Editorial – ESRA Updates, October 2025

Oslo, Fjords, and a Sea of Ideas

If there’s one thing the ESRA family knows how to do, it’s gather in style. This year we landed in Oslo, a city where fjords meet forests, where the opera house looks like an iceberg waiting for anesthesiologists to slide down in their evening gowns, and where Edvard Munch’s The Scream seems to capture the exact face of every resident before their first EDRA exam.

This issue of ESRA Updates is dedicated entirely to those unforgettable days in Norway’s capital. Like the ships in the Fram Museum, our society keeps sailing forward, boldly exploring new territories in science, education, and friendship. And just like those Nordic explorers, we sometimes get a little lost—but never without great stories to tell afterwards.

Here’s a taste of what you’ll find inside:

• Award Winners 2025– From infographics to best papers, posters, videos, and even running shoes (yes, “Networking on the Run” deserves a medal of its own), we celebrate the brilliant minds who brought creativity and rigor to our scientific seas. Oslo was generous in applause—and we made sure to point the spotlight on those who earned it.
• Carl Koller Award 2025– A tribute to Prof. André Van Zundert, who received ESRA’s highest honor. Think of him as the Viking of airway management: always fearless, endlessly inventive, and with a wisdom that crosses generations.
• Education Award 2025– Shared between Nuala Lucas and Peter Merjavy, two navigators who helped steer the ship of knowledge. Nuala, distinguished long ago by Queen Elizabeth II, now sails under ESRA’s flag; Peter, who built the sturdy framework of the ESRA-DRA diploma, shows us that even the toughest waves can be charted with persistence.
• Menno Sluijter Award 2025– Samer Narouze’s recognition for education in pain medicine reminds us that in a world full of noise, the most powerful message is still relief from pain.
• Trainees’ Corner– Our younger explorers reporting live from Oslo, with all the freshness and enthusiasm that makes the future of ESRA look as bright as the midnight sun.
• Networking Dinner at the Fram Museum– A feast of history, music, and dancing between old polar ships. If Amundsen could see us now, he’d probably say: “Nice polar expedition you’ve got there—just with better catering.”
• Farewell & Welcome to the Executive Board– Because every good saga has changing heroes. We say a heartfelt thank you to those whose chapters close, and a warm welcome to those who now take up the oars.

Like the gardens and parks of Oslo, this issue is full of color, variety, and surprises hidden in every corner. So grab your coffee (or aquavit, no judgment), turn the page, and let yourself wander through the fjords of knowledge, the opera of science, and the galleries of innovation that this Oslo meeting has inspired.

And while Oslo stays with us in memory—its fjords, its music, its laughter—we already cast our eyes forward. The next chapter of our journey is set: Lisbon, 2026. A city of light, fado, and Atlantic horizons, where ESRA will meet again to write the next saga of regional anesthesia and pain medicine.

Until then: takk, Oslo. Até já, Lisbon!