ECMA Congress 2012 to focus on future

- Congress “mapping out the route to the future” through Roadmap

- Taking place September 19-22 in Copenhagen, Denmark
 
The European Carton Manufacturers Association (ECMA) is to update members on the five arms of its Roadmap at its 2012 congress, taking place September 19-22 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
 
ECMA recently moved from an umbrella organization towards a network of business networks structure for the European folding carton industry.
 
Profitability, sustainability, product safety, industry positioning and association structure will be the five core themes discussed at the congress, which ECMA said will allow it to “take stock and define the course for the next stage of its trip”.
 

Presentations

The ECMA Congress 2012 is opened by keynote speaker Johan Peter Paludan, director of the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, who will present a vision of the world after the information society. Will we move from the information age to the imagination age and how will this affect the role of packaging as medium to convey “experiences”?
 
Following this opening keynote, Marc de Vos, director of the Belgian think tank Itinera Institute will address the various scenarios for Europe after the crisis.
 
Three sessions will then address press technology, pre- and post-press equipment and software, as well as packaging materials. Held in three rounds, there will opportunity for delegates to attend all each session stream.
 
Delegates will conclude the first day of presentations with an interactive workshop about the Kaizen methodology and lean manufacturing.
 

Day 2

September 21 will open and close with keynotes on different aspects of corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability.
 
In between, attendees will be guided along one of the most important sectors of ECMA activity: food safety and good manufacturing practice. They will obtain an overview of carton industry trends and investor prospects. They will also celebrate the winners of this year’s Pro Carton/ECMA Awards.
 
Tristram Stuart will deliver the closing keynote addressing the global food shortage in a different perspective. While affluent nations throw away food through neglect, in the developing world crops rot because farmers lack means to process, store and transport them to market.
 
According to Stuart, there could be surprisingly painless remedies for what has become one of the world’s most pressing environmental and social problems. Which role can packaging play in combating this mismatch and avoiding waste?
 
An optional tour of Copenhagen will take place on September 22, taking in the Carlsberg museum and brewery followed by a guided tour of the Danish Design Center.
 
Download the ECMA Congress 2012 program here
 
Read more on ECMA here
Read more on the carton market here