In Mâcon, at the first General Meeting of the European Hiking Federation

Mâcon, host of the 56th General Meeting of the European Hiking Federation. Photo: Andrei Rusu

From 2 to 5 October 2025, the European federation of hiking organisations met in Mâcon, France, for its 56th General Meeting. It was the first under the new name, European Hiking Federation (“Hiking Europe”), approved a year earlier in Montserrat, where our club became a full member. The host was the Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre (FFRandonnée).

Andrei Rusu represented the club as its president and voted for the first time as a full member.

One year after Montserrat

The ERA Board’s report looked back on the past year:

• The new name and logo came into force in May 2025. It is the sixth logo in the federation’s 56 years, and the new website is hiking-federation.eu.
• The European E-paths now have verified data for about 75% of the network’s more than 75,000 km. 2025 was the year of the E6, 50 years after its opening, with the main celebration in Slovenia. E2 follows in 2026.
• Leading Quality Trails: 24 long-distance trails hold the federation’s quality certificate. Another 29 trail scouts were trained in Luxembourg, Greece and Portugal, and the first certified day walk in Germany received the label in April 2025.
• European Walking Day is held on the first Saturday of the European Week of Sport. In 2025, on 27 September, the motto was “We respect water”; in 2026, on 26 September, it will be “Return to nature”.
• European projects: the federation is a partner in the Erasmus+ projects PATH and CONNECT, and the ROUTES project on common trail standards has reached the grant agreement stage.
• A youth working group, set up in 2025.

Friday, 3 October: the Know-How sessions

The day opened with a welcome from the FFRandonnée president, Frédéric Montoya. Then came:

• the federation’s work in the Council of Europe, especially in the Committee on Sport and Human Rights, with an example of hiking for people with disabilities (Patricia Alliot-Guichard, Gerhard Ermischer, Juris Smalinskis);
• gamification and challenges for hikers (Marianne Clarté, Steen Kobberø-Hansen);
• a climate adaptation project for trails (Liane Jordan, Anne Katrin Heinrichs);
• the European Green Belt, along the former Iron Curtain, which may become the E13 (Benjamin Rolles);
• the E6 anniversary in 2025 and the promotion of the E2 in 2026 (Steen Kobberø-Hansen);
• young people and hiking in schools (Rúben Jordão, Marianne Clarté);
• heart health, with a focus on women (Sophie Duméry).

The sessions ended with a discussion of the ERA Strategy 2026, “Hiking Europe, Stronger Together”, built on six pillars: quality trails and common waymarking, a voice for hikers in the European institutions, twinning between clubs and cross-border hikes, engaging young people, a new funding model, and digital tools.

Saturday, 4 October: the General Meeting

The meeting approved every proposal on the agenda:

• New members: the Ukrainian Federation of Sport Tourism became a full member. The ERA family also grew with Kvasy GO (Ukraine) and Back to Nature (Turkey) as full members, and Visit Flanders (Belgium) and Visit Minett (Luxembourg) as associate members.
• A new Board: after two terms, Boris Mićić stepped down as president. The new president is Gerhard Ermischer, with Jordi Merino i Urbano (1st vice-president), Marianne Clarté (2nd vice-president), Rúben Jordão (3rd vice-president), Steen Kobberø-Hansen (treasurer), Uroš Vidović and Joep Naber (assessors).
• Honorary member: Rolf Ebert, for more than a decade of work on the federation’s archive.
• The 2026 membership fee, adjusted for inflation: 714 euro for full members.
• The 2025–2026 budget and the 2026 Strategy.

After the meeting, Raphael Trouiller presented Tetraktys, a Mediterranean trail.

Burgundy, on foot and by the glass

The programme included a visit to a local winery, with the white wines of southern Burgundy: Mâcon, Pouilly-Vinzelles, Saint-Véran, Montagny.

And of course there was a hike: we climbed the Roche de Solutré, the limestone crag that watches over the vineyards west of Mâcon.

What comes next

• EURORANDO 2026: from 20 to 27 September 2026 in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge), on the German-Czech border.
• General Meeting 2026: in Bajina Bašta, Serbia, from 15 to 18 October 2026.
• A General Meeting in Romania: the Siebenbürgischer Karpatenverein (Transylvanian Carpathian Society) proposed that the federation meet here. A rare chance to welcome the European federation at home.

See you in the mountains!

Update, October 2026: the 2027 General Meeting will be held in Elbasan, Albania. The proposal for Romania stands for 2028 or 2029. More in our post about the Bajina Bašta conference.