European Cystic Fibrosis Society

Establishment

ECFS Constitution extract:

2-01-03: The ECFS may form sub-Committees, working parties or study groups from active members for any purpose related to the objective of the society.  Such sub-groups will be appointed and approved by either the annual general meeting or the board.

The ECFS currently supports the following initiatives

Any active member of the Society may consider the establishment of a working group supporting a specialist area related to CF.

An application for the establishment of a working group is to be made in writing, using the Application Form template.  This form is to include details about the aims, objectives and structure of the proposed working group. Applications are to reach the ECFS Office by the end of August for evaluation/selection by the ECFS Board at their Strategy Board Meeting.

Terms of Reference

a. The existence of each working group is limited to three years.

b. A working group is to have a Coordinator who is responsible for the overall activities of the group.

c. A plan with specific goals and defined outcomes, year by year, for 3 years is to be established.

d. Members of a working group should be ECFS members.

e. Each working group will be subject to an annual evaluation.

f. The Coordinator, or their representative, will provide the ECFS Board with a report at the summer Board Meeting and to the Annual General Assembly. The report should include a business plan for the following year including a programme of meetings to be held for the Board’s approval. The annual report should also be prepared in a written format for publication on the ECFS website.
g. Working groups are encouraged to use the annual conference as an opportunity to conduct a meeting of its members.  

ECFS Funding Support

a. The Society will provide funding support of up to Euro 10,000 per annum for three years.

b. The funds are primarily to assist with the travel costs, logistical preparations and conduct of meetings required by the working group for coordination purposes.

c. ECFS funds will not be granted for research, consumables or personnel.

d. For the funding to be sustainable, there will normally be a maximum of 5 working groups at any one time.

e. Individual budgets, per working group, will be held and maintained at the ECFS Office.

ECFS Website Support

a. Each working group will have one dedicated page on the ECFS website.  The page will contain the aims and objectives of the project, the group’s structure, notification of forthcoming meetings, etc.

b. Additionally, there will be a generic page with the annual reports from each working group.

c. If required, working groups may use the file storage area of the website to upload and share documents of general interest, or restricted viewing of documents to special interest sub-groups.  This area is subject to a login and only available to ECFS members.

d. If warranted, a discussion forum for the working group can be established.  It is, however, imperative that the working group nominates a member to monitor and maintain the content. The ECFS office will not be responsible for the content included in such a forum.  Access is subject to a login and may only be provided to ECFS members and can be entirely restricted to members of the working group.