The necessity of IMRF members collaborating in developments which are thought to become important in the next era was identified during a regional IMRF meeting in 2015 and on March 28th the third meeting of the future technology panel was hosted by the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM).

In May 2016, the formal start of the Future Technology Panel was hosted by the RNLI.

The following objectives of the panel were defined:

Representatives met in a lifeboat station near KNRM headquarters and a representative from Dalhousie university (Nova Scotia) joined in on the meeting via Skype.

Several topics were discussed, it was decided that two new sub panels, one addressing electronic chart systems, the other addressing Whole Body Vibration and repeated shock would be initiated in addition to the sub panel on UAV's which already exists.

Within these sub panels, subject matter experts on a specific topic aim to join forces. Results achieved in a sub panel will be fed back to the Future Technology Panel.

Key Objectives

There was a mutual agreement that the Future Technology Panel is in need of a platform where the results can be shared, ideas can be posted, etc.

In this way organisations not able to join in on a meeting can share results and add their remarks and findings to the various sub panels. The IMRF are developing a format where research and development can be shared and collaboration can be facilitated.

Existing documents can be accessed by IMRF Members only here (new window).

The next meeting will be held in November 2017 in Oslo, and all IMRF Member organisations are encouraged to participate.

For more information please contact Hans Van der Molen at [email protected].

KNRM also hosted the first IMRF Fundraising and Communication Skillshare on the 29-30th June 2017.

This 2-day event provided the perfect platform for SAR organisations to learn from each other by presenting fundraising and communication case studies, swapping ideas and having thoughtful discussions in the workshops.

The first morning covered ‘How to manage your reputation in a multimedia world’ by Tony Roddam, formerly of the RNLI, who now runs the consultancy ‘Flying Colours’.

This session gave each delegate something to think about as Tony Roddam challenged us to take a fresh and honest look at our most valuable asset, our reputation, in the era of fake news and alternative facts.

This was followed by a discussion on ‘How to get our staff and volunteers to say the right thing at the right time’. In the afternoon, we looked at prevention campaigns, with messages from KNRM, RS and RNLI, who each spoke about their activities and campaigns on the topic.

We also heard from Marcelo Ulysséa, who spoke about his organisation, ‘Sea Angels Brazil Institute’, a volunteer SAR service he runs in Brazil. The afternoon was finished by 2 workshops looking at online marketing and social media.

The second day started off with a case study of the successful branding campaign of the Swedish Sea Rescue Society, where in 14 years membership has grown from 30,000 members to 107,000 members. This was followed by an in-depth look at how ICE-SAR raises its funds.

The other two sessions in the morning focused on a ‘Fundraising Best Practices’ workshop led by Jolan van den Broek and Darinka Boulonois, which provided a platform for the delegates to swap tips in this area.

The RNLI then discussed legacy fundraising - 6 out of 10 launches would not be possible without a gift in a will - and concluded with a short talk on their move to an opt-in-only system of communication. From this a brief discussion on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) followed.

The afternoon sessions focused on volunteers, where 2 workshops were delivered on ‘How a social intranet can build a community between volunteers and employees’ by Tanja Krangnes, Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue and ‘Campaigning for recruiting new volunteers’ by Emma Valham, Swedish Sea Rescue Society.

The Presentations from the Skill-Share are available for IMRF Members only here.  

Thank you again to KNRM for hosting both of these fantastic events.

Photo Top: Discussing how to get our staff and volunteers to say the right thing at the right time.