European Forum

 European Forum Committee Meeting:

 Forum Committee Meeting – 1-3 November 2019, Tallinn, Estonia

Last November, the Forum Committee held their second, and final, physical meeting of the biennium. We met in the beautiful city of Tallinn. Our Estonian member, Terttu-Triin Tomusk, made hotel arrangements on our behalf. Ria Logtenberg (Netherlands) and I were sharing, so we decided to take a stroll to an area of the city that had been recently renovated, with a large number of unusual ‘buildings’, including railways cars and shipping containers, containing cafes and restaurants. Needless to say, walking is a thirsty occupation, so we were very glad to find a warm and inviting bar that provided us with a welcome and very large glass of red wine! We found our way to Terttu-Triin’s flat, which had been previously owned by her grandmother. She kindly gave us many examples of traditional Estonian food, and it was a pleasure to renew acquaintances at the end of a long day of travelling.

The photo shows Ria enjoying a pre-dinner glass of wine.

As is usual on the Friday evening, we began work on the main agenda, so that we would have more time to discuss lengthier items on the Saturday.

On Saturday morning we met together at the Tallinn French School – a short walk from our hotels – apart from Iida Hyvönen (Finland) who had organised her own hotel at some distance, somewhere in the heart of the extensive shopping area – she does love to shop! We began work immediately, but then interrupted our own meeting to join another.

Photo right.  Morning concentration.                                                                                                                                                                                      

We had been invited to join the Estonian History and Civics Teachers’ Association at their yearly conference - held in the same location as ours. At the opening ceremony, Terttu-Triin and Ingibjörg Jónasdóttir (Regional Director, Iceland) both spoke, thanking the Association for their invitation and explaining the purposes of DKG. Terttu-Triin gave out copies of a DKG leaflet from Estonia for publicity.

The EHCTA invited us to join them for lunch and we were able to talk with them and share experiences – though my Estonian was sadly lacking. Fortunately, their English was superb.

We continued with our meeting during the afternoon, spending much time on two items that had been deferred from the Forum meeting in Iceland in July 2019 – the future of EuForia and the European website. (Full minutes of the meeting are available for you to view on the European website.) The meeting closed at 5:00 pm – that’s a long time to be taking minutes!

 Kathrin and Barbara taking minutes.

We returned to our hotels to freshen up and then met again – with one or two husbands – at the Peppersack Restaurant in Tallinn Old Town. It was very much in the tradition of the restaurant I remember from the Regional Conference in Tallinn in 2017 – but with more light and slightly more familiar food – and we had a really enjoyable evening there.

Peppersack restaurant photograph.

For those members leaving later on the Sunday morning, Terttu-Triin arranged a little walk through TallinnOldTown to show her favourite places. Not being one of life’s shoppers, and having a relatively early flight, I declined – but I think Iida went!

I would like to give a big thanks to Terttu-Triin for making the arrangements on our behalf and making sure we had maps so that even I couldn’t get lost - well, I might have done, had I not had Ria beside me every step of the way.

The new committee takes over responsibility from July 1^st 2020. Evie Goodsell will be the representative for Great Britain. Her first meeting will be in Amsterdam in November.

Kathrin Hodgson, European Forum Member 2017 - 2020