The 20th Alzheimer Europe Annual Conference entitled "Facing dementia together" is highlighted in this issue of the magazine. Significant developments which have occurred in the field of Alzheimer's disease at European and national level were discussed at the conference and are reported on. The European Parliament lunch debate dedicated to the Joint Programming of research in neurodegenerative diseases is also reported on as are the Alzheimer Report on the ethical issues linked to the use of assistive technology and the 2010 Dementia in Europe Yearbook, which was dedicated to legislation relating to guardianship and proxy decision making. Updates on the national dementia strategies in Denmark, England, Finland and Portugal are given and Milan Cabrnoch, MEP (Czech Republic) explains the issues which are facing people with dementia in the Czech Republic.