EFP celebrates its 30th anniversary
Congratulations to the EFP celebrating its 30th Anniversary - 30 years of promoting periodontal science and clinical practice, 30 years of periodontal health for a better life.
The origins of the EFP date back to the late 1980s, when two periodontists – Dutch academic Ubele van der Velden and French clinician Jean-Louis Giovannoli – realised that the aims and challenges of Europe's national societies of periodontology were similar and that it made sense to join forces.
After a series of preparatory meetings, representatives of 11 national periodontal societies met in Amsterdam on 12-13 December 1991 and agreed the constitution and bylaws of the new European Federation of Periodontology.
The initial EFP was a federation of the national societies of Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. Since its foundation, the federation expanded – first within Europe and then globally – and it now comprises 37 national societies from Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
EFP President. Lior Shapira, said, "We are proud of the outstanding level of collaboration and exchange we've reached between our 37 scientific societies from all around the world, even if every single one of them keeps its autonomy and identity. As the EFP has gone global in the last years, diversity has become one of our strengths. Our native languages are different, but we all speak gum health – this is our common language. Then, production of scientific evidence and a shared vision of periodontal health for a better life are the secrets of our unity.”
To commemorate the 30th anniversary, the EFP has produced a series of three commemorative videos, which can be viewed here:
- Foundation and evolution of the EFP - the first video traces the growth of the federation from that foundational meeting to its present status as a “global influencer”.
- EuroPerio as the global perio meeting point - the second video focuses on the EFP’s triennial congress, the first of which took place in Paris in 1994.
- Thirty years of projects at the service of gum health - The final video describes the EFP’s scientific and educational campaigns and publications.
The EFP is also preparing a booklet about the history of a federation.
EFP Secretary General, Professor Nicola West, said, "An organisation no matter how good is only as successful as the people who live and work in it – congratulations on 30 wonderful EFP years!"
In addition to this wonderful achievement, the EFP has another reason to celebrate. A few days after celebrating its 30th anniversary, the EFP was named the “European Association of the Year” at the International & European Association Awards Competition 2021.
The judges who made the award said, “This sector experienced unique sets of challenges during the pandemic and this organization (EFP) appears to have met them head-on. Successful overall achievements. Well done!”.
The European Association of the Year award was one of the various awards announced on December 15 by the Association of Association Executives (https://www.associationexecutives.org/about-us.html). The other finalists for the award given to the EFP were Eurelectric (which represents the electricity industry at the European level) and the European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association.
The EFP Committee expressed their personal thanks to Sharon Legendre, their EFP Head of Operations, who was instrumental in applying for this award.