The 18th European Congress of Psychology started on Monday evening with the opening ceremony at the Brighton Centre.
The renowned Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus gave a well-received performance ahead of speeches by The Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Councillor Jackie O’Quinn, BPS chief executive Sarb Bajwa, BPS President Nicky Hayes and Christoph Steinebach, President of the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations.
Sarb Bajwa spoke of the society’s pride in hosting this event, and reflected on just how much the world has changed over the four years since it was announced that the congress would be coming to Brighton.
His speech was followed by Nicky Hayes, who touched on the content of the ECP 2023 programme, saying that “whatever your involvement in psychology, I’m confident that you’ll find that our programme has something to offer”.
Rounding off the speeches, Christoph Steinebach covered the themes of the congress, and challenged those in attendance to “ask in which way psychology can support sustainability and positive development”.
A further performance from the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus brought the opening ceremony to a close ahead of the first day of presentations and research on Tuesday 4 July.
