Rules

YMPÄRISTÖTEOLLISUUSYHDISTYS RY

Association of Environment Industry (Finland)

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The name of the association…

… is Ympäristöteollisuusyhdistys ry. The international scene of the association’s name is Association of Environment Industry (Finland). We are located in Espoo, Finland.

 

The purpose of the association…

… is to promote sustainable development in the field of environmental industry. We are interested especially in technical and programmatical systems concerning this industry in a way each society needs them to remain as sustainable as possible.

The association is determined to help the progress of cooperation and interaction between members, and improve the Association’s conditions to function abroad.

Secondarily the Association encourages intercourse between individuals and the industry, wanting this discussion to achieve a more holistic understanding of the conditions and challenges our environment is facing.

The Association of Environment Industry can distribute grants, stipends and other encouraging aid – however not to its own members – to support research and development of applications concerning the industry.

 

An association fulfilling its means

The association organizes informative and educational events and seminars to support and further the industry’s and its members’ development, know-how and to reinforce their publicity. The association keeps a close watch on legislative development, creates presentations and motions, cooperates with authorities and is active towars the legislative power.

We operate accountable environmental lobbying to promote our members’ growth of publicity as experts and supporters of sustainable development.

The Association can act as a specialist typed organization when it comes to questions concerning techinal applications in environmental industry – how each application would function its best in each case of different societies. We maintain a registry of our broad list of members. The registry focuses on each member’s speciality area. We have members from different professions and the registry is meant to keep a good view on each of them and their know- how. The association can arrange designing contests that urge forward the know-how of environmental industry.

We can also arrange fund-raising and request grants from the public sector as well as from the private sector. In order to support our actions, the association can own real estates and other movables and/or fixed property. The association will make the best it can from testaments or wills given to it as donations. All other donations will be used to promote the association’s philosophy. The board of directors can select an Executive Director to lead the conventional action of the association. The Executive Director will be selected and dismissed by the association’s board.

 

Memberships assignments and terminations

A person is qualified to be a member by accepting the rules and targets of the association. All registered associations in the field of environmental industry are welcome to join, as well as Finnish individual persons, cooperative societies of the field and other actors in the environmental industries.

 The Association offers annual memberships. A member can choose between an annual fee or one time charged fee for five years.

The association offers also affiliate memberships. Affiliate members must pay a one time fee as determined by the Board and an annual volontary fee. Affiliates members do not have votings rights at the Board meetings.

Further, the association offers corporate memberships with a corporate fee determined by the Board.

Finally, the Association welcomes associate memberships for foreign lawful corporations and associations, state bodies and foreign individual persons. The associate members must pay a fee as determined by  the Board for each member category. These members do not have votings rights at the board meeting.

 

The memberships are to be qualified by the Board of Directors

Any member may resign and cease to be member upon constitution and articles of the Association when all amounts payable are paid without depts by the member.  A member can be expelled from the membership when membership payments are not paid, and/or when the rules of the Association and decisions based on the association constitution and articles are repeatedly not followed.

 

Registry of members

The board of the association holds a registry of members. The board is in charge when using this list of members. When operating and/or using this list of members, it’s usage must protect its members benefits and goals. The dominant legislation is always applied whenever the list of members is being used.

  

Signing in the name of the association

The chairman has the right to sign in the name of the association. Also the executive director has this right, however only together with the chairman. When using the name of the association, the chairman signs it first alone, after which the signing must be done together with the executive director.

 

The chairman of the association, members of Board and the election of them

The association elects its chairman for his /her three-year period in its annual meeting. In this annual meeting the vice-chairman is elected for his/her one year period and other members of the Board for their three-year period. The Board constitutes of minimum of three and maximum of five persons – the electing takes place after voting. The majority of the Board must be citizens of Finland.

 

The right to vote in the association’s meetings

The right to vote in meetings remains in the hands of annual members only. Other members of the Board only have the right to attend the meetings and in addition to that, they have the right of speech.

 

Meeting policy  and general meetings

Regular meetings of the Board of Directors (Board) and general annual meetings and special general meetings are to be announced three weeks before the meeting date by mail and /or email.

The Chairman invites the Board to the meeting or an Extraordinary meeting may be convened by a motion by at least 50% of the members of the Board.

The Annual meeting is held in May. The annual meeting approves the activity policies and larger development areas, and other issues presented by the Board of the association and also on annual environmental themes defining the basic work between the annual general meetings. The selection of the themes requires 66% support of the voting at the meeting.

Environmental theme can include an event, series of events, direction of the development and / or a focus to be concentrated on with special attention during a certain period promoting the interests of the members – as a combination of all three aspects.

Duties of General meetings

1)
Opening of the meeting

2)

Election and nomination of a chairman, secretary, two auditors and, when required, two  persons counting the votes.

3)
Legality and quorum

4)

Acceptance of the agenda

5)
To receive from the committee reports upon the transactions of the Association during the last preceding financial year including an annual activity report and statements of the auditors.

6)
Acceptance and approval of the financial report and statements of account together with the auditors and discharge the board and other responsible persons from liability.

7)
Confirm the activity plan, budget plan and the membership fees

8)
The chairman of the Board is elected every three years, vice-chairman and other members are to be elected substituting the previous chairman after his/her three-year period, as well as substituting the vice-chairman’s one-year period. Thus the rotation of chairman and vice- chairman is being ensured.

9)
Election and nomination of two auditors and vice auditors

10)
Any other business

An Extraordinary General Meeting may be convened by decision of the Board or the Annual Meeting, or by a motion with grounds submitted in writing by at least 10% of the members. In these cases, an Extraordinary Annual meeting shall be convened at the latest one month after a written request for convening has
been received by the Board.

The Association’s financial year and audits of the accounts

The financial year is one (1) calendar year. When auditing the accounts, the Finnish prevalent legislation and the association’s normal praxis are to be used. Also a prevalent procedure of good manners are to be considered when going through auditing.

 

The rules of the Association and changes to them

In the Annual meetings, the rules of the Association can be changed if 75% of the votes given demand them. The proposals to change the rules must be delivered to the previous Annual meeting of the Board so that these proposals can be heard at an early stage and thus the proposals can be dealt with in the next Annual meeting.

 

The association’s demolition

In the Annual meetings, if 5/6 of the given votes demand the demolition of the Association, it can be done. When demolition takes place, the Association’s property in general must be used in a way the Association’s philosophy would approve of. (A closer look to this philosophy, click ”Short Description”). How to use the property of the Association, if demolition takes place, is to be decided in the same meeting that demands the demolition.

 

 The Association’s joining to other associations, organizations and coalitions

The Association of Environmental Industry can be joined to other, similar associations and organizations whose goals serve the similar philosophy that of our Association: meaning the development of environmental issues in sustainable manners. The decisions of joining are to made by the Board.

Development of environmental issues in a sustainable way is a balanced approach to the subject. It includes paying attention to environmental effects in a holistic way as well as taking in consideration the ethical value of sustainable development. The goal overall is to bring the diversity of the environment into a general accepted level. Also what is meant by sustainable development, is paying attention to logistics concerning the environment, in which energy is used efficiently in areas where it is necessarily needed.