted in 2023.
Overall, the ETC has adequate reserves and is reviewing possible suitable projects in which to invest resources.
ETC work
During 2023, the ETC had regular zoom meetings and also had an in-person meeting in Pisa in September 2023.
ETC worked together with ETAB on projects including the ATM only Trainings and the ETC/ETAB website.
The ETC also continued to produce a regular newsletter for Guilds in 2023.
Thanks
The ETC thanks ETAB for their important work on accreditation of Trainings and Trainers and development of the Feldenkrais Method. ETAB will prepare a separate report on their work during 2023 which will be circulated once available.
Beth Karin Danielsen, ETC Chair
Mamie Wisker, ETC Treasurer