To:
Danish Dermatological Society, Finnish Dermatological Society, Islandic Dermatological
Society, Norwegian Society of Dermatology and Venereology, and Swedish Society of
Dermatology and Venereology
From: Nordic Dermatology Association
Proposal for new bylaws for the Nordic Dermatology Association
At the general assembly meeting of the Nordic Dermatology Association (NDA) in Tampere in
2013 it was decided that the NDA board should work out new bylaws to be voted on at the
next general assembly meeting, i.e. in 2016. The main objective was to change NDA from
having individual members to having five members, i.e. the national societies of dermatology
and venereology in the five Nordic countries.
The NDA board appointed a bylaws committee consisting of Olle Larkö, Robert Gniadecki and
Petter Gjersvik. The committee’s proposal for new bylaws was discussed at the NDA board
meeting in Amsterdam on October 8th, 2014 and approved with minor changes. The NDA
board will recommend the NDA general assembly in Trondheim in 2016 to adopt the proposed
bylaws, which are enclosed. Please inform the members of your society in the way you see fit.
The proposed bylaws is based on the opinion that NDA and its Nordic congress continues to
have important roles for dermatology and venereology in all five Nordic countries,
supplementing other organizations and meetings.
In the bylaws, four changes are of particular importance:
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turning the NDA into an organization with five members, i.e. the national societies of
dermatology and venereology in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden
strengthening the contact between the NDA board and the five national society boards
introducing Nordic educational courses as a main activity
a clear leadership structure
The role of the national society boards
NDA board members have often been selected among “elder statesmen” of each society with
limited contact with the national society boards. As the NDA general assembly meeting is held
only every 3-4 years, the NDA is vulnerable and the democratic control weak. It is therefore
essential to strengthen the contact between the NDA and the national society boards and
members.
According to the proposed new bylaws, the presidents – or, alternatively, a board member – of
the national societies of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden will also be a NDA
board member. In addition, each society should appoint two more NDA board members,
except Iceland, which will appoint one non-voting board member. When there is a need for
replacements, the national boards should appoint replacements.
Educational courses
NDA has decided to organize Nordic educational courses in order to increase participation
from young dermatologists. We propose to highlight the role of educational courses in the
bylaws.
Clear leadership structure
The present bylaws is somewhat unclear on who is the leader of NDA – is it the NDA president,
the NDA secretary general or the congress president (“chairman”)?
The board recommends to stick to these terms only: president for the formal and factual head
of the NDA and the NDA board, secretary general for the person in charge of the secretarial
and economic affairs of NDA, and congress president for the head of a Nordic congress.
The board recommends that the NDA president and NDA general secretary should be elected
among the NDA board members, and that the NDA president can be re-elected once and the
NDA general secretary twice, both for three more years. We recommend to have a specific
minimal number of NDA board members (i.e. six) and national societies (i.e. three) present in
order to make decisions.
Turning NDA into an association of five society members makes a general assembly for
individual members obsolete. We recommend that the agenda now specified for the general
assembly is transferred to a formal term report from the NDA board to the national societies.
Other matters
The board has discussed full or affiliated membership for other Nordic and non-Nordic
organizations. While such cooperation should be encouraged, NDA should first and foremost
re-establish itself as a viable organization. We have included in the bylaws a sentence on
cooperation with similar organizations in other countries.
The board has discussed individual honorary membership, but found that this is not
compatible with the society membership concept.
The board has discussed including the word Venereology in the name of the organization, but
recommends to stick to the name Nordic Dermatology Association.
Copenhagen/Malmø January 10th, 2015
Gregor Jemec
President
Nordic Dermatology Association
Joanna Waldenström
General Secretary
Nordic Dermatology Association