IFSA has been a cornerstone of giving forestry students all over the world access to opportunities. In the Capacity Building Workshop last June 12 and 19, there were two workshops that focused on how to apply for opportunities both in IFSA and in other international organizations.

Lisa Prior, currently working at EFI in the joint EFI-IFSA-IUFRO project on “Global student networking and green jobs in the forest sector”, gave a workshop on how to give an effective curriculum vitae and motivation letter. In this session, the participants were also able to go into various breakout groups wherein they described what would be an effective curriculum vitae.

The second session focused on how to apply for opportunities in IFSA and international organizations. Dr. Fola Babalola, currently an Associate Professor at University of Ilorin, Nigeria, focused his talk on applying for international funding opportunities. Meanwhile, Ms. Janice Burns, Deputy Coordinator of IUFRO’s Special Programme for Development of Capacities (SPDC), focused her talk on how IFSA can help students.

The sessions were able to determine the importance of motivation and networking into getting these opportunities. The two sessions gave the participants the tools into looking for and applying for opportunities inside and outside IFSA.

The Capacity Development Commission is still planning other workshops for IFSA members in the next months on leadership and team development.

The article is written by Paula Mae Dagsi.