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Dear colleagues, please find the ENSR newsletter for January 2016. You are receiving this newsletter because you are a member organisation of ENSR. Having trouble reading this email? View it on your browser here. |
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One of my most encouraging professional experiences this past year was our evaluation seminar in Brussels in April. It demonstrated that when we stand together as a network we really are an interesting speaking partner to our largest client, the EU Commission. Often we are tied in our interaction with the Commission by tender procedures that don’t allow for building personal relationships. At the seminar, however, we were able to sit as peers with key decision makers in the Commission and learn what really matters to them. For their part, the Commission decision makers learned that we are more than just service providers. We are also experts and we pursue more than just revenues. We pursue a higher purpose of improving the knowledge base for the Commission to adjust policies and programmes for the good of a better Europe. In the years to come I trust we can do even more like this: for the benefit of Europe, our clients and our own businesses.
Robert Blackburn of the Small Business Research Centre at Kingston University, and member of the ENSR executive committee, has been elected as President of the European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB). The ECSB is a non-profit organisation whose main objective is to advance the understanding of entrepreneurship and to improve the competitiveness of SMEs in Europe. The ECSB is an affiliation to the ICSB. Partners who want to become a member of the ECSB can find out more by visiting its web site: 
Harald Furre of Oxford Research Norway and previous president of ENSR, has been elected as the major of Kristiansand. Kristiansand is the fifth largest city in Norway and the municipality is the sixth largest in Norway, with a population of 85,681 persons. For more information on this beautiful city, see its 
After 35 years, director Rik De Keyser will leave WES Research & Strategy to enjoy his well-deserved retirement. Due to Rick, WES has become, among others, one of the major research organisations on tourism in Belgium. Rick will remain available as an expert on tourism and will become a member of the WES board.
Zoe Kourounakou has a high level of expertise in coordinating research projects and surveys. She is currently the Director of the Applied Research and International Relations Department of ALBA Graduate Business School at The American College of Greece. She holds a BA in International Business (University of Plymouth, UK), a Master Degree on Communication Studies (University of Leeds, UK) and a second Master degree on Strategic Human Resources Management (ALBA). She has acted as the Project Coordinator or partner of several IST, e-Ten, SSH FP7, LLP, SOCRATES and ERASMUS+ projects. She is also the evaluation coordinator for the BEST WORKPLACES Survey (top 25 workplaces) in Greece. Since 1999, Zoe has participated in various seminars and conferences either as presenter or as an attendant. Since 2007, Zoe introduced the Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI) in Greece, which takes place annually and is considered a barometer of the Greek Labour market. Since 2010 Zoe has also been responsible for the International Relations of ALBA. Her research interests focus on Human Resources Management, Working relationships and Optimisation of Working environments, New Learning Techniques, promotion of Knowledge Management culture and employees’ employability and skills gap.
Ambre Maucorps is a Junior Consultant and Researcher at VVA Europe. She joined the VVA team after completing her Blue Book traineeship in the Evaluation Unit of the European Commission’s DG for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. Ambre holds a Master’s degree (with Distinction) in European Economics from the College of Europe in Bruges and an Engineering degree (with a major in public policy economics) from an elite French Grande Ecole. At VVA Europe, she contributed to ex ante and ex post evaluations as well as cost-benefit analyses for the European Commission’s DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs on various topics such as Consumer safety and Market surveillance. Strengthening her understanding of socio-economic challenges, she is currently involved in a project focusing on intra-EU mobility schemes for young apprentices and trainees as a means for tackling youth unemployment. Ambre speaks English, French and German, enjoys travelling across Europe and is fond of both teaching and practising synchronised swimming. |
ENSR Secretariat Web: www.ensr.eu Email: ENSR Secretariat PO Box 7001, 2701 AA Zoetermeer, The Netherlands Phone: +31 79 322 2000; Fax: +31 79 322 2101 Rue Archimède 5, Box 4, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Phone: + 32 2 510 0884 Fax: + 32 2 510 0885 |