The Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference or GAREC is a yearly conference held by the

International Amateur Radio Union The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is an international confederation of national organisations that allows a forum for common matters of concern to amateur radio operators worldwide, and collectively represents matters to the Internatio ...

for discussion of

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...

operation during

natural disaster A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econ ...

s and other

emergencies An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

with the motto, "Saving lives through emergency communications". GAREC was first held in

Tampere, Finland Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa Regions of Finland, region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the Tampere u ...

in 2005, coinciding with the adoption of the Tampere Convention, a globally binding emergency communications treaty that had been signed in Tampere in 1998. In later conferences, the venue has attempted to rotate in sequence through ITU Regions 1, 2 and 3 (though not necessarily in that order).

Subsequent conferences

References

{{Reflist Amateur radio emergency communications organizations