On Wednesday this week the Projects committee considered a number or new projects and agreed the following:

In Slovenia we shall be supporting an environmental seminar in November which will focus on environmental issues for the SEE (South East Europe) region. This high profile event will be held in Ljubljana wth live streaming to audiences elsewhere using webinar technology. Part of the programme includes translation of the Planet Friendly Guide into Slovenian language for distribution to members of Slovenian Association. For more information please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

A pretty busy few months what with preparations for FESPA 2010 but our other events and activities continue with quite a few FESPA supported events having taken place recently. In April I was invited by Sico and PSSiDC to speak at an event in Krakow and it was a real pleasure to see so many people (about 140)  attend this event. My presentation was based on how to be a revolutionary printer since in 2010, doing what you have always done will not see you through the hard times. Customers are better informed, more demanding, more empowered and printers have to engage with their customers in a different way if they are to be successful and remain in business.

At our last meeting support was given to a number of new projects as follows:

An environmental conference in Denmark aimed at Nordic countries, a digital seminar in Belgrade in May, in Slovakia the 6th International seminar to be held in Piestany in October, assistance towards the cost of translating the Planet Friendly Guide into Spanish, as well as a textile conference in China in November.

Only available to members of FESPA National Associations, the new free of charge Planet Friendly Guide has been receiving rave reviews fom printers, suppliers and media aroud the world.

This is probably the most comprehensive single source environmental guide available anywhere for screen and digital printers and by following the advice contained therein, printers can adopt best available techniques and even start off on the road to obtaining environmental accreditation eirough ISO 14001 or EMAS. We are now on our 5th update since the launch of the guide in May 2009.

Well the holiday season is nearly over and I hope all readers of my blog have had time to relax over the summer months. If any of you have been on an unusual or interesting holiday, I would love to hear from you. Those rare and fascinating places that some people visit are always most interesting to hear about. I friend of mine went to the Galapagos Islands and apart from the fact that he showed me far too many photos (don’t we all do this) it really looked an incredible place. The wild life is truly amazing. He cruised then stayed at the Hotel Iguana Crossing and in his words had the “best holiday ever” so please let me know if you managed to do anything like this. I would love to find out about your adventures.

Below is an example of the co-operation between Slovak and French Associations in Paris last year. Following the success of this meeting, a reciprocal visit was made by French representatives to Slovakia. Now, because of the success of this relationship, a further meeting will be taking place in Marseille in October (21st to 23rd) where both Associations will meet, discuss ways in which they can develop their working relationships,  make some factory visits, network  and relax with a little sightseeing and a couple of meals.

FESPA Secretary (Spain) - and General Secretary of the Spanish Screen Printing Association, AEDES:
Pablo Serrano

Please introduce yourself! My name is Pablo Serrano. I am 42 years old and married to my pretty French wife, Valérie. We have three children, two girls (Noemi and Elisa) and one boy (Alexy). We live in Madrid but we spend part of our life in Lyon or Paris (France) with my wife’s family. I love reading, cinema and to spend a lot of time with my family doing sport (ski, tennis) and travelling.

I have been working for the association world since graduating in Madrid and have been General Secretary of the Spanish Screen Printing Association, AEDES since 1999. I am also Director of the Spanish Carton Makers Association ASPACK. I love working in association management and so am also a member of the Board of ESAE (European Society of Association Executives) and a member of ASAE (American Society of Association Executives).

Guide updated
The FESPA Planet Friendly guide has just been updated for the 5th time since it was launched last May. The guide is perhaps the most comprehensive single source point of reference for screen and digital printers and provides all the infromation printers need to know in respect of their environmental management responsibilities. The guide, which is priceless, is available free of charge to members of FESPA Associations only.

FESPA continues to support a wide range of projects submitted by its Associations and in the last six months a varied number of projects have received approval. Some of these are described in more detail below. At our last meeting held in December we approved projects for Germany, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, France and India.

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP - application form

FESPA can offer to its members:

• Contact with printers in almost all European countries through our National Associations throughout Europe and Associate National Associations outside Europe.
• FESPA World Magazine four times a year
• Seminars in Europe and Overseas with reduced entry fees for FESPA members
• Access to technical information
• Introduction to European Manufacturers
• FESPA Individual members are eligible to enter the FESPA Awards and Youth Competition, organized in line with the FESPA Exhibition in Europe
• Access to coded FESPA information on website
• Free licence for use of FESPA logo for identification of associated membership
• Copies of the audited accounts of FESPA Ltd, annually