Words to welcome you from the new president
I am honoured and delighted to have been elected as the new President of IALE-Europe for the period of 2025-2029. It is both a privilege and a humbling experience to follow in the footsteps of my predecessors who have guided our association with vision and dedication. Since the founding of IALE-Europe in 2009, the presidency has been held successively by László Miklós, Teresa Pinto-Correia, and Veerle Van Eetvelde — all of whom have made invaluable contributions to the development of our European landscape ecology community.
Having had the opportunity to work with and learn from many inspiring landscape ecologists in the Netherlands — such as Paul Opdam, Bas Pedroli, Rob Jongman, and Bob Bunce — I hope to share some of the insights and perspectives I have gained through these collaborations. As a landscape ecologist at Wageningen Environmental Research, I have worked for the past 25 years mainly in an international context. My PhD research on the processes of European landscape change was a turning point in my professional journey, and it connected me with many of you — IALE members from Scotland to Greece, and from Estonia to Portugal.
My work spans a wide range of topics, with a particular focus on the development of ecological networks. I lived and worked for years in Africa, working on community-based resource conservation. Over the past decade, I have been closely involved in supporting the European Commission on Natura 2000, and more recently, my work has been focusing on the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. Since 2021, I have also served as ex-officio member of IALE World, which I believe will strengthen the collaboration between our European and global networks in the years ahead.
Leading IALE-Europe is above all a shared endeavour. Our Executive Committee functions as a team, with responsibilities and ideas distributed among all members. The newly elected Committee consists of seven members — four new and three experienced “old hands” — ensuring both continuity and renewal in our work.
We are now preparing for the first in-person meeting of the IALE-Europe Executive Committee, scheduled for December 2025 in Évora. During this two-day meeting, we will have time to meet, exchange ideas, and further develop the action plan we outlined for the elections in October. We will also discuss our working procedures, future activities, and ways to strengthen our network. A summary of the meeting outcomes will be shared in the next IALE-Europe Newsletter.
I look forward to taking on this responsible yet rewarding role, and to working closely with all of you to continue building a vibrant and connected landscape ecology community across Europe. I hope to meet many of you at one of our upcoming events!
Theo van der Sluis
President IALE-Europe, 2025-2029
Words to thank you from the past president
Dear members of IALE-Europe,
Writing this contribution for this newsflash was done with a different mood than all the previous ones. IALE-Europe is now 16 years young. I have been involved in the EC since 2009, from the start in Salzburg, first as secretary general and since 2017 as president. Together with my colleagues in the different ECs, we helped establish IALE-Europe and get it into its current shape. So, it's time to pass on these duties to the next EC, as it is essential for an association to bring in fresh ideas and new engagements to make IALE-Europe even more visible. Writing this contribution made me realise that I'm looking back with a lot of gratitude.
First and foremost, gratitude for the IALE-Europe community of which each of you is an essential part. As I expressed during the welcoming words at the European Congress in Bratislava last September, it is nice to come home to a community. The Congress gathered around 450 landscape ecologists, illustrating that the association is alive in the different chapters and countries and across generations. That is the foundation of our community - thanks to all of you.
Second, a gratitude for all the activities that have been organised, not only at the European level but also in the many initiatives of national chapters and other members. Sometimes it is not easy to gather people, due to different circumstances or other duties. The national chapters and regional initiatives are essential to meet your colleagues. They are the cornerstones of our association - we will keep on supporting you.
Third, a gratitude for the engagement of young researchers, PhD fellows who participated in the PhD courses and the early career representatives. Remembering my first IALE conference on multifunctional landscapes in Roskilde in 2000 and the PhD course in Darwin in 2003, I do realise that participating in these events as a young researcher is extremely valuable. It creates opportunities and collaborations, and you find colleagues and friends. They are the future of IALE-Europe - we will keep investing in you.
Last, I explicitly want to thank my colleagues of the past EC, partners in crime for all those years: Simona R. Gradinaru (Secretary General), Werner Rolf (Communication Manager), José Muñoz-Rojas (Treasurer), Federica Larcher (Membership Administration), Beatriz Pierri Daunt (Early-Career Representative), Morten Graversgaard and Çiğdem Coşkun Hepcan, as well as Isabel Loupa Ramos, our past representative in the Council of IALE. Having a wonderful team is essential to keep an association like IALE-Europe going, also under the difficult circumstances that we faced over the past five years.
More importantly, it is also essential to look forward. Because IALE-Europe has a bright future. Reading the words I wrote for the first edition of the newsletter in Spring 2018 (you can read all of them on the website of IALE-Europe) - we started full of energy and in good spirit – that is also what I wish the newly elected EC. It's great to see such a nice group taking the engagement in leading the association over the next four years. My engagement will be smaller, as your representative in the council of IALE, so I'm thankful for the support I got for this and will also support the new EC. And I wish them all the best, and I am looking forward to further collaborating with all of you.
Let's stay in touch and see you soon at one of the next IALE activities,
Veerle Van Eetvelde
President IALE-Europe, 2017-2025