Official statement from the IFSA Board on the cancellation of IFSS 2024

To our dear IFSA Members, 

It is with deep regret that the IFSA Board must announce the cancellation of the International Forestry Students’ Symposium (IFSS) 2024 which was scheduled from 18 August to 1 September 2024 in Romania. 

Several critical issues have made it difficult and impossible to proceed with IFSS this year. The primary factors influencing this decision include:

  • Severe lack of human resources 

The Organizing Committee (OC) has experienced a significant human resources shortage, severely impacting the ability to plan and execute the event effectively. 

  • Insufficient funding

The OC has not secured the necessary financial support to cover essential expenses. This budget shortfall has rendered the event financially untenable. 

  • Intermittent and inconsistent communication

Because of the previous points, the OC has struggled to maintain consistent and reliable communication with the IFSA Board and IFSA members. This communication breakdown has significantly hindered making timely and informed decisions.

  • Inadequate preparation 

Key components of the event planning process, such as securing speakers, finalizing the program, and coordinating logistics, remain incomplete. The current state of preparations does not meet the standard required to host a successful symposium. 

The Board and OC have tried our best since the beginning of the year to accelerate the progress for preparations. We wanted to give members a memorable and well-deserved experience of IFSS, so we remained hopeful and pushed through with preparations, but with stricter deadlines and conditions for task execution. The Board has also provided additional assistance with the necessary documents and requirements. We have given the OC until early July to secure adequate funding and sponsorships, resolve banking system issues, get more volunteers for the event, and confirm the participation of members. Unfortunately, the progress made in the last few weeks was still not enough to meet the minimum requirements for an IFSS meeting for our members, leaving us with the disappointing decision to cancel the event. 

The inconvenience and disappointment caused by this cancellation are deeply regretted, especially for those who have already made arrangements to attend. The OC is responsible for providing support to participants who have already purchased plane tickets by hosting accommodation and alternative activities or local tours, to minimize the inconvenience caused by this cancellation. We, together with the IFSS OC, will communicate with these participants regarding additional information about this trip. However, this trip is not IFSS and must not be called IFSS.

IFSS has long been a cornerstone of our organization, embodying our commitment to excellence, collaboration, and the advancement of youth engagement in the forestry sector. It is built on the dedication and hard work of our members. This cancellation does not reflect the true spirit, capabilities, and values of our association and the symposium. Therefore, all upcoming IFSS OCs must ensure such a failure does not occur again in the future.

Moving forward, the IFSA Board will conduct a thorough review to identify and address the failures that led to this decision. Stronger planning and resource management mechanisms will be crafted and implemented by the IFSA Board—with the guidance of IFSA-SAN and consulting members—to prevent such occurrences from taking place again in future IFSS meetings. We must address these issues head-on to embolden the trust and confidence of our members, partners, and other stakeholders. 

At this challenging time, we seek your understanding and patience. The priority now is to ensure that future IFSS meetings will be successfully planned and executed to the high standards that IFSA members deserve. Now more than ever, we must unite to protect the integrity of IFSA and the symposium and make sure that this setback only strengthens us to achieve greater heights in the future. 

For any questions or further information, please contact board@ifsa.net. 

We apologize for the inconvenience this cancellation has caused. Thank you for your understanding and continued support for IFSA. 

 

Sincerely, 

IFSA Board 2023/2024