Internal Department Meeting Report
April 2022
Internal Department Meeting
IFSA once again held its one of many hybrid meetings—this time, it’s the Internal Department Meeting in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from the 20th to the 24th of April 2022 which was organized by our friends from Indonesia, LC IPB and LC UGM.
During the first day of the meeting, the officials from the Internal Department evaluated their achievements and progress in the department and their respective commissions and sub-commissions in the first half of the term. The department celebrated their first department-led event, the IFSA Virtual Job Fair, which is the first of its kind in the history of IFSA events. So far, 5 bi-monthly departmental meetings have been conducted where they have been consistently providing updates within commissions and planning for the following months.
The Capacity Development Commission have also consistently conducted their monthly meetings—not only that, but the commission’s achievements also include the production of TreE-Learning modules; commencement of the Spanish Language School, Capacity Building Workshop on Team Development, and 6 Cultural Day sessions. In terms of IFSA representation, the IFSA-IUFRO Joint Task Force Coordinator spoke on behalf of IFSA during a session in the IUFRO World Day while the Forestry Education Sub-Commission was actively involved in the EFI-IFSA-IUFRO Green Jobs Project.
On the other hand, the Communication Commission had 6 monthly meetings and had created an improved system of internal communication requests within the organization, the CommComms101. Some of the commission’s achievements this term also include the organization of the IFSA Mail System, update of the 2021/2022 IFSA Wheel, and consistent posting of the monthly newsletters. Although the commissions have achieved many things so far, the officials also had a brainstorming session to assess their performance and points for improvement for their work, as well as plans for the remainder of the term.
The Internal Department is starting to work on many amazing things for the remaining months of the term, including the revival of the Podcast, TreeHouse, and Tree-Learning Sub-Commissions, and department-led initiatives for the 50th International Forestry Students’ Symposium (IFSS) this year which will be held in Chile.
Department-led Initiatives in IFSS 2022
This year, IFSA is celebrating the 50th International Forestry Students’ Symposium (IFSS) in Chile. To increase the reach and visibility of the event, the department is planning to execute a communication strategy which includes the production of a video series and promotion of the IFSS 2023 and 2024 Organizing Committee Open Call. The promotions for the event will be amplified on Facebook which is IFSA’s main social media platform. This will be led by our very own Communication Commission.
The Capacity Development Commission is also planning to conduct workshops about IFSA Projects—such as the TreeHouse, Membership Verification, News Factory, TreE-learning—during the 50th IFSS, as well as a cultural and gender sensitivity workshop session.
One of the plans of the department also include the commencement of the IFSS Volunteer Program which aims to assist the organizing committee in tasks for the 50th IFSS. In addition, a sequel of the Job Fair is also in the works for the in-person attendees.
Communication Commission Meetings
Generally, the Communications Commission evaluated the current workflow per Sub-commission, including the need to clean up Google Drive Spaces and be more active in shared communication spaces. Among the discussions, the Communications Commission identified three main action points for the upcoming half of the term.
First was to prepare an updated version of the Communications Commission guidelines for processing requests, titled CommComms 101. This document was first drafted in the first half of the 2021-2022 term to help streamline the requests received from IFSA members regarding the news, opportunities, and events they wanted to share on the IFSA website and social media channels. However, there were notable recommendations made to help improve these guidelines, such as reworking the IFSA News Factory to collect majority of requests as opposed to the current email-based request system.
Second was to work on guides for each of the Communication Commissions’ sub-commission, namely Design, Discord, Publications, Social Media, and Web. While each of the Sub-commissions has their own nuances and workflow, there are core considerations that need to be considered, and some Sub-commissions plan to have dedicated projects that will be sustained in future terms. Thus, there is the need to document guidelines to use as a basis for the next lineup of officials. Among these documents are the IFSA Brand guidelines, Discord guidelines, Website Plug-in guidelines, the “Share your IFSA experience” framework, and the Social Media strategy.
Last but not least, the Communications Commission would be two new sub-commissions to the Internal Department: Podcast and TreE-Learning. The Podcast Sub-commission would be in charge of spearheading IFSA’s podcast series titled Canopy Conversations. This project was initially planned as a sub-event of the Discord Sub-commission, but it has come to attention that a dedicated team for this project would be a great asset to furthering IFSA’s audience with regular content. The TreE-Learning Sub-commission, on the other hand, is currently active under the Capacity Development Commission, and focuses on collecting learning materials for the development of soft skills relevant to the forestry profession. After careful discussion within the Internal Department, it was decided that the skillset needed to manage the TreE-Learning platform was more suited in the Communications Commission, since the website management and information networking are essential to managing TreE-Learning.
Capacity Development Commission Meetings
The Capacity Development Commission conducted a general session at the start of the Internal Department Meeting, where the members, through a personal overview, evaluated their development as officials, as well, worked on a plan to improve team building and an evaluation procedure for current and future events held by the Commission.
But not only commission meetings took place, sessions for each Sub Commissions proceeded, where the Heads of Sub Commissions discussed their plans for the rest of the term. The IFSA-IUFRO Joint Task Force is collaborating on a workshop for the World Forestry Congress, and the newly created Gender Sub Commission is speaking on a side event of the Congress, making an effort to consolidate its value.
Keep an eye for the upcoming activities for the rest of Sub Commissions, Cultural Days for the next months and making information approachable for everyone even after; carbon emissions reports and introduce sustainability in daily life; the first mentoring program on Forestry Entrepreneurship for IFSA members. Was the Spanish School a great opportunity? Wait for the Korean-English Learning School. Team projects as Capacity Building Workshops, new episodes are planned to develop soft skills, and of course, Peer Learning, an opportunity to share and learn together.
Now that IFSA is going back to in-person events, is the perfect moment to bring back the TreeHouse Sub Commission. TreeHouse is a platform for offering and receiving accommodation all around the world for IFSA members and alumni. The Commission will prepare the necessary to present the proposal for the General Assembly.
The Capacity Development Commission closed th e meeting with the strategy to follow for the rest of the term and improve the work as commission. Finally, to ensure a successful changeover, the strategy for the next term was determined as a teamwork effort.
Keeping the Cappottone Culture Alive
Last but not least, as with any IFSA event, the perfect way to show IFSA love to each other is a Cappottone! The Internal Department Meeting was not the exception, even if it was hybrid, the Internal Department members shared the family feeling through a big warm Cappotone, same we share with all of you!
