The young members group of FIA – now called FIA Future Now – met online on December 12, 2022. The turnout was good with 15 participants attending out of 29 members in the group coming from 18 countries. If most participants already took part in at least one meeting of FIA Future Now before, including the face-to-face meeting in London in October 2022, there were also some new faces from Czech Republic, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Germany.
The group started by discussing some practical matters including the access to the shared folder gathering all documents related to the group work and to the FIA Future Now Slack group. The participants also appointed two group coordinators – Marion Gomar from SFA in France and Frana-Marija Vulić Vranković from HDDU in Croatia – who will be a helpful contact point for FIA Secretariat. Coordinators, always working in pair, will change every year and will mainly help the Secretariat with preparatory work for meetings and events.
Participants then decided to draft a Vision statement for the group. This document will answer to two key questions: What is FIA Future Now? And What are the group missions? The idea with this document is to agree on common goals, stating what the group wants for the future. The document will serve to communicate about the group to new members, but also to be used by members in their own unions. FIA Future Now Vision statement will be drafted in the coming months.
Next was a long and vivid exchange of ideas on the topic of visits to schools, meaning union representatives visiting schools and universities to present the union to students, inform them about their rights and the crucial role of the union. It was a fruitful discussion with unions already organizing these visits sharing good practice and the challenges they face. This theme being of great interest, the group decided to organize an online workshop on the topic of visits to schools in 2023, open to all FIA members.
Finally, FIA Future Now members took some time to discuss possible future working themes for the group and agreed to meet again in March 2023.
If you are a young member of a union member of FIA willing to join FIA Future Now, please contact the FIA Secretariat.
