The history of the European Course on Basic Aerobiology (ECBA)

Introduction
It was during an Italian educational course in Theoretical and Practical Allergology, in June 1992, at Positano (Italy), that three experienced academic aerobiologists agreed that there was a need for a European training course in aerobiology. In those years, in several European countries, like France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, and other countries, numerous new pollen-monitoring stations were installed, and operated by mostly young and inexperienced laboratory personnel. The three colleagues were seriously concerned about the skill of these new comers, and about the quality of their monitoring work, initiated without proper introductory aerobiological training. Poor quality aerobiological monitoring work would affect the image and prestige of aerobiological science in Europe.
In February 1993 the three aerobiologists, Siegfried Jäger (Vienna, Austria), Giuseppe Frenguelli (Perugia, Italy), and Frits Spieksma (Leiden, The Netherlands) met again, this time in Leiden (The Netherlands), to prepare in great detail the first training course in aerobiology, to be given in Austria. At this preparative meeting it was decided that, apart from introductory theoretical lectures on fundamental aspects of aerobiology, most of the time should be spent to demonstration and training in the internationally accepted sampling and counting techniques, and to the reliable recognition of the commonest pollen taxa in Europe. The courses were to be recommended by the International Association for Aerobiology (IAA) and by the Sub-committee „Aerobiology” of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI).
The First Course; Krems, Austria; 1993
The Course was named „First European Course: Assessment of Airborne Pollen Concentrations”, and was given 18-24 April 1993, at the Wissenschaftliche Landesakademie für Niederösterreich, at Krems, west of Vienna (Austria), and hosted by Siegfried Jäger. The team of teachers consisted of Siegfried Jäger, Giuseppe Frenguelli, Frits Spieksma, and Manfred Bobek (Vienna, Austria). Course assistants were Helen Nikkels (Leiden, The Netherlands) and Marco Fornaciari (Perugia, Italy). The Course fee was 500 US Dollars, including Course materials, meals, and accommodation. A number of Austrian and international institutions and companies sponsored the Course. The topics of the 8 lectures were: „Pollen grain structure and...


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