After years of travelling across Europe for our Annual General Meetings, it was a pleasure to bring the ESA community together this year in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and hold the AGM there for the very first time.
Ozan Devlen, newly elected Chair of the ESA.
Set against the beautiful backdrop of the mountains and with the Intercontinental Hotel as our base, the 2025 AGM offered the perfect blend of connection, collaboration, and forward momentum for our industry.
Ozan Devlen becomes the new Chair
One of the key moments of the AGM was the official appointment of Ozan Devlen as the new ESA Chair. He succeeds John Morton, who was recognised for his years of dedicated leadership and service to the Association.
A growing focus on ESG
We also welcomed Sandy Van den Broeck into the role of Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) Director, a position created just last year to help drive our commitment to sustainability and responsible practices.
In line with this commitment, we have once again included environmental offsetting into our event planning. A portion of the AGM budget was allocated to green initiatives and carbon offset programmes to reduce the environmental impact of travel – a practical step towards making our events more sustainable.
Divisional reports and technical updates
The ESA’s divisions presented progress reports covering technical developments, regulatory challenges – including developments related to PFAS legislation – and ongoing projects to understand material behaviour, research and standards within the sealing sector.
We also took a moment to recognise several members whose technical articles were featured in Valve World and World Pumps magazines. These contributions highlight the expertise within our community and help reinforce ESA’s influence and visibility across the wider industry.
Face-to-face interactions remain a cornerstone of ESA’s strength
Beyond the formal sessions, what stood out once again was the value of simply being together. Whether it was catching up over coffee, sharing strategies between presentations, or enjoying dinner with colleagues old and new, the AGM reminded us just how important these in-person conversations are.
The 2025 AGM reinforced ESA’s role as a forward-looking association, focused on innovation, environmental leadership and technical excellence across the sealing industry in Europe.
The ESA would also like to thank digital marketing agency Actuado, our longstanding partner, for their continued support and collaboration.