EEF lead with new sustainability strategy at their General Assembly
Today the EEF held its General Assembly in Prague, Czech Republic. The meeting focused on updating the members on the activities from the past 12 months, including new updates for the year ahead.
Sustainability took centre stage, with the new EEF sustainability strategy presented to the members alongside commitments to help each member NF to develop their own strategies where they are not already in place. The EEF updated on their sustainability projects which to date include a green policy, event evaluation tool and research partnerships such as the carbon hoofprint tool. The three dimensions of sustainability; horses, humans and the environment, were stressed and initiatives to support each of these areas were highlighted to support a sustainable future for equestrianism.
Of the 40 registered members, 28 were in attendance with 7 providing proxy voting rights. The annual report and accounting matters were approved by the members before updates were given by each major EEF department.
Teodor Sheytanov, EEF Sport Development Manager, provided updates on the range of development activities from the year. This includes the Equestrian Sport Education Events (ESEE) which are organised with FEI Solidarity, the EEF Evolution League which provides international opportunities in Jumping and Dressage aimed at smaller nations, and the new EEF Academy aimed to provide training and education opportunities to develop officials. The issue of the continuous training and education of officials was particularly stressed to keep good people within the sport and support the overall sustainability goals of the sport.
Updates were also provided on the Longines EEF Series and the Equestrian Young Leader Europe (EYLE) which have both experienced successful years.
In organisational matters, Nayla Stoessel (SUI) and Quentin Simonet (FRA) were re-elected to the EEF Board with Quentin Simonet re-appointed 2nd Vice President. The three candidates for the EEF EU-Committee Dr Emoke Ratki, Dr Klaus Miesner and Christiane Van Rulo-Schaurte were all elected.