Thanks to the longstanding cooperation between the International Federation of Esperanto Railwaymen (IFEF), a member of the International Federation for Railway Culture and Leisure (FISAIC), and the Transport Faculty of Pardubice University, a seminar on European railways was held on 6 March 2023, in Pardubice, Czech Repulic, together with the Czech Association of Esperanto Railwaymen (ĈeFEA). The event was held on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the faculty and was supported by UIC members České dráhy and Správa železnic.

Six speakers representing IFEF (from the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Romania) accepted the invitation to the event. There was a large audience in attendance – a mix of those interested in Esperanto and young people, who listened to the presentations.

First, Rodica Todor of Romania, President of IFEF, introduced the federation and its role as an organisation of railwaymen which is developing Esperanto as a professional railway language and then gave a presentation on IFEF activities within the Erasmus+ VERDEN project.

She was followed by presentations on:

• Bike transport by train (Lars Sözüer, Germany)
• Intermodal freight transport (Vito Tornillo, Italy)
• Správa železnic’s sustainability strategy (Roman Štěrba, Czechia)
• Robotics and the role of technology in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Francesco Maurelli, Germany)

While a wealth of information was presented in a short time, the audience’s attention was held right up until the last slide.

One of the strengths of FISAIC and Esperanto gatherings is that they serve as a platform for acquiring professional knowledge, cultural impressions, and networking with new friends and colleagues.
The IFEF seminar in Pardubice was attended by Roman Štěrba, FISAIC Coordinator of Technical Commissions and Head of Strategy at SZCZ.

FISAIC is an international railway art and culture association. It signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UIC on 1 December 2016. FISAIC aims to promote and support cultural activities for railway personnel of all nationalities in their leisure time, establish relationships between the creative railway personnel of national associations and unions in order to organise cultural events, and contribute to the development of cultural understanding and activities. FISAIC was founded in Strasbourg in 1952.

(Source: SZCZ)