ERF Officers’ and Council Members’ Retreat 2026 – reflections from Turin

Annalise Papa
Ganado Advocates, Valletta
ampapa@ganado.com

Attendees at the Officers’ and Council Members’ Retreat, Turin, 4 March 2026. Courtesy of Annalise Papa.

Once again, this year, the Officers’ and Advisory Board Members’ Retreat, as well as the Council Members’ Retreat were joined into a single trip which took place in Turin at the start of March 2026.

This year’s gracious hosts, Marco Di Toro from MDT Studio Legale and Mario Ferrari from RP legalitax (RPLT), as well as their teams, tailored the programme to ensure due time and space was given to all aspects of our agenda in a sustainable manner.

Attendees at the Officers’ and Council Members’ Retreat, Turin, 4 March 2026. Courtesy of Annalise Papa.

The working sessions were held at Palazzo Costa Carrù della Trinità, a noble palace built in 1769, now part of the Ultraspazio network. The latter has developed a model of widespread co-working as an initiative to reduce unnecessary commuting to contrast pollution, based on two main tools: the conversion of unused buildings for office use and a digital platform which, among other things, facilitates access and monitoring the level of energies, resources and pollution of the neighbourhood in which the co-working is located. Also worth noting is that our food was provided by Magazzini Oz, an organisation which, among other things, trains and employs refugees and young people with disabilities.

Chaired by ERF co-chairs Panagiotis Drakopoulos and Viktória Szilágyi, the Officers’ retreat was immensely productive. The chairs of the sub-regional groups and topic-specific working parties refreshed our memories on their activities over the last year and plans for the next. The myriad networking opportunities shone through indicating an overall busy year full of moments where we could connect not only with the 70 plus individuals forming part of the gathering but also with other individuals across the IBA. There is a marked increase in collaboration with other IBA bodies such as the D&I Committee and Professional Wellbeing Commission as well as with other regional fora.

The Chairs shared a revision that would take place in how the ERF chair rotation would operate to ensure optimal succession planning and more room for council members to engage and contribute. The membership distribution was also reviewed and discussed to ensure that as many countries and regions as possible were appropriately represented. This is a matter that the senior officers will continue to consider and optimise over the next year.

Attendees at the Officers’ and Council Members’ Retreat, Turin, 5 March 2026. Courtesy of Annalise Papa.

Overall, the Officers’ Retreat that evening provided much fuel and energy to welcome our council members for the next days’ working sessions. This year’s council members’ working session was also immensely productive with a well-balanced mix of ERF-related discussions as well as external panel sessions. During the morning, the members were actively identifying what each of them could bring to the ERF and how we can all help each other maximise business opportunities for our clients, but also knowledge sharing with each other and the wider ERF membership.

In the afternoon we had the opportunity to listen to a panel on the Italian VC Ecosystem with useful insights given by representatives from Neva Ventures, Techstars and Volta Structural Energy. Anna Masutti, partner at RP legalitax (RPLT) and a professor at the University of Bologna. eloquently presented to us Italy’s positioning on matters dealing with Space and legislative developments in that regard.

Banner for the Officers’ and Council Members’ Retreat, Turin, 6 March 2026. Courtesy of Annalise Papa.

Marco and Mario also made sure we had great spaces and accompaniments for our networking time, from curated menus at top notch establishments to a lovely Saturday programme at the wine estate of the Marchesi di Barolo.

Attendees enjoying some downtime at the officers’ and council members’ retreat, Turin, 7 March 2026. Courtesy of Annalise Papa.