Minutes of 5th General Assembly (June 2021)

Date & time: 10th of June 2021, 14.45-15.45 h

Location: Online Meeting, during LAC2021(2020) Madrid (Room 3, via Bluejeans.com)

Attendees:
• Sjoerd Kluiving (VU Amsterdam, NL)
• Daniel Knitter (CAU Kiel, DE)
• Annelies Koopman (Capelle ad IJssel, NL)
• Linda Olsvig-Whittaker
• Mythrayi Harshavardhan
• Esperanza Martín Hernández
• Michelle Abballe
• Brais X. Currás

Program:
– Opening 5th GA, Welcome
– New members and member administration
– Financial Balance 2020 (report of subcommittee)
– Prizes Young Researcher Award
– IALA Student Council
– Presentation of new IALA Secretary
– Messages: Planning IALA awards, new round of call for Dissertation prizes
– Other: Update IALA homepage
– Any other business
– Closure 5th GA

Meeting:
– Opening 5th GA, Welcome
Establishing Zoom contacts.
Sjoerd shares the agenda of this meeting and explains the content of the meeting. Everybody is free to add discussion points.
The minutes of this 5th GA will be send around to all IALA members and Advisory Board and will be posted on the IALA webpage.

-New members and member administration
Annelies Koopman: In the year 2020: 12 new members, 20 membership renewals: 32 IALA members in total. But IALA is growing in 2021. Reasons:
-introduction of the Young Researcher Award, where participants would receive a free IALA membership for 2021! > 9 new members for IALA!
-special offer made by the LAC2020-2021 organisers: attend the conference + join IALA for FREE during 2021! This attracted at least 23 new IALA members!
It is hoped that all these new members all stay with IALA in the next year 2022. IALA needs to stay attractive, so more award rounds for members!

– Financial Balance 2020 (report of subcommittee)
Daniel Knitter: The financial balance of 2020 has been approved by two members of IALA: Will Kennedy and Julia Schoenicke. Growing of IALA is also represented in financial increase for IALA, due to new payments to IALA (LAC2021). Prosperous balance for IALA! Good news!!
Sjoerd Kluiving explains to attendees that, according to statutes and for transparency, the Financial Balance has to be checked each year by an independent subcommittee, to be presented during the yearly General Assembly.

– Prizes Young Researcher Award
Sjoerd Kluiving: 9 participants for Young Researcher Awards 2021 > 4 winners! All participants of the award round received a free membership for IALA in the years 2021. The 4 winners also received a free registration for LAC2021.
The 4 winners (see below) were selected by the Advisory Board on the basis of content of abstracts:
Esperanza Martín Hernández
Caitlin Jacobson
Benjamin Cutillas
Mythrayi Harshavardhan
Photo and a short bio of the 4 winners will also be published on IALA website (with permission)!
Young Researcher Award will be a recurring theme, also during next conference, to attract new young landscape archaeologists to the conference.
We still need to think some more of criteria for valuating of abstracts! (Student Council?)

– IALA Student Council
Sjoerd Kluiving explains to Linda Olsvig-Whittaker:
that IALA now has a Student Council with 3 students, but perhaps 5 in future, to improve and promote communication with young landscape archaeologists and interdisciplinary education. The Student council meeting was prior to this GA, from 14-14.30 h. Student Council Meeting is always planned prior to General Assembly.
As part of the IALA student council, members can give advice to the board (both prompted and unprompted). They also have the right to vote on decisions made by the board (e.g. vote on awards, conferences, the future of IALA). And a representative of the Student Council will attend each board meeting (Question still remains who will be the representative of the Student Council? Students of the Student Council will exchange email addresses to discuss this matter and to get to know each other). The Student Council also may propose events, e.g. workshops, lectures and readings to organize according to the mission of IALA.
Michelle Abballe already suggested a seminar series, E-lectures on landscape archaeology to attract young landscape archaeologists.

Sjoerd Kluiving ends with comments on the launching of a new e-book about landscape archaeology: GOLD OPEN ACCESS. The link of this book is here https://www.sidestone.com/books/environmental-humanities

– Presentation of new IALA Secretary
Sjoerd Kluiving: After being there since the foundation of IALA in 2017, Annelies Koopman her wish is now to step back, to resign as the Secretary of IALA, due to other (work related) activities. She is being thanked for her work for IALA until now.
Annelies Koopman thanks Sjoerd for the opportunity given to get involved with IALA since the beginning. She has enjoyed her time and has learned a lot. She will still be involved in the IALA because she will help starting up the work of the new IALA Secretary, and she will serve as a back-up whenever necessary.
Sjoerd Kluiving introduces Esperanza Martín Hernández as becoming the next Secretary of IALA! Esperanza Martín was also one of the four winners of the Young Researcher Award 2021.
Esperanza Martín Hernández thanks for bieng given the opportunity to become actively involved in the IALA. Annelies Koopman thanks Esperanza Martín Hernández for her enthusiasm on applying to the job!
Sjoerd Kluiving asks Esperanza Martín Hernández for a little biography with photo to be put on website of IALA. Esperanza Martín has sent an email recently with a short bio and options for a photograph, in relation to the Young Researcher Award, so perhaps (parts of it) can be used.
Brais X. Currás enters the meeting.

– Messages: Planning IALA awards, new round of call for Dissertation prizes
Sjoerd Kluiving sets out 2 important goals in relation to the Young Research Award and Dissertation Award: 1. Need for a new deadline (date for new submission) and 2. Need for good advertisement. One or two Dissertation Prices in 2022 for modern day/ up to date landscape archaeology! Nominations and valuation will be carried out by the Advisory Board. New deadline: April 2022, but anything before that time if also ok! Need to make a wider call to gain more applications!
No suggestions for other prices from attendees of meeting.

– Other: Update IALA homepage
Sjoerd Kluiving: IALA website address has been changed.
Daniel Knitter: The use of Strato as provider was quite costly, about 100 euro a year. Now IALA uses Uberspace, a low cost provider that follows a certain ethnical path. Url is rented at INWX service provider. Now 60/70 euro a year. Thus cheaper.
Also, the use of the Strato infrastructure was complicated and the WordPress website did not work anymore. Choice was made to switch to a new provider, cheaper and easier to use!
To attendees: If anyone is interested to support this work: please apply!! Daniel states that it is best to switch to a static site, with no updates needed. Process should be initiated quickly. Every help is worth!
Sjoerd Kluiving: if anybody from the Student Council members is interested to help, please apply. Plans are also to construct a Student Council page on website, with social media connections embedded.

– Any other business
Linda Olsvig-Whittaker: There is no mention yet on internet about the IALA General Assembly 2022.
Sjoerd Kluiving: next GA is associated with next Landscape Archaeology Conference, in September 2022. Date will be stated online next week. During closure ceremony of LAC2021 a video of George Body will be shown: he will put out the candidacy for next LAC conference in Romania in 2022.
Linda Olsvig-Whittaker: the next SNELA meeting is in March 2-4 in 2022, so no conflict with LAC2022. SNELA meeting at Istanbul Technical University, physical meeting. Especially for students/ researchers with a small budget. Only accommodation and travel. No fee necessary for conference. Linda asks who would like to organize the IALA session during the SNELA conference?
Daniel Knitter mentions that Linda has the biggest network herself. Linda comments on that people from Italy are very closely related to the work they are doing, so good option! Linda will coordinate this and communicate this with Sjoerd Kluiving later onwards.
Daniel Knitter states that IALA could offer Young Researcher travel awards to SNELA conference, to promote IALA research at SNELA and to connect young researchers to the SNELA community.

Sjoerd Kluiving shows a preview of the movie/ video (also available on website LAC2021 later on) for the promotion of LAC2022 in Eastern Europe, Romania.

Sjoerd Kluiving: LAC2022 will be hybrid: combination of physical presence and digital presentations. In this way people from further away can still participate. Sjoerd mentions the tremendous job the organisers of LAC2021 have done in Madrid: all digital: so many people can attend! Sjoerd asks attendees if it is a good idea to give the LAC2021 Madrid organizers the opportunity to organize LAC2024 in Madrid again, but then with the ability to show Madrid to the audience! LAC2021 was all about distance learning and conferencing, but not showing around Madrid!
Daniel Knitter: It is always good to ask!
Sjoerd Kluiving: LAC has been organized in Europe until now, but should LAC go outside of Europe, and should LAC look at other new initiatives?
Linda Olsvig-Whittaker: LAC can be facilitated in Istanbul, as SNELA will always be in Istanbul. SNELA meets every two years. Sjoerd Kluiving will keep this in mind. Linda suggests Anatolia. Sjoerd: Fokke Gerritsen, Director of Dutch Institute, also worked in Anatolia. But travel is more expensive that travel to Istanbul.

– Closure 5th GA
Sjoerd Kluiving comments on having the LAC conference at home, in a room, and not in an interesting place within a city abroad. A strange experience, but a NEW experience.