Passing away of Past ECCE President Vassilis Economopoulos
Past October 4th, ECCE Past President Vassilis Economopoulos passed away in Athens, Greece. An enthusiastic and dedicated worker towards the highest professional standards of the engineering profession and its efficient commitment to society, he has seeded with his contribution his legacy, not only in Greece but throughout the world. He has been was a teacher, mentor, professor, colleague but mostly a friend, impacting and making a difference wherever initiative in which he became involved.
Current Chairman on ECCE's Standing Committee on Associate Membership, his commitment to ECCE has been total since its inception in 1985, bearing ECCE's presidency during the period 2008-2010. He has held all its different posts and has been member of ECCE's Executive Board uninterruptedly since 1995.
Passing away of our Founding President, José Medem Sanjuan
Past January 27th, WCCE Founding President José Medem Sanjuan passed away in Madrid, Spain. A visionary and a leader for a better world, and with the highest professional standards of the engineering profession, not only in Spain but throughout the world is his legacy. He was a teacher, mentor, professor, but mostly a friend, impacting and making a difference whether he became involved. Past President of the European Council of Civil Engineers ECCE, Past President of the European Federation of National Engineering Organizations FEANI, Past President of the World Federation of Engineering organizations WFEO, and Founding President of his last great project, the World Council of Civil Engineers, among the multiple professional organizations in which he was involved. A distinguished member of the PanAmerican Academy of Engineers since its foundation. He leaves us with a great legacy and path for all of us to follow.
On this day - 17 November 1869 – Opening Suez Canal
The opening of Suez Canal in 1869, provided the shortest ocean link from Britain to the Far East by making the long journey around the Cape of Good Hope unnecessary.It took approximately 120 days to travel from Europe to Singapore (back and forth), and the initial route had to pass the Cape of Good Hope which is located at the south end of the African continent. The journey was unsafe as the weather there were always unfavorable.
OECD Principles on Water Governance 2014
Ministers from OECD’s 34 member countries welcomed the OECD Principles on Water Governance, which set standards for moreeffective, efficient and inclusive design and implementation of water policies, and encouraged governments to put them into action.
The 12 Water Governance Principles provide a framework for governments to put in place better water policies and they will be used to develop a broader OECD perspective on water management over the coming years.
The Principles were developed using a multi-stakeholder approach and were endorsed by a large number of public, private and non-profit organisations at the 7th World Water Forum in April in Korea through the Daegu Declaration.
Next steps will include identifying and scaling up best practices and developing water governance indicators to support the implementation of the Principles.
Click here to download the pdf
New headquarters of UPADI
The Rio de Janeiro began to be the headquarters, permanently, this Friday, February 1th 2013, the Pan American Federation of Engineering Societies (UPADI). The Brazilian Institute of Cost Engineering (IBEC) yielded a space in its national headquarters in Rio de Janeiro (Rua Sete de Setembro, nº 43) to accommodate the new office of the institution. The inauguration of the new headquarters in IBEC had the presence of entities of engineering from member countries of UPADI. The organization that promotes the integration representatives entities of engineering from the Pan American region has 27 member countries.
Madrid Declaration states the civil engineering community commitment with UN's SDG goals
The Declaration of Madrid which was signed on early March on the occasion of the International Congress on Civil Engineering hosted by Spanish Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos and its twin association, Asociación de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos.
Such statement declares the true commitment of the civil engineering community with the accomplishment of UN's Sustainable Development Goals and highlights the role of civil engineering in this deed.
Such declaration sponsored by the host organizations and the World Council of Civil Engineers was subscribed by 28 national civil engineering organizations as well as by the following international organizations:
- ECCE - European Council of Civil Engineers
- CICPC-CECPC Council of Civil Engineering Associations form Portuguese and Spanish Speaking Countries
- FEANI - European Federation of Engineering Organizations
- UPADI – Pan American Union of Engineering Organizations
This declaration is still open for any other organization that would like to subscribe the commitment stated in the Declaration. The Declaration is available in the following languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese languages.
Should you require any further information or any clarification on the topic, or if your organization may be interested in subscribing the Declaration, please contact
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