Welcome to the eCouncil 2010

This is our second eCouncil, and it is of course an experiment. As so many of us are now used to Facebook or Twitter, not to mention email lists, I think we should manage to make this a lively and enjoyable forum for discussion. An eCouncil is not a substitute for physically being together. Nevertheless it has some advantages, not just saving money. The principal advantage is that more people can take part, something that is vital to WRI. If there is anyone whose participation you are missing, please encourage them to register to take part.

In Ahmedabad, several people criticised the separation of WRI's organisational discussions from the thematic conference, and called for a fuller combination of our political and organisational discussions. They were right, and we hope this eCouncil will help overcome this separation. The political content of our discussions and our organisational life have to go together. As facilitator of the discussions on planning our 2014 International Conference in South Africa, I recognise this is a point we need address there.

It is less than a year since the Ahmedabad conference, which is one reason why there is no report on our activities for 2010. However, I think we can say that WRI is maintaining a good rhythm of work, has exciting plans for the future, and is in a good position to strengthen our financial base. That should make this a really fruitful eCouncil.

All the best

Howard Clark
(Chairperson)

Link to the eCouncil forum http://wri-irg.org/forum/435