ITAYM leadership reflects on 2015
12 November 2015INTERNATIONAL – The past year has been successful, but not flawless start for the fledgling International Tunnelling Association Young Members (ITAYM). According to a spokesman, one challenge that surprised the group has been the continuing delay in some of the larger countries forming Young Member groups. Italy, Germany and Spain stand out among these as they have a long history and culture of tunnelling.
Another, albeit expected challenge is the high cost of conferences and other official events that ITAYM would like to see addressed to make it easier for young members to attend.
Still, WTC 2015 was a great success for the group, which stated: "The main feedback was just to keep the passion and momentum going and the sky is the limit for Young Members involved in tunnelling around the world."
Two new Member Nation Representatives joined the group, from Poland and Singapore respectively, and now the focus is on 2016. "The main aim is still to develop the ITAYM internationally and find ways to get as many countries and individuals to contribute to ITAYM. In addition we now want to focus more on integration with the ITA, especially ITACUS and ITACET. In the near future, we would like to see this move into cooperation with all committees and working groups.
"It will be one of the Steering Board's greatest challenges to identify the needs [of young tunnellers] and make sure its work is relevant. We will encourage young and enthusiastic people to participate both domestically and internationally [...] and we want to make sure age distribution is more balanced in ITA work."
WTC 2016 will be a key moment for the ITAYM. A fresh steering board will be elected, and a past-chair position created to ease the transition.
