CANSO Operations and Safety Programme Members gather for working meeting

Members of CANSO’s Operations and Safety Programmes’ workgroups and task forces came together for their first ever joint, in-person, planning meeting. Kindly hosted by DFS at its headquarters in Langen, Germany, more than 80 colleagues from around the world spent three days reviewing their activities in the past 12 months, and agreed their priorities and focus for the coming year.

The two programmes came together to discuss their work in recognition of the synergies that exist between the two, and to explore the ways their work can benefit each other. A particular focus was placed on the CATS 2045 Global Vision and how CANSO’s programmes could contribute to its delivery.

Bill Middleswart, CANSO Safety Programme Manager, said: “While much can be accomplished in virtual meetings, our meeting in Langen really demonstrated the importance of face-to-face interaction. Teams left energised and excited about the workplans ahead, with an energy and focus that is difficult to generate virtually. There seemed to be a strong desire for this to occur annually.

From a Safety perspective, I was especially pleased to see the Safety Intelligence and Human Performance Management Workgroups make valuable connections with other work groups that are going to foster work across their areas of interest in the future.”

Scott Leis, CANSO Operations Programme Manager added: “The meeting signalled the launch of our new Operations workgroups and task forces structure, and members of the new groups came with many questions in-mind and not much direction. But, after three days of working together, they had all coalesced into real teams with a common vision and an understanding of their work plans for the next two years.  

They also began to identify some subjects on which they could work with other workgroups from both the Operations and Safety Programmes.”