1. ERA-EDTA Regional Advisory Boards

2. ERA-EDTA Regional Advisory Boards
ERA-EDTA is a very vibrant and active Society with continually growing and diversified activities
The ERA-EDTA Council therefore needs the help of other groups, located in strategic areas of direct interest of the Society, not only to implement the Society’s decisions but also, and even more importantly, to receive new suggestions and ideas to strengthen the Society but also address the local needs of its members

3. ERA-EDTA Regional Advisory Boards
This has been even more evident in these last few years in which members from different geographical areas have become more involved in the initiatives of the Society, especially from Central-Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean Area, thus having different needs and expectations
Finally it is also important to underline how some geographical areas are not fully represented in the Council or in any of the other ERA-EDTA Committees / Boards and, therefore these new Regional Sections could cover this need (i.e. involve people from all countries directly into the life of the Society)
For this reason the ERA-EDTA Council has decided to create special ERA-EDTA Regional Advisory Boards

4. REQUIREMENTS AND COMPOSITION
There will be three Regional Advisory Boards: Western Europe; Central and Eastern Europe; Mediterranean Area
Each Regional Board will include up to 7 people:
6 members and 1 Communicator (Chairperson)
The Communicator (Chair) will be either a Council member or a National Society President selected by Council. His/her duty will be related to communication between the ERA-EDTA Council and the Board

5. REQUIREMENTS AND COMPOSITION
One of the members should be a young person (40 years old or younger at the time of the nomination/election). If possible this person should also be a member of the YNP Board
The nomination of members of the Regional Advisory Boards: it will be the responsibility of the Council following an open call done by ERA-EDTA among the National Societies; the eligible candidates must be ERA-EDTA members and must live and work in one of the countries of the specific Regional Advisory Boards for which the call is made

6. REQUIREMENTS AND COMPOSITION
The members remain in the committee for three years and can have a second three year term, but no more than that
To allow a smooth transition in the rotation of the members, after the first term at least 2 of the original members must leave the committee: this can be done on a voluntary basis and, if this is not the case, the Chair will decide. After this all members will follow the normal term(s) as described above, except for the case mentioned below

7. REQUIREMENTS AND COMPOSITION
In order to avoid too many members leaving at the same time no more than three members can leave the committee simultaneously: if this happens, the Chair will have to decide who will be the member(s) who must remain in the committee for one extra year (the Chair can also take into consideration voluntary resignations to make his/her decision)
In order to reflect the international representation of the committee, all members must be from different countries, exceptions to this rule are possible only for the Communicator (Chair)

8. DUTIES
The Advisory Boards members should communicate among themselves (at least once a month), by means of
or teleconferences, to answer Council’s eventual questions;
implement Council’s decisions; talk about regional problems and new ideas which should then be transmitted to Council;
help Council in selecting good candidates for the various ERA-EDTA Committees from their region;
distribute, through their local contacts, important information coming from ERA-EDTA Council and its various committees (ERBP; WGs; Registry; YNP; etc.) which will also include all the Society’s initiatives and opportunities

9. DUTIES
They should send regular reports to the ERA-EDTA Council at least 2 weeks prior to each Council meeting, which are held three times a year; an item should be included in the Agenda of each ERA-EDTA Council meeting regarding the “Regional Sections” in which these reports will be presented and discussed within the Council
The ERA-EDTA President will be in charge of collecting these reports sent by the communicators and then presenting them to Council

10. DUTIES
There should be one face-to-face meeting to be held during the annual ERA-EDTA Congress: the ERA-EDTA President will always be invited to participate in these meetings (with voice but not vote)
ERA-EDTA will give all the board members a complimentary Congress registration, but ERA-EDTA will not cover any other expenses (travel/accommodation). ERA-EDTA will also provide a meeting room for the meeting and cover these expenses

11. LIST OF COUNTRIES Western Europe includes:
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom.
Central and Eastern Europe includes:
Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, FYR of Macedonia, Georgia, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kosovo (*), Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine.
Mediterranean Area includes:
Algeria, Egypt,, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia.
(*) This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

12. NEXT STEPS
This presentation will be circulated among the National Societies
Please send us your feedback with comments by September 15
We will discuss this initative again in Innsbruck October 2015