… A bit of AIMEL history

The history of the Assemblies on the Lasallian Educational Mission began during the 43^rd General Chapter (2000) when it was decided to hold “an international meeting of Brothers, Partners and Associates” (Proposition 3) and an International Assembly for the Lasallian Educational Mission (Proposition 7) to be held before the next Chapter (in 2007).

The Commission for the Lasallian Educational Mission (MEL) and the Commission for “Associates for the Lasallian Educational Mission” designed the process for a unique event: the 1^st International Assembly “Associates for the Lasallian Educational Mission. To this end, the entire Institute followed a long and fruitful process of Local Assemblies and Regional Assemblies, culminating in the International Assembly of 2006.

The work done over the five years in the Local Assemblies, in which more than 1,000 Lasallian educators from all over the world directly participated, was summarised in the report presented at the 1^st AIMEL held in Rome from 23 October to 4 November 2006 with a large representation of Lay Lasallians, Sisters and Brothers from about 50 countries, where the 42 mother tongues spoken highlighted the international dimension of the Lasallian world.

The report of the 2006 International Assembly was presented during the 44^th General Chapter by Brother Frederick Mueller (from the District of Long Island-New England) with the theme of Mission, together with Eveline Geoffroy (District of France) who reported on the themes of Association and Formation and Gery Short (District of San Francisco, USA) with the theme of Structures.

The third AIMEL scheduled for 2020 was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic (#AIMEL2020). For this reason, special online sessions were scheduled in 2021, leading up to the final, in-person phase in November 2022.

Specifically, III AIMEL was designed in two sessions, the first of which started on 10 November 2021. The participants were 86 Lay Lasallians and 27 Brothers, representing the five Regions of the Institute.

The participating Delegates carried out activities focused on a global vision of the Lasallian Mission in the world.

The III AIMEL Delegates took note of the progress made by the II AIMEL, examined the documents produced during this period, and received contributions from many Lasallians (185 Notes) with which they drew up 15 Initial Proposals. From these, eight strategic axes and eight working groups were formed from which 9 proposals emerged that were presented to the 46^th General Chapter for final ratification.  (https://dev.lasalle.org/en/animacion-y-gobierno/secretariat-for-association-and-mission/aimel-2020/)

From 28 October to 4 November 2022, the presidential phase will take place in the Generalate in Rome, with the aim of elaborating the lines of action and the objectives for each Proposal ratified by the 46^th General Chapter.

As with the 1st and 2nd AIMEL, this III AIMEL wishes to encourage all Lasallians to continue to respond with creativity and enthusiasm to the great educational challenges, to build more just and fraternal societies, where each person is valued and respected.