International Forestry Students' Association

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International Forestry Students' Association
Ifsalogo.JPG
AbbreviationIFSA
Formation1973
TypeNon-profit
Legal statusFoundation
HeadquartersFreiburg im Brisgau, Germany
Alina Lehikoinen, Finland
Vice-President
Simone Massaro, Italy
Executive Secretary
Pedro Almeida, Portugal
Barbara Ollerer, Austria
Key people
Ivette Estrada (Mexico)
Konstantin Schwarz (Germany)
Yu-Tung Hung (China-Taipei)
Websiteifsa.net

The International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA) is one of the largest international networks of students in forestry and related sciences. It is a globally organized and locally operated students’ organization connecting forest and related science students to peers, forest-related organizations and policy platforms. The organization has 130 member associations (known as local committees) in over 50 countries. IFSA is a non-political, non-profit and non-religious organization that is entirely run by students.[1]

IFSA promotes global cooperation among students of forest sciences and provides a voice for youth in international forest policy processes. IFSA provides a platform for students to enrich their formal education, promote cultural understanding by encouraging collaboration with international partners organizations, and gain practical experiences with a wider and more global perspective. Through its social network, IFSA encourages student meetings, enables participation in scientific debates, and supports the involvement of youth in decision-making processes and international forest and environmental policy.

IFSA is officially registered as a charity organization, with its seat in Freiburg, Germany.

History[]

The organization traces its roots to the International Forestry Students Symposium (IFSS), an annual meeting of forestry students which began in 1973 in the United Kingdom. The event, which continued to be hosted in the UK for 13 years, aimed to provide forestry students with a platform for meeting their counterparts from other countries, discuss ideas, and create an atmosphere of solidarity and inspiration. The first accomplishment of these meetings was the creation of INFOCENTER, an office established to coordinate the exchange of information among forestry students.

During the 18th IFSS in Lisbon, Portugal in 1990, the participants decided to expand the cooperation between forestry students beyond the annual symposium. At the constitutional assembly of IFSA, the founding member associations approved provisional statutes and elected the first representative organs. INFOCENTER was re-designated as IFSA’s communicative and informational organ.

The following year, the 19th IFSS was organized in the Netherlands with 112 participants from 38 countries,the first time that students from all continents were represented. In the 20th IFSS held in Italy, the third general assembly designated a central organ, the Secretariat, to be responsible for the association’s bureaucratic tasks, internal communications, and all INFOCENTER duties. The Secretariat thus fully assumed its role as IFSA's headquarters.

IFSA became a worldwide organization when the new statutes were finally approved in 1994 at the fifth general assembly during the 22nd IFSS in Switzerland. The association was officially registered as a charity organization with its seat in Göttingen, Germany. Five years later, with the adoption of the revised Statutes, Decrees and By-laws, the general assembly moved the seat to Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany.[2]

Structure[]

The "IFSA Wheel" which outlines the organization's structure.

IFSA Board[]

IFSA has seven main people in charge of the whole organization and are tasked to ensure that the organization is globally represented, inclusive, and growing in a way that is consistent with the organization's mission, vision and spirit.

  • President
  • Vice-President
  • Treasurer
  • Executive Secretary
  • Internal councilor
  • External councilor
  • Membership councilor

IFSA Officials[]

IFSA has various working groups (commissions) which allow students the chance to develop new skills, contribute to the running of the organization, and work to achieve the aims of IFSA. [3]

Internal[]

Communication Commission

  • Head of Design Sub-Commission
  • Head of Social Media Sub-Commission
  • Head of Publication Sub-Commission
  • Head of Podcast Sub-Commission
  • Head of Web Sub-Commission
  • Head of Wikipedia Sub-Commission

Capacity Development Commission

  • Head of Carbon and Sustainability Sub-Commission
  • Head of Cultural Competency Sub-Commission
  • Head of Forestry Education Sub-Commission
  • Head of Language Sub-Commission
  • Head of Mentorship Sub-Commission
  • Head of TreE-Learning Sub-Commission
  • Head of Treehouse Sub-Commission
  • IFSA-IUFRO Join Task Force Coordinator
  • Deputy IFSA-IUFRO Join Task Force Coordinator

External[]

Partners Commission

  • Head of CIFOR Sub-Commission
  • Head of EFI Sub-Commission
  • Head of FAO Sub-Commission
  • Head of ITTO Sub-Commission
  • Head of IUCN Sub-Commission
  • Head of IUFRO Sub-Commission
  • Head of RECOFTC Sub-Commission
  • Head of TDF Sub-Commission

International Policy Commission

  • Head of Forest Europe Sub-Commission
  • Head of UNCBD Sub-Commission
  • Head of UNEP Sub-Commission
  • Head of UNFF Sub-Commission
  • Head of UNFCCC Sub-Commission

Regional representatives[]

Regional Representatives fall within one of seven regions, defined by geographical area. These regions are Asia-Pacific, Northern America, Latin America, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Northern Africa and Southern Africa.[4]

  • Latin America
  • Northern America
  • Southern Europe
  • Northern Europe
  • Southern Africa
  • Northern Africa
  • Asia-Pacific

Activities[]

Youth representation during international decision-making processes regarding environmental and forest policy[]

The organization promotes the involvement of professional foresters in decision making. The organization believes that forest scientists are better qualified to evaluate questions of sustainable forest management than specialists from other sciences.[5] Forestry students are offered the opportunity to understand and actively take part in these international forest policy processes.

IFSA holds youth representative status for the following events:

International forestry students’ meetings[]

IFSA forms a wide network of forestry students throughout the world, on which the association bases its main activities: meetings of students at the regional and international levels.[8]

The International Forestry Students’ Symposium (IFSS) is the venue for the IFSA General Assembly, during which work from the previous year is reported, decisions are made regarding activities and new officials for the next year are elected and appointed.[9] These meetings are hosted by a different country each year. During the IFSS, numerous activities are held to showcase the host country's culture and natural environment, particularly the forests. Events also include lectures from guest speakers and field activities. IFSA hosts regional meetings as well to gather students from the different regions where it is active and discuss specific problems in a geographical area. An interim meeting is held midway through the year and is attended by IFSA officials. Officials discuss their progress and whether they are meeting their aims set at the previous IFSS, discuss any problematic situations and plan avenues for further cooperation.

Projects[]

Tree House[]

This idea came up as an answer for the need of having a platform for offering and receiving accommodation all across the world from and for people that have the same interests on forests and have the predisposition to exchange culture, experiences and knowledge.

EFI-IFSA-IUFRO Project[]

This project will investigate the transforming employment trends in the forest sector while putting special focus on the perspective of students and recent graduates from around the world. It will further explore ways to prepare future foresters for the expected changes.

Global student survey[]

The survey is a part of “Global Student Networking and Green Jobs in the Forest sector” a project coordinated by the European Forest Institute (EFI) in collaboration with the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA) and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). The project aims at providing insight into the future labour market including changing professional skills through systematic analysis of the development of employment in the forest sector globally. Global student networking and capacity development of forest students and young scientists are also essential elements of the project.

The aim of the survey is to gain a better understanding of the employment-related ambitions, perception of necessary skills/competencies and satisfaction of forest-related students from around the globe. The results of the survey will inform and be disseminated among educational institutions, lecturers as well as policy makers.

Expert workshop on forest sector employment, green jobs, and forest education[]

The aim of the workshop is eliciting overall trends in forest sector employment in different world regions and focus countries, Identifying main changes in employment, Gaining insights into forest sector employment, including green jobs and identify employment trends. For the workshop IFSA invited a senior and junior expert from each of the following 6 selected focus countries: Brazil, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa and the United States of America.

Dare to Explore! – Traineeship Program[]

The Dare to Explore! Traineeship Program is an integral part of the EFI-IFSA-IUFRO Capacity Development Project, which offers four specified, 3-months traineeship opportunities each year for 2019, 2020, and 2021. The trainee positions are intended to familiarize students of forestry programmes with work at the science-policy-interface at the international level, including research, communication, and policy-relevant activities.

IFSA-IUFRO Africa Book Project[]

The project’s overall goal is to motivate and inspire young people to pursue forest-related studies and careers in Africa by increasing the visibility of career options and young African role models working in forest-related fields. This will also help in offering visibility to the forestry profession in Africa.

Partnerships[]

IFSA's primary community focuses on students of forestry and related sciences, but this stretches to include youth associations in other disciplines (such as agriculture, water, geography) and numerous professional organizations. Notable organization partners include:

  • Food and Agriculture Organization
  • Global Peatlands Initiative
  • RECOFTC
  • The Forests Dialogue
  • Youth in Landscapes Initiative

References[]

  1. ^ Amtsgericht Freiburg im Breisgau. Registriergericht. Vereinsregisternummer (VR) 3432. Statutes Section A Article 1
  2. ^ "History". www.ifsa.net. Archived from the original on 2009-01-17. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
  3. ^ Amtsgericht Freiburg im Breisgau. Registriergericht. Vereinsregisternummer (VR) 3432. Statutes Section C Article 15
  4. ^ Amtsgericht Freiburg im Breisgau. Registriergericht. Vereinsregisternummer (VR) 3432. By-Laws Chapter 2
  5. ^ MCPFE-5 Conference Proceedings[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Forest Europe. The MCPFE Newsletter of the Liaison Unit Warsaw. Issue 10,11 July/October 2005[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ United Nations Forum on Forests Multi-Stakeholder Consultation Summary. Quebec City, Quebec. Canada. 24 September 2003. On http://www.un.org/
  8. ^ ECOSOC: discussion paper for UNFF-5[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Amtsgericht Freiburg im Breisgau. Registriergericht. Vereinsregisternummer (VR) 3432. By-Laws Chapter 6

External links[]

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