Post by Andrea Forabosco

I don’t usually write LinkedIn posts, but this time I am making an exception—to thank the many people who contributed to the success of the International Bar Association SEERIL Biennial Conference in Brussels, which I had the honour of co‑chairing with my dear friend Carlos Vilhena. This year’s Biennial was an undeniable success: 260+ participants and 59 outstanding speakers—testament to real collective effort. My sincere thanks to all the speakers who accepted my invitation —particularly Matjaž Malgaj, Massimo Nicolazzi, Dolf Gielen, Laury Haytayan, Rocío Chacón Carmona, Matteo Fumerio and Fulvio Capurso. Thank you to the steering team: Carlos Vilhena, Michelle Ouellette, Jean-Pierre Eijck, Sarah A. W. Fitts and Matthias Lang, as well as to the IBA team for their exceptional support. A special thanks also to Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) for their valuable contributions and to the European Parliament for receiving us. I am also grateful to Nelia Daniel Dias, Marco Sella, Munia El Harti Alonso, Pacer Guobadia and Silvia Carolina Lopez Rocha, the Officers of the Oil and Gas Committee which I have the privilege to chair—for helping organise the panels. Finally, my thanks to all members of the Section Environment, Energy, Infrastructure and Natural Resources for electing me to the SEERIL Council for 2027. I look forward to continuing to champion initiatives that help in-house counsel align, collaborate and grow. We are living through critical times. As polarization and fragmentation reshape global cooperation, lawyers have a responsibility to step up—to connect, stabilise and build bridges. Conferences like ours can help shape that dialogue. See you in Copenhagen and Luanda.