The Professional Standards Committee (PSC) is made up of key stakeholders involved in the development of Standards for people, programmes and places for the European fitness and physical activity sector. As part of EuropeActive’s strategic direction, the main purpose of the Committee is to promote the use of EuropeActive Standards, the importance of good practice, and the recognition of professionalism across the European fitness and physical activity sector. The PSC acts on the insights, research and advice of the Sector Skills Alliance of Fitness and Physical Activity.

The current Professional Standards Committee is made up of:

  • Julian Berriman, Director, United Kingdom
  • Dr. Anna Szumilewicz, Deputy Director – Standards, Poland
  • Anna Bogdanova, Deputy Director – EREPS, Denmark
  • Dr Michael Harrison, Deputy Director - Accreditation, Ireland
  • Colin Huffen, Head of Regulation and Standards, CIMSPA, UK

Julian Berriman, Director

Julian Berriman holds an MA in Leisure Management and BSc (Hons) in Osteopathy. He is a qualified teacher and personal trainer and, over the last 25 years in the fitness industry has delivered training to aspiring instructors, personal trainers and therapists at all levels from industry entrants to high-level practitioners.

Julian was the Director of Research and Development at one of the UKs leading vocational training providers for more than 20 years and during this time was responsible for writing fitness qualifications at a range of levels on the National Qualifications Framework. He has also been a Director of an industry leading Awarding Organisation where he established a wide knowledge of the development of qualifications in line with national qualification framework requirements and the comprehensive quality assurance of the delivery of those qualifications.

As the Director of EuropeActive’s Professional Standards Committee Julian has responsibility for overseeing the development and review of EuropeActive’s Sector Qualifications Framework. These educational standards have been developed in wide consultation with the European fitness industry and are the basis for the accreditation of training providers and individual instructors and trainers across Europe, as part of the European Register of Exercise Professionals.

Julian continues to travel widely to build effective working relationships with fitness training providers, employers and national associations across Europe and the rest of the world. He is wholly committed to the PSC as the leading body in developing the occupations and registration of fitness professionals of the European health and fitness industry and to EuropeActive’s core vision and mission to get more people, more active, more often.

Dr. Anna Szumilewicz

Anna Szumilewicz holds a PhD in Exercise Science and is an Associate Professorwithin the Fitness Department at Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport (AWFiS).

Anna has been actively cooperating with EuropeActive (EA) since 2011. As a member of Professional Standards Committee, she has been involved in developing EA’s Standards at various EQF levels. She has also been an expert in the EA’s projects on "Relevance of Sector and International Qualifications and Frameworks to the EQF" (SIQAF) and "Blueprint for Skills Cooperation and Employment in Active Leisure"

In Poland, she is a member of the Presidium of the Council for Education and Training of Physical Culture Professionals at the Polish Ministry of Sport and Tourism. She is an expert on education at the National Methodology-Training Centre of the Society for the Promotion of Physical Culture (KOMSz TKKF), which is one of the largest organisations in Poland for Vocational Education and Training in the field of sport for all. Anna also cooperates with the Educational Research Institute (IBE) in Warsaw, which is an institution conducting interdisciplinary research concerning the functioning and effectiveness of the education system in Poland. For her achievements in modernising the Polish system of educating exercise professionals Anna was awarded the Medal of the National Education Commission (2016) by the Polish Ministry of Education and the Bronze Medal for Services to Sport (2017) by the Polish Ministry of Sport and Tourism.

Her research interests are bi-directional. On one hand, she analyses the areas of knowledge, skills and competencies of exercise professionals in relation to the concept of European Qualification System. Additionally, she assesses through experimental studies the influence of various exercise programmes on women’s health, including women in the pre- and postnatal period. Based on the results of scientific research and practical experience she has developed the special training program "FemFit Mama" for women in pregnancy and postpartum, which is implemented in fitness clubs in Poland.

Anna is the author of over fifty scientific and popular-science papers in the field of women's health-related physical activity.

Anna Bogdanova

Anna Bogdanova is a personal trainer specialised in creating long-lasting change with micro-interventions - movement and habits that prevent and relieve stress & pain and enhance strength and resilience. Anna has written several books on the subject, the latest is “Painless”.

Anna has received “Talent 100” award for “taking over, where health care system lets go” and teaching her clients to create better quality of life through training and lifestyle changes.

Anna has an academic background in business administration, psychology and behaviour design, which she combines with ongoing education in training physiology, modern pain theory, movement therapy and stress management. 

Dr Michael Harrison

Dr Michael Harrison is Chair of the Council of REPS Ireland and a board member of Ireland Active since 2014.  The Council establishes policy for and oversees the operation of the Irish national register of exercise professionals.  He has been part of Irish health services working groups to establish exercise referral services in Ireland and is a co-author of the 2016 National Exercise Referral Framework for Ireland. 

Michael is Head of Department of Sport and Exercise Science at Waterford Institute of Technology, a higher education institution in the South East of Ireland.  He is an exercise physiologist supervising postgraduate students to PhD level.  His research investigates the influence of exercise in chronic disease cohorts including cancer.  Other research considers exercise-related changes in circulating immune cells that have the potential to influence vascular health. 

Michael is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Colin Huffen

Colin is Head of Regulation and Standards at CIMSPA in the UK and has over 20 years experience in the sport and leisure industry. His previous role was strategic lead for policy with The Association of Colleges, leading a number of new policy developments in further education, and has also worked with Sports Coach UK, SkillsActive, the ASA and Loughborough College.