Our purpose
Together with our member societies we inspire and support collaboration by providing services for all healthcare professionals and researchers in the broad area of digestive health. The role of UEG is to take concerted efforts to advance the field of digestive diseases by focusing on prevention, research, diagnoses, cures, and increasing awareness. The scope of our member societies ranges from general gastroenterology to more disease- and organ-oriented special interest associations on a pan-European level.
The term “gastroenterology” refers to all digestive functions and diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreas and biliary system, both in adults and in children.
Read UEG's strategic plan 2023-2026
Core values
UEG’s core values include integrity, quality, diversity, independence, respect, accountability, transparency, and sustainability as an inclusive concept for all strategic drivers.
We uphold them by:
- prioritising ethics in all operations
- emphasising multidisciplinary collaboration
- actively involving underrepresented groups
- ensuring inclusivity and equality of opportunities (age, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, disability and nationality)
- working with and for the benefit of our member societies by concentrating on activities where cross-disciplinarity and European integration adds value
- recruiting top talent in all digestive healthcare disciplines
- intentionally striving to offset our ecological impact
Organisational vitality
We ensure organisational vitality by rotating volunteer leadership, employing dedicated and professional staff and maintaining a strong infrastructure and governance.
We uphold this by:
- supporting our current membership of specialist and national GI societies
- maintaining volunteer leadership centered around values and integrity
- ensuring balanced and efficient board and committee and group structures
- expanding our myUEG Community
- including special interest groups within our myUEG Community
- employing committed and qualified staff
- ensuring long-term financial sustainability to safeguard our vision
- implementing measures to encourage diversification of income sources to enhance our financial resilience
- collaborating with biomedical and technological industry with transparency and integrity to stimulate overall healthcare progression
- promoting strategic collaborations with international medical, scientific and patient organisations
Strategic Drivers
UEG Week
Organising the world’s best multidisciplinary digestive health congress by bringing together the sharpest minds in the world and providing the highest quality research, best clinical practice, and most up-to-date educational offerings.
Strategic objectives:
- Increasing the quality and quantity of research and scientific submissions
- Guaranteeing the integration of basic and translational science with innovations in clinical practice
- Maintaining state-of-the-art clinical symposia and sharing best practice, guidelines, and standards
- Offering hands-on training to allow for international skill advancement
- Evolving excellence and educational value of our Postgraduate Course
- Increasing international attendance for maximum knowledge exchange
- Increasing the participation levels of allied health professionals to enhance both interdisciplinarity and diversification within our organisation
- Providing innovative and hybrid formats to maximise interactivity, inclusiveness, and accessibility
- Designing top-tier venues to enhance the delegate experience on a social and scientific level and inspire innovative exchange
- Awarding an array of prizes to attract excellent science
- Supplying a platform for companies in the field of digestive health to showcase the latest innovations in treatments, products and devices
- Striving for innovative sustainability from an ecological standpoint
Education
Taking a central role in delivering and disseminating cutting-edge, unbiased continuing medical education and supporting professional development.
Strategic objectives:
- Developing effective training tools and accredited educational content to meet the current and future learning requirements
- Strengthening the digital learning experience through cutting-edge, easily accessible content for international target groups
- Organising specialised courses and hands-on training designed for European target groups
- Promoting multidisciplinarity across Europe by supporting activity-driven collaborative efforts amongst our members in Europe
- Fostering close links with the European Section and Board of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (ESBGH) and the UEMS. We harmonize educational and training opportunities in alignment with the Blue Book and with the European Specialty Examination in Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Research
Encouraging innovation and excellence in research by supporting research facilitation and cooperation in the field of digestive health.
Strategic objectives:
- Disseminating data on the burden of digestive diseases, the risk factors, and the research needs at the national, European and international level
- Increasing EU-funded digestive health research by providing evidence and advice to funding bodies on priority areas in close liaison with our member societies
- Positioning UEG as a partner in collaborative research
- Informing the community and fostering collaborations for improved access to research funding across Europe
- Establishing our myUEG Community’s “My Connect” feature as an essential networking tool for researchers
- Providing awards, prizes, and fellowships to support innovation and excellence in digestive health research
Journal
Positioning UEG Journal as a top authoritative, esteemed journal of choice within digestive health.
Strategic objectives:
- Publishing cutting-edge basic, translational and clinical research and excellent reviews and editorials
- Striving to grow our impact factor and be renowned as a top gastroenterological/hepatological journal
- Promoting our journal as a prestigious location for European and international consensus papers, guidelines, and standards
- Supporting young talent by giving them editorial experience and responsibility
- Strengthening the engagement with the community through modern and diversified channels of science communication
Quality of Care
Improving and harmonising GI patient care practices and outcomes throughout Europe.
Strategic objectives:
- Promoting guideline availability, dissemination, adherence, and implementation to all involved in patient care, including patients and primary care
- Supporting the development of high-quality European guidelines, specifically in gap areas in partnership with our member societies
- Improving the development of standards of care and quality indicators
- Enhancing interaction and exchange between young clinicians and prestigious European training centres
Public Affairs
Acting as the united voice of European gastroenterology for the public and in various national and European institutions to promote digestive health.
Strategic objectives:
- Coordinating efforts with our national and specialist member societies
- Increasing awareness of the importance of digestive health amongst policymakers and the public
- Contributing to creating a favourable policy environment for the improvement of digestive health
- Advocating for primary and secondary prevention and access to effective treatment of digestive diseases on a European and national level
- Collaborating with the EU institutions, as well as international and European organisations with a public health focus
- Increasing recognition of digestive diseases as a major non-communicable diseases group
- Partnering with patient organisations to improve digestive health