Celebrating a legacy of European concrete cooperation and innovation

Lisbon, Portugal – May 16, 2025

The European Concrete Societies Network (ECSN) formally celebrated its 30th anniversary at its board meeting in Lisbon on 16 May. ECSN was launched on 17 March 1995 in Wiesbaden, Germany, at the initiative of Germany’s Deutscher Beton- und Bautechnik-Verein (DBV) (de.wikipedia.org). Since its inception, ECSN has brought together national concrete societies from across Europe. Initially, there were 13 societies, and by 2025, the number has risen to 19. In Lisbon, the board members reflected on three decades of ECSN’s contribution to broad European cooperation in a number of areas. The network’s overall goal is to encourage cooperation between its members and thereby promote the development of concrete technology and the use of concrete in Europe (ecsn.net).

Photo: ECSN was launched on 17 March 1995 in Wiesbaden, Germany.

In previous years, ECSN members worked together on several European projects. A notable milestone was a joint EU-funded research effort under the SPRINT programme: Germany’s DBV, the British Concrete Society and the Netherland´s Betonvereniging co-developed practical design aids for Eurocode 2 to help engineers apply the new concrete design standards (pdfcoffee.com). ECSN societies also participated in a Leonardo da Vinci vocational training project, collaborating with universities and industry partners to create advanced concrete-design educational tools (sirbnet.de).

Today, the following goals and objectives are stated:

• To share concrete best practice, training and educational material across Europe
• To share national experience and learning for our common benefit
• To collaborate in international initiatives to further national organizations goals

Now in its fourth decade, ECSN continues to unite the profession across 19 member societies. The network remains committed to promoting innovation, sharing technical knowledge, and supporting sustainable concrete technology. ECSN thanks all its member societies for their dedication to the common goal of promoting concrete construction in Europe and looks forward to continued collaboration in the years to come.

Photo and film clip: Lisbon Board Meeting – May 16, 2025.

Media contact: European Concrete Societies Network (ECSN) – www.ecsn.net