Bimonthly Board Report February 2023
General maintenance of the association
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Interim
During the first two weeks of February IFSA celebrated its interim 2023 and Department Meetings in Indonesia. We would like to congratulate the amazing work done by LC UNHAS, Hasanuddin University, without you none of this would have been possible to achieve. During these two weeks of events we manage to engage with 87% of the IFSA officials and together discuss the biggest challenges and opportunities faced during this term. A report of the outcomes from Interim 2023 is being developed by the Board and HoC, this report will show the most relevant outcomes and the key approaches that we will have for the next part of the term.
2. Development Fund
With the Development Fund, IFSA supports individuals and LCs in organising activities or attending events. Every month a new Open Call is released, and the Board evaluates the applications. In January 2023, 2586 Euros were allocated to support three individual members and two LCs through the development fund. In February, 1350 Euros were allocated to support three LCs through the development fund. More information can be found on the website: ifsa.net/development-fund/
3. IFSA – IAAS cooperation
IAAS (the International Association of Students in Agriculture and Related Sciences) is a global, student-led and non-governmental organisation that gathers students from agriculture and related fields. IAAS and IFSA have had a signed MoU (memorandum of understanding) from March 2019 until March 2021 where the MoU expired due to a lack of cooperation and joint activities. The IFSA Board has now started cooperation with IAAS again and is working on renewing the MoU with IAAS during the next few months. More information about IAAS can be found on their website: https://www.iaasworld.org/
4. Plans for the next period
New server for the IFSA website
So far, the IFSA website has been managed internally in IFSA which gives us as an association a lot of freedom in changing and adapting our website at our own pace and wishes. However, this also requires the technical know-how and the time to deal with any issues and errors coming up. To simplify the maintenance of the IFSA website, it will be moved to a new server that is managed by an external company that will support us in maintaining our website.
Interim Report
The Board is currently working on an Interim Report that will summarise and highlight the key outcomes of each session during Interim 2023 in Indonesia. The main outcomes of the Interim sessions will be implemented in the work plan for the next months and/or passed on to the next Board, if applicable. Once the report is finalized, it will be on the IFSA website and IFSA’s social media channels.
Career Dinner with IFSA SAN
For the end of April, the Board is organizing another Career Dinner in cooperation with IFSA SAN. Career Dinners have already been held in the past and are an amazing opportunity for IFSA members to learn more about possible career paths after graduation. Stay tuned for this upcoming event!
Board’s work in:
a) Internal sector
1. Internal Department Meeting 2023
From the 1st to the 3rd of February 2023, the Internal Department held its hybrid Internal Department Meeting prior to the Interim meeting. The meeting was organized by LC UNHAS in Makassar, Indonesia.
As a team made up of 34 officials and commissioners from all over the world, the Internal Department had a productive meeting by assessing their performance as officials during the half of the term, as well as the progress of their work plan. Suggestions to improve the projects and working environment within the department were then discussed to be implemented in the second half of the term. Projects by the department and the Capacity Development and Communication Commissions were also discussed for feedback and points for improvement.
Following the IFSS 2022 Online Sessions and Volunteer Program that the department organized last term, they met with the IFSS 2023 OC from Germany to collaborate on the possibility of having hybrid sessions and an improved volunteer program for the event.
Finally, at the end of the meeting, the Internal Department planned the next half of their term by brainstorming on what plans and activities they will conduct monthly and in the long term.
It is the second time that the Internal Department has held a hybrid meeting and now, the officials in the team feel closer to each other and more motivated!
2. Capacity Building Workshop: Social Media & Design
The Internal Department and Communication Commission collaborated for the Capacity Building Workshop: Social Media & Design which took place online on the 28th of January 2023.
This workshop aimed to share with IFSA members how social media and design can go hand-in-hand as tools in promoting activities in their LCs or region, recruiting members, and engaging audiences while incorporating the recently published IFSA Branding Guidelines. 41 participants joined the workshop to learn from our distinguished speakers Hyginus Laari (Youth Communications Officer from Global Landscapes Forum) and Chloe Abayao (former IFSA Head of Communication Commission) for Social Media; and Elif Duman (former IFSA Vice President) and Dewanti Uma Rahmaningtyas (former IFSA Head of Design Sub-Commission) for Design.
You can watch the recording of the workshop here! Stay tuned for more Capacity Building Workshops from us soon!
3. Planning for Job Fair 2023
The date of the 2nd IFSA Job Fair was moved to May 2023 (the date will be announced soon) to make way for important IFSA activities in the upcoming months. All 3 IFSA departments are collaborating to improve the event for our members and exert our efforts in making it a regional job fair.
Stay tuned for more details soon! It’s definitely an event to look forward to.
4. Planning for the International Day of Forests 2023: Webinar Series
The Webinar Series is a joint event being done in collaboration with the External Department. In March 2023, a series of webinar episodes will be done to commemorate the International Day of Forests 2023 with the theme “Forests and Health” and to collaborate with our IFSA partners and alumni for the event.
The first episode will feature Dr. Shalini Dhyani (IUCN) and Prof. Jan Joseph Dida (IFSA SAN, Philippines) who will present “The Role of Forests in Carbon Sequestration” on the 11th of March 2023 (Saturday). To register for the event, click here.
Stay tuned for more details on the next episodes!
5. Plans for the next period
Internal Department Bi-Monthly Report (January-February)
Find out what the Internal Department has been working on behind the scenes by staying tuned for the January-February 2023 Internal Department Bi-Monthly Report which will be published in the upcoming weeks!
International Day of Forests 2023: Webinar Series
As mentioned, the IDF 2023: Webinar Series will take place in March 2023. More details will be announced soon on our communication platforms so stay tuned!
Internal Department Meeting (April 2023)
The 4th bi-monthly Internal Department Meeting will be held in April 2023 where the team.
Planning for Job Fair 2023
The departments will continue working on the Job Fair 2023. Watch out for the event announcement in the upcoming months.
b) External sector
1. External Department Meeting
The external department meeting was held between the 1st and the 3rd of February 2023. This meeting was held in a hybrid format having our External Councillor in person in Indonesia and our President connecting virtually.
For the external department, this mid-term meeting was a big success, around 90% of the officials involved in the external work managed to connect at some point which made the discussions highly diverse and fruitful. We would like to acknowledge and thank everyone that was involved for their input and commitment to the future of IFSA.
The main topics addressed during the 3-day meeting were, a summary of the first half of the term and work plan review, working as an external official (relevance to the IFSA strategy 22/26), new lines of work (regional partnerships and engagement at processes), delegation processes and performance, and last but not least personal/team evaluations + planning of the next half of the term.
With a series of brainstorming sessions and constructive discussions, we were able to find a common line of work and clear objectives for what was to come. As the leading force of the department, we are greatly surprised by the passion and thrive with which our officials are engaging on every opportunity they have for representing IFSA.
We look forward to the second half of the term and that all the issues discussed can be fixed as soon as possible.
2. Organisation of Delegations
At this point in time we have 4 delegations being organized: UN Water Conference, SFI Conference, UNFF18, and EBU Scientific Conference. On all of these events, IFSA is preparing side-events which means that as an organization we will be able to position ourselves positively in the different processes. It is important to mention that 3 of these events will be happening in the North American region which goes in line with the goal of making the region more active.
3. Engagement with Partners
Regarding the engagement with partners we are working towards renewing our partnership agreement with 3 main organisations such as FAO, ITTO, and GLF. Together with the amazing work that our heads of commissions have been doing, we hope that we can re-sign these agreements before the term ends.
In addition to this, our President has been present at different meetings such as the Youth In Landscapes Steering Committee monthly meetings (an organization that joins IFSA, YPARD, and Y4N), the Global Landscapes Forum Charter Meeting, the Generation Restoration Youth Hub, and many others from which IFSA could start profiting by providing value to its members.
Regarding Youth organisations, IFSA is again working together with the International Association of Agricultural and Related Sciences (IAAS) on different scales, from the co-organization of the youth delegation to the EBU Scientific Forum to developing a side event for the UN Water Conference. The IFSA President and IAAS President have been meeting monthly to find new areas of collaboration.
4. New Collaborations
During these past 2 months we have been working on different new partnerships which we believe will bring great benefits to the IFSA members. From funding opportunities to collaborations with other youth organisations to job and internship opportunities, news on these partnerships hopefully will come soon.
These different partnerships come from different regions as well. We have been talking with organisations based in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, Europe, and North America, which brings regional diversity to the partnerships we have till now. We see future collaborations that will be able to benefit members worldwide independently of their level of income or level of studies.
We are also happy to announce that IFSA is starting the collaboration with ECN on the project ‘Southern Region Forestry Program’, with the common goal of increasing the participation of African youth in the global forestry agenda!
5. Plans for the next period
For this next period we are planning many things in the external department, starting by meeting IUFRO, GLF, and FE in person during the month of March. The IFSA president will be starting a 1-month trip in which he will have the chance to attend the in-person YIL SC meeting to discuss the new partnership agreement with GLF and the roadmap for the year to come. Secondly, a meeting with the Forest Europe team is being arranged to discuss IFSA involvement in the next Forest Europe meeting which we hope to take the role of youth engagement. Third and most important our President Agustin Rosello together with former President Magdalena Jovanovic and now Head of IUFRO Sub Commission will be attending the IUFRO Board meeting at the Forest Research Institute of India (FRI). In this meeting, we will discuss the engagement strategy that IFSA is building toward the IUFRO World Congress in Stockholm 2024.
In addition to what was previously stated we will be moving forward with the collaboration with the Economic Commission for Europe regarding the “trees in cities challenge” in which IFSA will take a leading role by evaluating the state of the urban forestry plans of cities worldwide.
Last but not the least, we invite all IFSA members to join the International Day of Forests 2023: Webinar Series, which is organised in collaboration with our partners!
c) Membership sector
1. Membership Department meeting
In January, the Membership Department had its regular monthly meeting to discuss any news, opportunities, and progress in the departmental work. Also to reconnect after the new-year break.
In February, before Interim took place, there was a special edition of the department meeting – supposedly a presential (or hybrid) three-day meeting with the Officials gathering in Indonesia. Since no one from the Membership Department was able to travel to the presential meeting, they had an intensive but fun three-day online meeting between the 1st to 3rd of February, where they were able to summarise the first half-term and discuss and plan a lot of work for the upcoming one.
An example of the work done at this meeting can be an update of the LC data survey. Last year, the Membership Department for the first time collected data about the number and gender distribution of its members, their activity, and LC projects. This year the second edition will follow in April, and the department made some updates to the form.
The department also reviewed the progress on some documents such as the OC Guidebook that should serve as a help to the Organising Committees of different types of IFSA meetings. Strategies to keep the regions active or higher involvement of LCs on an international level were also discussed. At the end of the third day, the department made a specific work plan for the upcoming half-term.
2. Applications review
In this period, IFSA received five new membership applications from potential future LCs. These applications have been reviewed and comment sent back to the applicants.
3. Accepting new LCs
This bimonthly period has been very fruitful for newly accepted LCs. Firstly in January, LC FORWISA UNIPORT joined our IFSA family by which it became the 11th LC in Nigeria and the 15th LC in the Northern African region. Just a week later, already in February, IFSA won a new LC in South Korea named CNU-FSA. It is the 8th LC in South Korea and the 37th one in Asia Pacific. And last but not least, after five years Northern America got bigger as well when LC FGSA from Mississippi, USA was accepted this February. It became the 6th LC in the USA and the 11th one in Northern America.
After this bimonthly period, IFSA has 137 Local Committees in 62 countries. We hope and expect there will be even more after the next bimonthly period ends.
4. LC Project of the Month
As we started the initiative LC Project of the Month in the previous bimonthly period, in this one we have continued. In January and December together we received 4 submissions. There was no one awarded in January, while the project ‘Open Table Discussion on Indigenous Rights and their Empowerment’ organised in collaboration by the IFSA LC FRI (India) and LC Eberswalde (Germany) was awarded as the LC Project of the Month February. Congratulations!
5. Accepting a new RR
Due to different circumstances, we had practically just one Regional Representative for Northern Europe in the past months. This changed in late January when Anna Stará from LC Brno, Czechia was accepted and expanded our Officials team! Welcome, Anna!
6. Summary of the accomplished plans from the previous period
As planned, the Membership Department meetings kept being organised also in this bimonthly period, and the plan is to continue it until the end of the term. The Council has been reviewing the membership applications continuously. At the end of the previous bimonthly period, there were five membership applications in progress – three of them were accepted in IFSA as mentioned above. In this period, we have received five more applications. Hence, there are currently seven applications in process.
7. Plans for the next bimonthly period
Membership Department meetings
As mentioned above, the Membership Department meetings will continue on a monthly basis also in the next bimonthly period.
Revision of incoming membership applications
The Council will continue to review the incoming applications and further the process.
Starting the LC data collection
In April, the second consecutive year of collecting the LC data regarding the LC members and local projects will start. The data will be collected until the end of May which will be followed by data analysis and comparison to the previous year. For more information on LC data collection please contact your Regional Representatives.
LC Project of the Month
Each of the following months, the Membership Department headed by the Membership Councilor will evaluate the incoming LC projects and award one each month as the LC Project of the Month. For more details and LC project submission, check this web page.
