Dear EWRS members and followers,

It has been more than one month, since we had our Symposium in Athens. Many of us are on vacation and remember the nice time we had spent together. The Symposium will be evaluated soon based on the information from questionnaires, that have been circulated by our communication office. Please, share with us your opinion.

I am overjoyed that the 19th EWRS Symposium became a reality, because we still faced uncertainty following the final decision to organise the Symposium and the submission of abstracts, due to further developments in the COVID pandemic and possible consequences of Russian aggression on Ukraine. Under these circumstances, it was very difficult and risky decision for both local organizers and the EWRS to open the registration site and invite the attendees to Athens. I am very thankful to Nikos Karanasios and his RED communication for their constructive approaches and ad-hoc agreement to serve us as professional symposium organizer at this relatively late stage. With consideration of this reality, I would like to ask you for understanding if everything was not technically perfect, but believe us, all parties and individuals involved in the organization did their best for the Symposium's success.

In my opinion, none of us who attended the Symposium were disappointed. The Society did not sleep during the period of COVID restriction, so the attendance and variety of topics did not substantially differ from previous symposia, and the novelty of approaches also surprised. Also, another positive point was good number and a high quality research of young scientists. The Symposium allowed them to make new partnerships and collaborations for their future careers. The nomination of younger but already recognized scientists as session organizers refreshed the Symposium‘s programme and showed  high society potential for the future. What we need for the future is the higher interest of stakeholders such as decision makers, industry people and agronomists, who are the final users of our applied research and useful opponents. To avoid organisational problems, we have already established a communication platform with a clear timetable and specification of responsibilities for the next Symposium, which will be held in Lleida, Spain (congratulations!) in 2025. I am sure that the experienced team in Spain will ensure one of the best Symposia we have ever had!

I wish all of you a nice summer, a lot of rest, and I look forward to meeting many of you at upcoming events!

Best Regards
Josef Soukup

July 29th, 2022