Due to the recent evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic (particularly the uncertainty concerning the omicron variant), the IOF has decided to postpone the decision about whether the IOF High Level Event Seminar 2022 can take place as a physical meeting. A decision will be taken at the beginning of 2022, presumably before 10thJanuary.
The meeting is scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary on 5th-6thFebruary, 2022. The current situation in Hungary regarding the pandemic is promising, the fourth wave recently reached its peak and numbers are improving. But the situation is not the same in all countries and the above decision was made to minimise the risk of a cancellation.
The traditions of the High Level Event Seminar go back as far as 2009, when it was first held in Oslo and the Seminar is organised annually since then. In 2021, it was organised as an online meeting, but many former participants preferred to return to a face-to-face format for 2022.
The IOF High Level Event Seminar has become an important event attracting 40-75 attendees each year from about 15-20 countries. The seminar targets appointed organisers, potential future organisers and key persons of IOF High Level Events, including already appointed IOF Senior Event Advisers and Assistant Senior Event Advisers. National orienteering federations are kindly asked to identify and enter suitable candidates.
After the success of WOC 2021 in the Czech Republic, the main focus of the HLES will once again be on the organisation of high level events, especially the World Orienteering Championships, and the HLES organisers plan to provide input for the participants on how we can achieve this common goal. Fair play and event quality will also be in the focus. The groupwork will again be on the agenda.
If a face-to-face meeting is not possible to organise, then HLES will go digital once again in 2022, utilising the same dates: the first weekend in February.