ETSN History

The European Talent Support Network (ETSN), established with the special support of the European Council for High Ability (ECHA), celebrates its sixth birthday on 29 September. The two organisations separated in 2019 due to the official registration of the ETSN in The Netherlands, but their goals overlap to some extent to this day. At the end of 2019, they concluded an agreement to mutually assist each other’s work. The main change was that the Qualification Committee (https://etsn.eu/the-qualification-committee)  became part of the ETSN.

The present report covers in more detail only the last two years: almost 2 years have passed since the last GA meeting held in 2019. The timeline following the text, however, covers also the previous years.

The last two years were unfortunately hallmarked by the cancellation of almost all of the envisaged personal meetings, the GA meeting held on the sidelines of the ECHA conferences included. The personal meetings of Talent centre representatives, organised usually in Budapest, were also cancelled, both in 2020 and 2021. This, of course, was unfavourable from the point of view of networking, we could pay less attention to the entire network, but we have gradually got used to the online meetings taking their place (see the time-line below). There were quite effective online Talent Centre representatives’ meetings and several online Network Council meetings in both 2020 and 2021.

A further Talent Centre was qualified in 2020: Group of Research and Work on Giftedness, Tenerife, led by Prof. Africa Borges del Rosal, joined the Centres. Unfortunately, they have not had an opportunity set to present themselves personally, but it will hopefully take place soon. The qualification of another Centre is in progress.

To date (August 2021), there are 22 active European Talent Centres (Austria, Belgium, Germany and Spain have 2 centres each, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, The Netherlands, Croatia, Ireland, Lithuania, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey 1 centre each), and 4 non-European ones (in India, Peru, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia). The ETSN is present in 48 countries through some 420 institutions. The number of the Talent Points has not increased at an accelerating pace, but it is a highly positive development that all the countries having Talent Centres have Talent Points as well. As for the number of the latter, it continues to grow most dynamically in the southern area (Croatia, Slovenia). Despite some deceleration in terms of numbers, the figures show that that the ETSN has remained the organisation bringing together the highest number of European entities focusing on talent support in the most diverse forms, more than half of them European public education institutions.

The absence of personal meetings had a negative effect in particular on the Youth Platform organisation, connected to the ETSN first and foremost through personal meetings (at the Summits). Consequently, the initial team (formed 5 years ago) has not been renewed. At the beginning of 2020, the youth prepared with tremendous energies for the Porto summit, the last opportunity for a personal encounter for many who would either continue their studies on another continent or start to work. The Summit Guideline, drawn up together with the YP Council members in early 2020, has been published on the ETSN website. Unfortunately, we could not set up a new YP council with the members for the voting at the end of the year. Our hopes lie in the current Summit (organised on the sidelines of the Porto Conference), where the Talent Centres of 15 countries delegated cc. 50 students. The Budapest Centre will  coordinate online events for the Platform members in the second half of 2021.

The Network (ETSN) increasingly seeks to coordinate joint work and to ensure quality assurance. To promote these efforts, from end-2016 on, the ETSN has been managed by a five-strong elected Network Council. Voting for the next two years took place at the end of 2020 but since there were only 5 candidates, election involved no competition and, unfortunately, there were many misunderstandings during the process and not all the Talent Points sent their ballot papers to the right place, so the whole process would have to be made easier. Members of the Network Council tagjai are the following: Antonios Apostolou(Greece), Africa Borges del Rosal (Spain), Csilla Fuszek (Hungary), Desireé Houkema (Netherlands), Colm O’ Reilly (Ireland).

Work within the Network resulted in the common website and newsletter of the Network (TalentWeb): https://etsn.eu/talentweb-newsletter/. The newsletter appeared in an increasing number of copies year after year and acquired a unique profile with European talent support best practices in the focus. Unfortunately, the newspaper editing activities have been omitted this year, but we published many articles and documents in 2020 to ensure the transparency of the operation of the ETSN, from the Youth Platform Summit Guideline to through the operation of the Qualification Committee to the ways and means of joining the ETSN. That is, those who would like to dive deeper into / familiarise themselves with its operation, can do so by visiting the website. The website also includes a so-called European Talent Map accessible at https://etsn.eu/map-of-etsn/ that provides basic information on the ETSN organisations.  Facebook – 1200 followers, however we had lots of problems

As reflected by the above, the ETSN is a young and dynamically developing Network, that has been joined by hundreds of institutions over its 6 years and has become increasingly well-known globally. Hopefully, this dynamism will continue in the next  years, and contacts within the Network will consolidate.

For a deeper insight into the development of the Network so far, see the links, articles and papers referred to in the text and below.

ETSN Report – September 2021 to September 2022

29 September is the official 7th anniversary of the European Talent Support Network (ETSN) established at the time with the outstanding support of the European Council for High Ability (ECHA). The reason for the 2019 separation of the two organisations was the ETSN’s official registration in the Netherlands. Dutch law required the total separation of the two organisations which have nevertheless been pursuing largely overlapping objectives to this day. At the end of 2019, they codified mutual support for each other’s work by a joint agreement. The frequent mixing of the 2 organisations, especially outside Europe, has been giving us a good amount of work, by the way J…

The present report addresses in more detail the events of the past year only, as the last ECHA and then the ETSN GA meetings were held by and large 12 months ago, on 31 August 2021. Previous reports and the complete time-line are accessible on the ETSN website.

Unfortunately, the majority of events took place online, not face to face also in 2021:

  • Thus the Youth Summit, attended by almost 50 student delegates of Talent Centres of 15 countries, and an outstanding success thanks mainly to our Portuguese colleagues, could only be organised online.
  • Efforts were made to keep the youth community together during the year by 3 different workshops and an orientation discussion. The youth had an opportunity to learn in English about talent-related topics of relevance for them and discuss them together on 3 occasions. Online learning and the joint discussions were led by Dr. Szilvia Fodor, and her summary based on student feedback will be presented at the ECHA Conference. The occasions concerned were developed so as to prepare also the current (2022) Youth Platform Summit.
  • Csilla Fuszek held presentations about the ETSN at online conferences or to interested persons.

The personal meetings of Talent Centre representatives usually hosted by Budapest were cancelled in both 2020 and 2021. This was most unfortunate from the point of view of networking. In 2022, after the strict covid regulations were lifted, we decided to organise a personal meeting also for talent centre leaders, but the number of attendants was rather limited due to the war in Ukraine and fear from the disease and consequently of travelling. Instead of the usual approximately 25 people, only 7 of us were present. The small headcount, however, gave an opportunity for intent work:

  • we prepared the content element of the Youth Summit
  • we drew up a new fact sheet for the Talent Centres, to be sent out soon.

To date (August 2022), there are active European Talent Centres in the following 22 European and 4 non-European countries: Austria (2), Belgium (2), Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Croatia, Ireland, Lithuania, Hungary and Germany (2), Italy, Portugal, Spain (2), Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey and, outside Europe, in India, Peru, the United Arab Emirates and Saud Arabia. There are around 450 ETSN institutions in 48 countries. The number of Talent Points keeps rising. As before, the southern (mainly Croatian) area is undergoing the most dynamic development. The relevant data show that the ETSN is the entity gathering most organisations focusing on talent support in its most diverse forms in Europe today, and more than half among them comes from European public education institutions. The number of interested parties wishing to join the ETSN as Talent Centres has been higher this year. Another Talent Centre Tender will be announced in September 2022.

Network activity outcomes include the joint website and newsletter of the Network (TalentWeb): https://etsn.eu/; https://etsn.eu/talentweb-newsletter/. We have been raising the number of copies of the newsletter gradually, and developed a special profile putting European talent support best practices into the focus. Unfortunately, the newspaper could not be edited in 2021-22, but we have kept publishing articles.

Brief chronology of the European Talent Support Network events after the 2016 ECHA General Assembly

2015

  1. 29 September Brussels European Union Parliament Building; Foundation of the European Talent Support Network by the first 14 Talent Centres qualified by the ECHA Qualification Committee; 1st official meeting of EU Talent Centre representatives
  2. 15 October The ECHA Qualification Committee invites European or in case of Associated Centres non-European talent support organisations to apply for status of European or Associated European Talent Centre: https://www.echa.info/call-for-application-to-be-a-european-talent-centre-or-an-associated-european-talent-centre-in-the-european-talent-support-network

2016

  • 3 March the Qualification Committee had its 5th meeting in Vienna
  1. 10 April the 2nd Call to be a European Talent Centres was published
  2. 20 April a successful promotion of the European Talent Support Network was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, involving 28 European Talent Points in Slovenia, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia
  3. 8 May 12 proposals from 11 countries were received to the 2nd Call to Be a European Talent Centre
  4. 10 June the Qualification Committee had its 6th meeting in Dublin; in July, five new European Talent Centres were accepted from Denmark, Germany and Greece and two Associated European Talent Centres from India and Peru
  5. July: the Youth Platform of the European Talent Support Network (having at that time 33 members from 15 countries) elected its interim representative, Armin Fabian, and his deputy Lukas Kyzlik
  6. August: the Youth Platform published its description and membership criteria http://echa.info/175-youth-platform-of-the-european-talent-support-network-description-of-aims-and-membership-criteria  
  7. 30 September 261 proposals were received to the second call on European Talent Points
  8. October: election of the first Council of the European Talent Support Network: Albert Ziegler president/chairman, Csilla Fuszek coordinator/secretary, Colm O’Reilly treasurer / Antonios Apostolou / Mojca Jurisevic
  9. 27 October 1st meeting of the interim Youth Platform Council in Budapest
  10. 28 October 2ndofficial meeting of the EU Talent Centre representatives in Budapest
  11. 28-29 October 1st meeting of the Network Council in Budapest
  12. December: election of the first Council of the Youth Platform: Marco Agozzino (Italy), Armin Fabian (Romania), Liliana Gerse (Austria), Lukas Kyzlik (Czech Republic) and Elle Loughran (Ireland)

2017

  1. 29 March – 2 April 2nd Second European Youth Summit was held in Budapest with 63 participants from 17 countries and 20 nationalities (Summits in the future will be held at the ECHA International/Thematic Conference of that year)
  2. 31 March 1st Network Council meeting in 2017 in Budapest
  3. June 2017 the homepage of the European Talent Support Network started to operate: https://etsn.eu;
  4. 19 June the 3rd Call to become a European Talent Point was issued (the application process was made continuous  from the beginning of 2018 )
  5. 3 August the 3rd Call to become a European Talent Centre was issued on the ETSN website
  6. 20 September 2nd Network Council meeting in Ljubljana
  7. 22 October 9 proposals were received from 9 different countries to the 3rd Call to become a European Talent Centre:
  8. 16 October after careful preparations, a summary of the needs of gifted and talented young individuals was published, created by the First European Youth Summit in Vienna, 2016: http://echa.info/212-summary-on-the-needs-of-gifted-and-talented-students-by-participants-of-the-first-european-youth-summit-vienna-29-feb-5-march-2016
  9. 11-14 November Youth Platform Council and Project leaders meeting in Budapest
  10. 23 November ECHAQualification Committee meeting in Dublin; new European Talent Centres were accepted from Belgium, Portugal and Spain as well as a new Associated Centre from the United Arab Emirates.
  11. 24 November 3rd Network Council meeting in Dublin

2018

  1. 11 January the European Talent Support Network started its regular Newsletter called TalentWeb: https://etsn.eu/talentweb-newsletter/
  2. By January, altogether around 350 Talent Points of 42 countries had registered to the Network, and the number of European Talent Centres rose from 14 to 23, including 20 European and 3 non-European ones (located in the United Arab Emirates, in India and in Peru, respectively), over the 2.5 years since the first meeting
  3. 9 February 3rd official meeting of  European Talent Centre representatives in Budapest and 1st Network Council meeting in 2018
  4. April the European Talent Support Network started its plans to become a European NGO and formulated its Articles (see the Annex to this report).
  5. June Youth Platform Project in the Czech Republic organized by Czech Talent Centre –
  6. 8 August 2nd issue of the TalentWeb was sent out
  7. 10 August 1st ETSN General Assembly meeting during the ECHA Conference
  8. 8-11 August 3rd European Youth Summit was held in Dublin parallel with the ECHA Conference: https://etsn.eu/working-with-gifted-students-in-the-21st-century-echa-conference-in-dublin-ireland-from-8th-august-to-11th-august/
  9. 15 October 4th  Call for application to be a European Talent Centre or an Associated European Talent Centre in the European Talent Support Network
  10. December Election of the 2nd  Council of the European Talent Support Network: Albert Ziegler president/chairman, Csilla Fuszek coordinator/secretary, Colm O’Reilly treasurer / Antonios Apostolou / Mojca Jurisevic

2019

  • January Election of theYouth Platform Council of the ETSN
  • 21. Jan. ETSN Council Meeting, Nuremberg
  • 4 April 3rd issue of the TalentWeb was sent out
  • 4-6 April 4th official meeting of the EU Talent Centre representatives in Budapest; ETSN Network Council meeting, Budapest
  • 30 May 2nd ETSN General Assembly meeting – online voting on the Articles; of a total of 97 institutions, 95 voted yes 2 abstained
  • 11 July Registration of the ETSN in the Netherlands
  • 2 September 4th issue of the TalentWeb was sent out
  • 15-19 October 4th European Youth Summit was held in Dubrovnik parallel with the ECHA Conference
  • 15 October 3rd ETSN General Assembly meeting
  • 23 November ETSN Network Council meeting, Dublin
  • 24 November Launch of the EGIFT project, Dublin
  • 29 November  5th Call for Application to be a European Talent Point or to be an Associated European Talent Point: https://etsn.eu/apply-to-join-etsn/
  • 29 November  5thCall for application to be a European Talent Centre or an Associated European Talent Centre in the European Talent Support Network
  • 5 December 5th issue of the TalentWeb was sent out

2020

  • By the beginning of the year there were 25 Talent Centres and cc 400 Talent Points in 47 Countries
  • 28-29 February Youth Platform Council meeting, Budapest and online, preparation of the Youth Summit Guideline: https://etsn.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/The-ETSN-Youth-Platform-and-Youth-Summit-Guidelines.pdf
  • 8 April Network Council online meeting
  • 17 April 6th issue of the TalentWeb
  • 9 May 5th (1st online) EU Talent Centre representatives online meeting
  • 14 May ETSN online Qualification Committee meeting
  • 11. June Network Council online meeting
  • 23 June 7th issue of the TalentWeb
  • 2. July Network Council online meeting on the Qualification Process
  • 8 April Network Council online meeting
  • 17 April 6th issue of the TalentWeb
  • 9 May 5th (1st online) EU Talent Centre representatives online meeting
  • 14 May ETSN online Qualification Committee meeting
  • 11. June Network Council online meeting
  • 23 June 7th issue of the TalentWeb
  • 2. July Network Council online meeting on the Qualification Process
  • 2 September Network Council online meeting
  • October – ETSN Bank Account opened by Colm O’Reilly
  • October – Reorganisation of the qualification Committee – new member: Sheyla Blumen intstead of Lianne Hoogeveen
  • October 21 ETSN Qualification Committee Meeting
  • October – 3 mutual Erasmus+ Application was put together
  • December Voting for the Network Council

2021

  • April – 1 Erasmus+ Project Application –  putting together
  • June 4 – Talent Centre Representative Meeting
  • June 19 – Talent Centre Representative meeting for those who sent youngsters to the Youth Summit
  • 31 August – 2 September – ETSN Youth Platform Summit Meeting
  • 31 August General Assembly Meeting
  • 31 August Network Council Meeting

2022.

  • 17. Feb. On-line orientation meeting for the Youth Platform
  • 23. Feb. Network Council meeting
  • 10. March On-line Youth Platform meeting – workshop by Szilvia Fodor, PhD
  • 31. March On-line Youth Platform meeting – workshop by Szilvia Fodor, PhD
  • 20. April On-line Youth Platform meeting – workshop by Szilvia Fodor, PhD
  • 28-30 April Partial Meeting of the Talent Centre Representatives, Network Council meeting
  • 31 Aug – Sept. 3 Youth Platform meeting

Here are some links from past ETSN webpages detailing the ETSN history even further:

http://www.echa.info/183-second-meeting-of-the-european-talent-centres

http://www.echa.info/170-five-new-centres-in-the-european-talent-support-network

http://www.echa.info/164-large-interest-to-apply-for-a-european-talent-centre-extension-of-application-deadline-until-16th-may

http://www.echa.info/147-first-16-months-of-the-european-talent-support-network-great-progress-and-8-possible-misunderstandings

http://www.echa.info/145-a-large-interest-to-become-a-european-talent-point-submit-your-application-until-the-deadline-of-january-31st

http://www.echa.info/137-talent-support-map-of-europe-info-on-european-talent-centres-was-published

http://www.echa.info/129-breaking-news-the-first-14-european-talent-centres

http://www.echa.info/125-large-interest-for-the-establishment-of-a-european-talent-support-network

http://www.echa.info/123-unexpectedly-large-interest-to-apply-for-a-european-talent-centre-only-ten-days-or-less-left

http://www.echa.info/109-preparation-of-the-call-for-european-talent-centres-second-meeting-of-the-echa-accreditation-committee

http://www.echa.info/55-high-ability-in-europe-opening-note