The European Early Childhood Education Research Association Conference 2013, an event hosted and organised through Tallinn University by professor Marika Veisson, was given this year’s Conference of the Year award at a ceremony in Tallinn on January 28.
EECERA 2013 beat out eight other contenders for the award, which recognises well-organised international conferences involving 100 participants or more, at least 40 percent of whom are from outside the country. The title was presented by the Estonian Convention Bureau in cooperation with the City of Tallinn.
The EECERA conference was held at the Tallinn University Conference Centre in August and brought 679 delegates from 48 countries to Estonia’s capital.
“Thanks to the fact that the conference panned out better than expected, the reputation of Estonia, Tallinn and Tallinn University has gone up substantially, we have been involved in international early childhood education research and we are taken as a serious partner in 48 countries,” Veisson said when accepting the award.
At the award ceremony, Managing Director of Estonian Convention Bureau Kadri Karu said that EECERA won out thanks to the high number of international delegates it drew – 621 in all – and the attention it generated.
“Estonia is not very well known as a meetings destination and bringing in top specialists in any scientific field helps more than anything else to promote Estonia and build a reputation of reliability,” she said.
“Hosting of EECERA 2013 gave credit to our scientists and gave them a very good opportunity to make new contacts and initiate new international cooperation projects. Events of that magnitude also heat up the economy – guests accounted for 3,000 room nights in hotels, used conference services, went shopping and ate in restaurants,” Karu added.
In an e-mail sent after the conference, EECERA President Chris Pascal and EECERJ Journal editor Anthony Bertram praised the organisers, saying that the event was extraordinary in every detail.
“The hospitality, food and organisation were wonderful and your team have really done your country proud. The feeling amongst all the delegates I talked with was overwhelmingly positive and the science, too, was stimulating […] From the welcoming chocolates and wine to the farewell gifts – artworks made by Estonian children – you have spoilt us with your kindness and care,” they said.
Veisson noted that, in addition to her university’s Institute of Educational Sciences, a number of other organisations contributed to the success of the conference including Rakvere College, Tallinn Pedagogical College, the Ministry of Education, the Estonian Pre-School Teachers’ Union and the Estonian Early Childhood Managers’ Association.
The same awards ceremony, held in the historic House of the Brotherhood of Black Heads guild hall, recognised 16 new conference ambassadors for Tallinn.
