AGENDA:

1. Country reports by the presidents of the national associations.
2. NACS Sexological authorization, presented by Ellids Kristensen
3. Scandinavian (Nordic) Journal of Sexology, presented by Osmo Kontula
4. NACS Authorization Committee for sex educators and sexual scientists
5. NACS Board – report (in the opening speech/Osmo Kontula)
6. National ethics committees of NACS (in country reports)
7. The Nordic sexological training program – proceedings in the member countries (moved to the next day)
8. NACS Sexual Health Workshop in WAS congress in Havana, Cuba 2003
9. NACS Meeting 2003 in Estonia.

START OF THE MEETING:

NACS President Osmo Kontula:
- introduces the DIPLOMA for Clinical Sexologist
- makes proposal that No 7 in initial agenda “The Nordic sexological training program – proceedings in the member countries” will be discussed on the day after the next day (1st of Sept 2002)
- introduces European Federation of Sexology (EFS) committee members and points out that there is no one from the Nordic Countries. EFS has plan to have European certificate for sexologists and plan to have common European databank on sex research
- points out that Iceland is also NACS member, but has not participated on the meetings. Osmo Kontula has contacts with their President via e-mail and Jóna Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir (past president) who has promised to start over the Islandic association.
- NACS Board has had permanent e-mail connection during the period between meetings. Discussion – may be e-mailing is not enough for making decisions? OK encourages members to think how to improve this communication.

National Presidents orientations: Estonia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland.
Election of secretary: Kai Haldre, Estonia

Agenda and changes approved by the meeting.

1. Country reports by the presidents of the national associations.

SWEDEN
- 13 persons got certificate from the Authorization Committee.
- developing the idea that Sweden could arrange 2007 WAS meeting in Gothenburg. In this case Sweden will co-operate with other NACS members, but one organization should anyway be the one who has responsibility
- Law on ....?????

ESTONIA
- conference for family doctors and gynecologists “Female sexuality” – about 200 participants
- together with the society’s annual meeting a pre-conference “Desire” was carried out
- 3rd joint meeting with Finnish Society – main topic “Gender differences”
- joint working group meetings (2) with the Finnish Society members on writing a book “Sexual lifestyles in Estonia” as a common project
- preparations for NACS 2003 meeting in Pärnu, Estonia

NORWAY
- membership number is growing,
- 7 candidates are authorised as specialists in clinical sexology, 1 candidate is authorised as specialist in sexological counselling
- code of ethics: Comittee is elected
- website will be ready in few days???
- educational sexology – there is a group working on it
- education on clinical sexology (40 points?) – has started (31 specialists for the next year)
- Sex on the Internet” was the subject for the national meeting in march 2002.
- Shift of generations on the board will take place the next year

DENMARK
- peaceful year
- 27 participants on basic sexuality education programme
- will start counseling education
- much energy on organizing NACS meeting
- 2 members in Ethics Committee and 2 members for the Scandinavian Journal of Sexology

FINLAND
Maija Ritamo

-Sexual health situation in Finland is quite good. What we are worried about are:
- the number of teenage abortions is increasing
- the number of STDs is increasing. HIV –situation in the neighboring area is a threat
-The law of registered partnership passed on March the first 2002
-Health education, a new subject, is included in the curriculum at all levels of schooling.
Sexual education is one of its items

-The Ministry of Education has given permission for piloting professional postgraduate degree in sexology. Jyväskylä Polytechnic will start in autumn 2003 with a 40 -points pilot programme.
-Kliininen seksologia (Clinical sexology) –textbook in Finnish, by Jukka Virtanen
-Emergency contraception is available in pharmacies without prescription 1.5.2002 –

Research
-Seksin trendit meillä ja naapurissa (Trends in sexual issues in Finland and in the neighboring countries) carried out by Osmo Kontula and Elina Haavio-Mannila.
-Survey of training in sexual therapy and sexual guidance since 1970 in Finland is in progress
-Survey of teaching sexual matters in medical faculties
-Survey of medical student's attitudes to sexual matters
-Sexology in Europe – Finland is taking part in it and FIAS members are included as researchers and as subjects
-School Health Studies annually give information about sexual behavior among adolescents
-How to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children - just starting

FIAS - The Finnish Association for Sexology
· 260 members
· Divisions: research, training, therapy, nursing and sexual medicine

www.seksologinenseura.net
-'Chat' for members on FIAS www-pages
- Bibliography of Finnish sexual literature is updated and published on the pages
- services (therapy, lectures, interviews..) by members
- seminars, conferences
Seminars and meetings
- Sex.fi
- Further training in sexology
- Seminar on sexuality in the Baltic area
- Secret rooms
- Depression and sex
- Summer school in Estonia 'Gender differences'
FIAS 5 year anniversary 15.9.2002

Reports approved by the meeting.

2. NACS Sexological authorization.
Ellids Kristensen
read the list of names who have been authorized.

NACS Sexological Authorization Committe:
Ellids Kristensen, Denmark
Elise Kosunen, Finland
Thore Langfelt, Norway
Kerstin Fugl-Meyer, Sweden
Mare Pork, Estonia
President of NACS, Osmo Kontula

“Specialist in Sexual Counseling and in Clinical Sexology”

Agreed principles (with language corrections in text, as ask for on the conference):

*"Old timers" must have acquired sexological knowledge and practical and clinical experience within the field of sexology to a degree that meets the requirements set in the rules governing authorisation.

*Recommendations
Applicants must be recommended by two members of national organisations belonging to NACS. Such recommendation must confirm that the applicant has years of clinical practice; has shown evidence of competence in human sexuality; possesses relevant academic or clinical training; has shown ethical professionalism at work and agrees to practice in accordance with the guidelines set out in the current NACS code of ethics.

*Bodies offering courses and educational programs in human sexology should submit these to the board of authorisation for approval, to ensure that the proposed courses meet the authorisation requirements set by the NACS codes.

Ellids asks for comments from the audience on these principles:
*”Old-timers” – no comments
*Approving the papers:
- its hard job to look the papers
- “good reputation” should be more precise
Suggestion: it could be “two members to be accepted by the NACS board” instead of “good reputation”.

It was decided that these corrections will be made into the text by Ellids Kristensen who will e-mail the presented statement to the secretary to be added to these minutes.

Discussion and suggestions:
-- If people attend courses approved by NACS - it shouldn’t be so difficult to apply for individual authorization thereafter. Authorization group should discuss how this is integrated in the authorization of new members (not old-timers).
--What about courses that are set up already? Ellids: The courses should be sent first to the national board and thereafter to the NACS Authorization Board.
--Suggestion: all who have courses already – please send them to NACS Authorization Committee.
--the application for authorization – when it should be applied? how long does the procedure take? how much does it cost?
--not ALL courses on sexology are authorized – it concerns only these courses that are on margin of sexology
--Osmo: main question - does the authorization concern always psychotherapy?

** here and afterwards – since it was not possible to follow the names, the first letter of the country from where the person comes, is indicated

It was agreed that courses that are set up already should be sent first for approval to the national boards and thereafter to the NACS Authorization Board.

4. NACS Authorization Committee for sex educators and sexual scientists

Osmo: currently NACS training program does not provide authorization for sex educators/trainees and sexual scientists even though are listed in the training program. Should we move on and also authorize these professions? These are new groups. The proposal is open for discussion.

Discussion:
--Ellids: the group found that they start first with therapists and someone else will do the work for educators and scientists. It should be people who work on education and science.
--Maija: we are not the right people to decide – sex educators are not here and should be contacted.
--D: do educators and scientific persons at all need an organization like this?
--D: as concerns science – we need more PhD in sexology
--Elise Kosunen: sex educators for children at school are not here; but here are people who are teaching at universities – so that kind of interest remains
--Elsa Almas: teachers want to have our education in Norway. Our institution provides masters degree – is it different than in other countries?
--Osmo: not only masters degree in sexology
--S: we should have in this NACS meeting a list where to see on which field the participants of the meeting work – it enables better communication
--S: educators and scientists should say themselves about the authorization
--Hanne Risor: take contact with the FPA to integrate these two different sides
--Osmo: please raise hands who has interest in sex education? No hands.
--Elsa: we have a group working on that – please contact us.
--Osmo: National Boards – please define this kind of persons and let others know!

Agreed that on the next NACS meeting the list of participants will include everybody’s areas of expertise and e-mail addresses.
National boards will define sex education people and science people in their countries and find out their interest in NACS authorization system.

5. Scandinavian (Nordic) Journal of Sexology.
Osmo Kontula

Situation: in November 2001 it was clear that the publisher will not publish any more the Journal.

Trying to find out the number of subscribers and technical details.?
Deficit of the journal was 20 000 SEK, this could had been covered by sponsors but it was already too late to act.

Two issues are open for discussion:
1. Since it was not possible to start in the beginning of 2002 – we will try to start in 2003 – it is up to this meeting to decide about the following 5 options:
a. to continue the journal like it was
b. to make an electronical journal
c. to make a newsletter
d. no journal or newsletter
e. to make NACS homepage and invite there all published and unpublished articles i.e. a combination of a newsletter and a journal

2. If we want to print we have two offers for that – from Estonia and from Denmark. .............
the offers in figures were presented in the meeting

Discussion:
--D: It could be via e-mail an electronic newsletter
--D: Publisher just couldn’t stand making it and the main question remains: are you really prepared to pay for it or not? www.skansex.dk - remains of the journal are abstracts of the published issues. Besides the subscribers the remaining issues of the journal was additionally sent to national libraries in 40 countries.
--Osmo: We should/must decide today, since the possibility to get funds from the Nordic organ is due when the application is presented before the end of September 2002.
--D: We should think about Internet, but we should have something in hands – we as an association. So may be the option is Internet plus journal?
--Another question – what kind of journal? Scientific? Or news + scientific articles?
--Hanne: Are we sure that we are going to pay? How many in this room? Majority of hands.
--Elsa: What kind of journal? In many places not so traditional journals any more made. It should include clinical articles.
--Ellids: It could be a combination: scientific journal in Internet – i.e. scientific articles for payment AND newsletter on paper, since it is informal and not so difficult to write.
--Esben Esther Pirelli Bennestad: Still the questions remain– do we want a journal? do we want to pay for it? Internet is not free either!! We can’t do good journal for no payment! And we need some clinical articles too.
Applause from the audience.
--Osmo: If we will apply for funds from this fund – the criteria are that it IS a scientific journal.
--Maija: What is the idea of the journal? Is it for us to get information of what kind of research has been done and/or what is going on? If it is only for us – isn’t it too small audience? I suggest, it should be for wider public.
--S: Proposal: each association goes home and finds out whether their members are prepared to pay for a scientific journal.
--N: The profession should move on with students and journal – this is to make this profession live!
--Osmo: What about the board of editors – who are willing to edit the journal? This is enormous work – are there people in this audience prepared to edit this journal? No answer.
-- we can leave it to the national boards?
--Osmo: It will be too late to apply for money. The question should be decided before the end of September 2002.
--D: It took more than half a year to start this journal.
The people whom we should ask the question about readiness to pay for the journal are not here today.
--Esther Pirelli: What shall we lose if we just ask for the funds?
--Osmo: It should be there in the beginning of the next year.
--D: 2 years ago – membership did not want to pay for the journal – it collapsed.
--Osmo: The final price depends on sponsor money – but it will not be more than it was – 40 euros per year.
--D: It is not possible to publish it in the beginning of 2003 – it is too late already.
--Maija: We could start web site for communication – why not to have NACS homepage?!

Conclusion:
Osmo:
1.
- we do not come to decision – this means that we can’t start the journal in the beginning of 2003 but it is open start over in the beginning of 2004
- national boards should find out their members’ willingness to pay for the journal and look for persons who are willing to serve in the Editorial Board

2. The two offers for publishing were not discussed in detail, since no conclusion was made.

6. National ethics committees of NACS
It should had been covered by the country reports

7. NACS Sexual Health Workshop in WAS Congress in Havana, Cuba 2003
Osmo Kontula

Proposal to have the Nordic Sexual Health symposia in Havana.
Those who are interested in building up the workshop – please put your names on a paper and the secretary will make a list and send it to Osmo Kontula.

15 persons registered.
Agreed that secretary will send the list in a few days to Osmo to be distributed by him. Elsa and Esben Esther were elected to coordinate the symposia.

8. NACS Meeting 2003 in Estonia
Presented by Olev Poolamets.

Meeting will be held in September 18-21, 2003 in Pärnu in Estonia.
The main topic will be “Male sexuality”.
First announcement folders were distributed to the participants. Web site will be ready in few weeks.

Kai Haldre Osmo Kontula
Secretary President