Dear friends and colleagues,

We have the pleasure of inviting you to participate in the 27th meeting of the European Coordination Committee on Human Rights Documentation (ECCHRD). As you probably know, the ECCHRD organises annual meetings for information workers and documentalists of human rights organisations based in Europe. The aims of the 27th meeting are:

a. to discuss new and relevant themes of common interest, both with regard to the context of human rights documentation work as well as issues of particular interest to information workers and documentalists;
b. to share experiences in doing documentation and information work on a daily basis;
c. to develop strategies for collaboration on specific themes and in response to new technological opportunities.

As previously announced, the 27th meeting will take place in Venice, Italy. The local organiser is EIUC (European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation), represented in the meeting by the librarian Stefania Saccarola Stefania Saccarola. The meeting will be held at the EIUC premises, the Monastery of San Nicoḷ (Riviera San Nicoḷ 26, 30126 Venice - The Lido). The Lido is a small island, not too far from Venice, by boat it is approximately 15 minutes.

The final agenda for the 27th ECCHRD is attached. Please note that a new ECCHRD Secretariat has to be appointed at this meeting.

Training
There will be a day of training on 2 June. Based on the outcomes of the questionnaire on training and the availability of trainers, there will be three training sessions:
· Finding human rights information on the Internet, Patrick Müller and Saskia Bal
· HURIDOCS tools, Bert Verstappen
· Using XML in a human rights context: a working example, James Lawson
Please indicate on the registration form whether you want to attend one or more of the training sessions.

Accommodation
It is hard to find (affordable) accommodation in Venice in June. However, the Monastery of San Nicoḷ, where the meeting will be held, can offer a limited number of rooms (28). The price of a room in the Monastery is approximately € 45,= per night including breakfast. If you share a room the price will be approximately € 37,00 per person per night including breakfast. Since the number of rooms at the Monastry is limited, the ECCHRD Secretariat will allocate rooms on a "first come, first served" basis. However, if you prefer to stay in a hotel, a very limited number of rooms is available for a special price (€ 90,= for a single room) in Hotel Mabapa, which is located near the Monastery. Other hotels in Venice will cost approximately € 170,= for a single room and € 285,= for a double room.

Other expences
There is no registration fee. To enable you to plan your participation to the 27th ECCHRD meeting, we give you an indication of prices of transportation and meals in Venice.
Transportation by boat from the airport to the Lido costs € 10,=
A bus on the Lido costs € 1,=
A boat ticket to Venice from the Lido costs € 3,50. It is also possible to buy a day pass for € 10,50 or a 3 days ticket for € 22,=.
A simple meal (pizza and a drink) on the Lido will cost approxematly € 15,=. Prices of meals in Venice will be much higher.

Registration
You can register for the meeting by filling out the online registration form. Please confirm your participation with the Secretariat before Monday, 10 May 2004. Please note that all costs related to travel and hotel have to be borne by the participants themselves. No funding is available from the Secretariat or the local organisers.
Additional and practical details about the venue, the final agenda and the list of participants will be sent in the week of 17 May, to those who have registered.

Please do not hesitate to contact the ECCHRD Secretariat if you have any questions.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the 27th meeting in Venice!

The ECCHRD Secretariat,
Maaike Hogenkamp and Saskia Bal
Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM)
Janskerkhof 3
3512 BK Utrecht The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 30 2538029
Email: SIM.Documentation@law.uu.nl

Local organiser:

European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (contact: Stefania Saccarola)
Email: stefania.saccarola@emahumanrights.org

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