EAN President Elena Moro's Welcome Letter 2025
Welcome to Helsinki 2025!
21-24 June 2025
Dear Colleagues, dear Friends,
I am thrilled to invite you to the 11th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology, which will lead us back to the wonderful city of Helsinki on 21-24 June 2025.
Following unforeseen developments that ruled out our original destination, we are returning to the Finnish capital, which hosted our extraordinarily successful EAN Congress in 2024, with record onsite attendance. The warm reception, cutting-edge facilities, and rich scientific atmosphere we experienced in Helsinki last year have inspired us to once again embrace this exceptional city as our host.
This year our congress will have an innovative and intriguing Overarching Theme that will address ‘Neurology within society’. The topic particularly challenges our practice since our society impacts the progress, priorities, and relevance of neurology, and, conversely, neurology influences decisions and developments in society. This creates a highly complex and consequential set of interactions that affect all of us - professionals and patients alike. As usual, this theme will weave like a common thread throughout all of the invited content of our congress, from workshops to plenary sessions.
On behalf of the EAN Board and all our fellow organisers: join us in Helsinki for a celebration of neurology in June 2025!
Elena Moro, EAN President
Why has the EAN 2025 Congress been moved from Seville to Helsinki? The EAN has been asked this question by many members and stakeholders. We would like to inform you about what forced us to make this difficult decision and break with the tradition of holding the EAN Congress in a different city every year for the first time.
During the summer, the management of the congress venue in Seville informed us that the UN Summit 2025 for the International Conference on Financing for Development is going to take place at the same time as the EAN congress at the agreed venue in Seville. From that point on, the planning and preparatory work in cooperation with the venue came to a standstill and the prospect of a successful Congress was in serious jeopardy due to the delays caused by the venue. Based on many requests from the EAN being left unanswered by the venue and the already substantial damage caused by the delay, the EAN was left with no assurances from the venue management that the EAN Congress 2025 could take place as contractually agreed. In order to ensure a smooth and undisturbed course of the EAN Congress for all participants and to avoid substantial damage to the EAN in case of a sudden cancellation of the EAN Congress 2025, the EAN Board decided to move the EAN Congress 2025 to Helsinki. The EAN is still negotiating with the venue management to find an amicable solution for the pre-payments and damages incurred.
Reverting to a tried and tested venue such as Helsinki ensures that the EAN can organise a congress which meets the standards our members and attendees have come to expect. For the EAN, the venue selection is also primarily about having the facilities and amenities to host a successful scientific meeting, rather than having a ‘destination conference’.
The warm reception, cutting-edge facilities, and rich scientific atmosphere we experienced in Helsinki have inspired us to once again embrace this exceptional city as our host.
We are therefore grateful to be able to invite you once again to the 11th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology, which will take place from 21 to 24 June 2025 in the wonderful city of Helsinki, which has once again been prepared to host us. The choice of going to Helsinki again also gives the EAN the possibility to adapt to the new venue cost-efficiently and with minimised damage.