Associations’ sector met in Brussels for the 2016 European Association Summit

BRUSSELS, Belgium – The European Association Summit, the annual meeting of international associations, came to a successful end on Thursday 2 June at the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels.

BRUSSELS, Belgium – The European Association Summit, the annual meeting of international associations, came to a successful end on Thursday 2 June at the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels. With 20 percent more participants than in the previous year, some famous speakers and great collective enthusiasm, the fourth summit lived up to its expectations.

The EAS is a non-profit initiative aimed at creating a platform for the exchange of information between professionals in the associations’ sector. Once again, the EAS was received with great enthusiasm.


With some 120 participants and over 20 partners attending, there was a 20% increase in the number of attendees over 2015.

For two days, associations had the opportunity to meet together in a stimulating context, to network and to exchange experiences and good practices. Among the highlights of this year’s meeting were the talks by Luc de Brabandere (Louvain School of Management) and Susan West (Solvay Brussels School).

The philosopher Luc de Brabandere emphasised the importance of simplifying the creative process. In her talk, teacher Susan West tackled different aspects of leadership and the way to exert influence without using authority.

“Whether European associations or US associations or South American associations, there are differences but we have more in common than we have separate […]”

Elissa Myers, Academy for Eating Disorders, Executive Director

“It’s amazing how much you can learn in 25 minutes if you have the person who does it right. That was very useful for me”

Malgosia Bartosik, WindEurope, Deputy CEO

“I think EAS is one of these platforms that is in terms of size really allowing people to connect, to share […] It’s one of this models in Europe, maybe around the world that really brings 120 association leaders together from all types of organizations […] and yet they all have so much in common…”

Kai Troll, International Sport and Culture Association, Director

With a total of 28 speakers, the 8 parallel sessions allowed all participants to ask questions and share their experiences. After this came an original evening event at which the associations were able to meet around one table.

For the first time, the visit.brussels team had the honor of presenting the EAS Association Awards. The FAIB and ESEA each gave an award to their most active members (Pierre Costa (EUnited Cleaning) and Michel Ballieu (ECCO), respectively) while the UIA recognised a member from the oldest Brussels-based association, Nathalie Simon (UITP).

Many participants also took the opportunity to attend the European Business Summit (EBS), which was held just a few hundred meters away.



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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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