Bimonthly Board Report

September-October 2023

Maintenance of the Association

Development Fund

We were happy to support one individual and one LC project using the monthly available funding for September. As the individual, we chose someone who has been actively involved in IFSA at the international level and who will represent IFSA at COP 28 in Dubai. We are looking forward to having a strong and diverse delegation at COP 28.

Concerning the LC project, we received a proposal from LC Pokhara in Nepal, bearing the title “Promoting Eco-Harmony: Sikles Sustainable Tourism Initiative”. Nepal offers an impressive landscape with its hills and high mountains. Thus, tourism contributes significantly to the country’s economy. However, tourism entails environmental pollution and negative social impacts on the local communities.

In response, IFSA Pokhara has designed an awareness program aimed at educating local communities about the detrimental effects of pollution on the environment and climate change. This initiative will take place in a prominent tourist destination in the high hills of Nepal. Alongside the awareness campaign, the LC will introduce practical measures like installing bamboo baskets in strategic areas, promoting indigenous knowledge and alternative energy sources such as wind energy and biogas.

We chose to support the project because it not only demonstrates IFSA’s commitment to environmental conservation but also highlights its role in promoting sustainable practices. By implementing the project, IFSA gains recognition as a key player in the Nepaliese sustainability movement, which could be an example for further action worldwide.

Interim 2024

After carefully evaluating the application for the Interim OC 2024, we selected IFSA LC Bern from Switzerland. We are very thankful for the keen interest shown by LC Bern through the application they have sent. The preparation of the IFSA interim meeting will start next month and will be accompanied by the Vice President.

Member of the Month

In our process to create a good work environment for everyone, we select one official per month to be the member of the month. We selected Pooja Pokharel, the former UNFCCC HoSC to be the member of the month. We acknowledge her amazing work, especially now as she is preparing the delegation for COP 28. You can read the details here.

Departments Update

External

In the past two months, the External Department has been growing widely. We have a strong team of HoSCs with us, and we are currently on the lookout for a few more to complete our team. Please check out the open calls and apply if any role interests you.

We are glad to have Pooja Pokharel as the OoTM September for her work in the UNFCCC COP28 delegation and preparations – a big Kudos to her!

1. External Department Meeting

The first external department meeting of this term was held on 21st October 2023. We discussed the communications, ED documents and upcoming plans of the department. We used this meeting to get introduced to the ED family, get group chats sorted and revisit the IFSA guidelines on communications, delegations and external department.

#01 External Department meeting

2. Delegations and Events

IFSA members have been participating in events and delegations of our partners and of external organisations, including –

We encourage interested folks to keep an eye out on IFSA channels for more opportunities like these!

3. Partnerships and Relations

IFSA has been pursuing conversations and meetings with its partners on online calls, in-person delegations and email channels. Collaborative events with some partners were launched on IFSA social media channels in the past months – including side events with MYTF, delegation calls with Linkiwood Tech and a WFF internship.

We encourage LC members to apply for the calls and get in touch with us for any queries.

4. Work Plan and Upcoming Events

The ED team is working on their individual HoSC plans along with the upcoming events. Preparations of UNECE Foresta 2023, Linkiwood Tech Summit and UNFCCC COP28 are ongoing for the next months.

We hope to see you soon in the next Bimonthly Board Report, stay tuned.

Internal

During the last two months, the Internal Department has been progressively building its team, and until today, the department still has three vacant positions which are Discord SC, Web SC, and Fundraising SC. Here the department wants to highlight its achievements:

  • Workshop held by IFSA-IUFRO JTF about the “How to conduct a Systematic Review of Literature for Forest Science and Other Disciplines” that took place on October 10, 2023.
  • Our re-elected TreE-Learning HoSC, Aurélie Vandenbussche for successfully on the communication team of the European Forum of Urban Forestry (EFUF) due to her hard work and bridging communication with one of the board members of EFUF.
  • We also have released a survey on Forestry Educational Needs through email made by the CDC HoC, Rafael Luna Reyes. We encourage everyone to fill the survey Here is the concept note to be read more. The survey will be closed in November 2023.
  • Our Head of CommComms is in the process of creating an internal 101 document to help the future HoSC in the Communication Commission have an easier changeover.
  • On October 28, 2023, the Internal Department met with the Membership Department, including the RRs and the Membership Councilor, to discuss any kind of possible collaboration. We discuss how to increase the regional social media SEO, PenPal X Language Tandem, Membership Capacity Building and Internal Capacity Building. We will further discuss the grants and sponsorship issue with the External Department in the next month.

Our bimonthly report for September-October 2023 can be found here. In the next month, we will start working on our work plan.

Membership

The past two months have been productive for our membership department in preparing for upcoming membership projects, reviewing membership applications, and building our team. The specific progress is as follows.

1. Membership Department Meetings

This term, the first membership department meeting was conducted by the end of September through an online platform. In this meeting, the Regional Representatives and the Board meet together to get to know each other better while also discussing the overall work plan for the term. Several key projects that the membership would like to focus on this term include the execution of regional councils, the IFSA meetings guidebook, and the submersion of IFSA LC Buddies to IFSA Pen Pals.

2. Individual Regional Work Plan Meetings with RRs

 Throughout October, the Membership Councilor met individually with Regional Representatives from each region to recall the overview of the region as well as to discuss individual work plans of the RRs. This individual meeting also helps in identifying the challenges of the RRs as well as the strategies to overcome them.

3. Revision of Incoming Membership Application

In this bimonthly period, IFSA received various active revised versions of the membership application, from South Korea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Canada. There are also other interested student applicants, all of whom are currently under the revision of the Council.

 4. Contacting LCs for Delegation Activities

Based on the IFSA Strategy 2022-2026, one of the Membership Department’s roles is to strengthen the IFSA Community in many ways, one of which is by encouraging members to be actively involved in IFSA events, such as delegations. For the past 2 months, IFSA has promoted various delegation activities. The Membership Councilor assisted in contacting several LCs where the delegation location is being held to increase participation. One of them is the Forest Directors Meeting in Spain 2023, among others.

Aside from those achievements, we can expect the Membership Department to execute these projects for the upcoming month:

  • An Inter-departmental workshop collaboration of LC projects, addressing the importance and strategy of fundraising for activities
  • IFSA Pen Pals
  • LC Project of the Month

We would like to thank you for everyone supporting our projects. Your engagement is highly appreciated.

Meet the Former

Meet IFSA SAN

IFSS Germany 2023

During the auction of IFSS 2023 in Freiburg Germany, there was a meeting between IFSA-SAN, current board members and the applicant of the new board member. After introducing ourselves one by one, we discussed more collaboration in the future, together hearing constructive advice from IFSA-SAN. It includes the participation of IFSA SAN in the next IFSS, fundraising, and further collaboration that will be followed up in the IFSA Board-IFSA SAN Board meeting.

With the IFSA SAN Board

The meeting with the IFSA-SAN board was about to discuss further collaboration, communication strategy and the donation matter. The current IFSA board will share their work plan and the former IFSA board will share their report. Further in-person meetings will be soon scheduled for the COP 28 and IUFRO World Congress 2024. To smoothen our discussion, Executive Secretary Chrispus Ongom will be the focal point between IFSA and IFSA-SAN.

Board to Board Meeting

Board-to-Board Meeting is a changeover meeting between former board members and the current board members, aside from the individual changeover. The meeting discussed a lot about how the IFSA works in matters like finances, delegation, activities, and many more. The meeting