The votes are in: Robert Firmhofer, director of Copernicus Science Centre, has been elected the new President of Ecsite. Full Ecsite Members made their decision at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which took place on day two of the Ecsite Annual Conference 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. Past President, Hans Gubbels, received a standing ovation from members for the achievements of his two-year term – not the least of which was pushing to develop Ecsite’s first official Strategic Plan unveiled during the AGM. “I consider this Strategic Plan to be a clear guide for the Board and for the President,” said Firmhofer during his campaign speech.

Firmhofer will focus on the key priorities outlined in the five-year Plan such as improving and expanding services for Ecsite members, encouraging small science centres and focusing on the vibrant science centre community emerging in Eastern Europe.

First-time elected Board Members are:

• Tiuu Sild, Director, AHHA Science Centre, Tartu, Estonia • Ernesto Páramo Sureda, Director, Parque de las Ciencias, Granada, Spain

Re-elected Board Members are:

• Erik Jacquemyn, Chief Executive Officer, Technopolis®, the Flemish Science Center, Mechelen, Belgium • Per Edvin Persson, Chief Executive Officer, Heureka the Finnish Science Centre, Finlad • Eva Jonsson, Deputy Director, Head Education, Teknikens Hus, Lulea, Sweden • Armin Frey, Scientific Director, Cologne Science Centre Odysseum, Cologne, Germany • Michele Lanzinger, Director, MUSE. Museo delle Scienze, Trento, Italy