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European Region

This month's column was written by Frithjof Øverdal, 2002-03 immediate past president of the AAPG Europe Region.

Editor's note: This column is devoted to international items of note to the AAPG.

News items, press releases and other information should be submitted to the EXPLORER/International Bulletin Board, P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Okla. 74101; telephone – 918-560-2616; fax – 918-560-2684; or e-mail – dfree@aapg.org.

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The Europe Region of AAPG has high ambitions for new development within the region over the coming years.

The long outstanding concern for many AAPG members outside the United States is the ever-recurring question for most international organizations: "What can AAPG as an organization do for me?"

This challenge has been recognized and discussed for a number of years within AAPG and resulted in the establishment of the six international regions, including the Europe Region.

The European oil industry (as well as the region's academic and research institutions) has continued to grow. Many geoscientists working within the industry are faced with the challenge of which professional organization to enroll.

AAPG is not the only professional organization serving professional geoscientists within the Europe Region, so our biggest challenge to existing and potential new members will continue to be the question about service.

Service to members is founded in the AAPG constitution and forms a key building block from which to build and develop an organization. The advancement of the professional well-being of its members, however, means different things to different people. Our challenge is to cover a broad enough spectrum of services that petroleum geologists recognize as adding value to their professional career and social life.

The Europe board has, in practice, limited means of developing and implementing service to regional members. We can build a strategy, a plan for activity and encourage and support the implementation of such a plan.

Therefore, the introduction and appointment of Country Team Leaders (CTLs) is our way of ensuring local contact within a limited area, from individuals who know the local environment in which they operate to its full extent.

CTLs are identified to initiate local activity in cooperation with the Europe board, and to form a network of key service providers to AAPG and its members.

The Europe Region is represented in the House of Delegates with a number of representatives dependent on total membership in Europe. We are currently entitled to 19 representatives in the HoD.

In the past few years we have had great difficulty filling all these slots, and we continue to encourage European members to take a more active part in AAPG's future development by volunteering for these positions. The commitment is limited -- but is an important way to have an active influence on new developments in the organization.

The current focus of activity is on the initiation and development of active student chapters around Europe, where good progress was made last year through the Halliburton student-sponsoring program. In addition, there is activity with the annual Distinguished Lecture tours and Visiting Geologists Program that forms a traditional and well-received service to many of our members.

Novotneho Lavka, Prague. Next year's AAPG regional meeting in Prague will be the first such session for the Europe Region.

The largest effort, however, has been with regards to new international regional and local conferences and meetings. Last year's Hedberg research conferences on Sicily and in Stavanger, and last month's international conference in Barcelona are all great examples of how local and regional resources can pull together with the larger AAPG organization to ensure a successful event with a large participation of European members.

Next year's regional meeting in Prague -- set next October, the first such session for the Europe Region -- is another example of how service and support can be provided through a team of dedicated individuals within AAPG to support new and exciting activity. It will benefit us all.

The future and progress of AAPG, and any other voluntary organization, is totally in the control of its members. Activity and service cannot and will not happen without an active involvement by the organization's members.

It is no secret that the past involvement from AAPG's European members has been very limited. I will take this opportunity to encourage you all to flag your interest and dedicate some of your time to serve the current and future activity within the Europe Region. It's a fantastic learning experience that will benefit not only existing members, but also yourself through contacts within the industry and the AAPG organization.

Together we can, and will, make a difference in providing improved service to our existing and potential future members and grow the organization through active involvement.

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