The European Council of Interior Architects, ECIA, is the cooperative umbrella of 14 national  professional organisations of interior architects in Europe, and has been working on strengthening the profile of associated interior architects/designers. The last achievement in this ongoing process was the publication of the "European Charter of Interior Architecture Training" in October last year. With this document they aim to set  standards for the education objectives and fields, the outline of the teaching curriculum and the course of studies for full time higher education in interior architecture. It also sets the basis for the national organisations membership policy. The "Charter" is available through their website (see link above).

The board of the ECIA discussed how they could actively support the IFS in organising this year's event. One idea that came up was to encourage their members to come to Edinburgh, and to ask one of the host institutions to provide a venue for their Annual General Assembly adjacent to the conference. These meetings always try to give some meaning to the gathering by offering a program that brings some reflection on the profession, and it was recognised that the IFS would be an excellent opportunity for their members to become acquainted with the situation in this part of the world and to take part in the discussions from this point of view.

The General Assembly took place on Saturday the 23rd August at A17, Napier University, Merchiston Campus.