The IFOTES congress in 2023 will no longer be held in Tihany (Hungary), but in Lignano Sabbiadoro (Italy).
The main reasons for this change of venue are the planning process, subject to many ongoing variables, and the costs for the participants in Hungary.
Wishing to keep the congress on the scheduled date and having not much time left to prepare it, the Board of IFOTES has therefore decided to have the congress 2023 in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy (approx. 100 Km. from Venice), where conditions are more stable and the IFOTES staff and the PCO have already experience in organizing an IFOTES congress.
We are hopeful to hold the following congress in 2025 or 2026 in Hungary with our member LESZ, since a lot of preparation work has been done and can be used for next time.
We are sorry about this change, but we hope you will understand and keep up your motivation to take part in the event.
Sonja Karrer (President) and Michael Grundhoff (vice-president)
Acceptance and capacity for change
Human beings face small or large changes throughout their life, sometimes by choice, sometimes because circumstances and events are forced upon them. This can happen in a sudden and dramatic way and involve not only individuals, but communities and society as a whole, as with the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent armed conflict in Europe.
Sometimes changes forced upon us are not easy, but acceptance is the prerequisite to resilience. We should acknowledge that unwelcome change can also open prospects for personal and social maturing.
Individuals and society generally have the personal and collective resources to cope and accept change, to keep a balance, even when everything seems upside down. But it can be difficult.
Helpline volunteers know this only too well, given that for 60 years they have listened to people and supported them in the most critical moments of life, in those periods when accepting or changing is crucial to restore hope and to build or re-build the future.
For its next international congress, IFOTES proposes to reflect on these abilities, that only human beings have, to experience changes, moving between the capacity for acceptance and the desire for further transformation.
To get closer to the theme of the next international congress, a web conference "Acceptance and capacity for change" was held on 18th Nov 2022.
The framework for the first reflections on the congress theme was outlined with the support of two distinguished speakers.
Consequences of the pandemic and war on mental health and coping possibilities - Prof. Dr. Dóra Perczel-Forintos, Dep. Clinical Psychology, Semmelweis University, Budapest (HU)
How listening can lead to acceptance - Prof. Martin Debbané, Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva (CH)
Dear volunteers and members of IFOTES,
we are very happy that 4 years after the last congress in Udine we will have the next congress in 2023 in Lignano Sabbiadoro, in the Italian region Friuli Venezia Giulia.
We are looking very much forward to meeting many of you at the congress. I’m sure that it will be a wonderful experience for all of you in this beautiful and welcoming region.
See you in October 2023!
Sonja Karrer
President of IFOTES
18-22 October 2023
15.00 - 19.00 Arrival and registration
19.00 Welcome reception
09.00 - 10.30 Plenary
10.30 - 11.00 Coffee break
11.00 - 12.30 Parallel Lectures / Workshops
12.30 - 14.30 Lunch
14.30 - 15.30 Parallel Lectures / Workshops
15.30 - 16.00 Coffee break
16.00 - 17.00 Parallel Lectures / Workshops
20.00 Socio-cultural evening
09.00 - 10.30 Plenary
10.30 - 11.00 Coffee break
11.00 - 13.00 Parallel Lectures / Workshops
13.00 - 14.30 Lunch
15.00 - 17.30 Social Programs and Tours
20.00 Socio-cultural evening
09.00 - 10.30 Plenary
10.30 - 11.00 Coffee break
11.00 - 12.30 Parallel Lectures / Workshops
12.30 - 14.30 Lunch
14.30 - 15.30 Parallel Lectures / Workshops
15.30 - 16.00 Coffee break
16.00 - 17.00 Parallel Lectures / Workshops
20.00 - 00.00 Farewell evening
09.00 - 10.30 Plenary
10.30 - 11.15 Coffee break
11.15 - 12.00 Outcome of the congress
12.00 - 12.30 Closing ceremony
A long strip of golden beach (as much as 8 km) is the jewel in the crown of Lignano Sabbiadoro, one of Italy’s most renowned seaside resorts.
Lignano looks out over the Marano lagoon, an unspoilt area of sandbanks, canals and little islands with the characteristic fisherman’s huts that even Ernest Hemingway fell in love with sixty years ago.
Long sandy beaches alternating with spectacular lagoon landscapes, fishing areas, nature oases of incomparable beauty and little bays set into cliffs punctuate Friuli Venezia Giulia’s 130 kilometres of coast.
What this varied and heterogeneous riviera has in common is the Adriatic Sea which washes the whole of the area from famous beach resort Lignano Sabbiadoro to Muggia, the easternmost side of the Gulf of Trieste with Grado and its beaches and the Grado and Marano lagoons within it.
STEERING COMMITTEE
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE