Naomi van den Berg naomi.pngHello IFSA members, My name is Naomi van den Berg. I was born and raised in the Netherlands, and I recently turned 22. I am an MSc Forest & Nature Conservation student at Wageningen University. I am loving this program so far, as it includes diverse integrative courses on modern forest management, taught by very experienced and amazing professors.  These professors, as well as my fellow students, have shown passion about even the most fragmented, tiniest forest patches one can find (unfortunately in plentiful numbers) in the Netherlands. The professors have showed me that even these smallest patches of forest that one would otherwise disregard, still have a great and rich potential to serve various objectives, and the extent to which system-specific management can succeed in fulfilling this potential. It is truly fascinating to zoom in at an ecosystem level and discover the countless dynamics that are going on in a forest that seems so static from the outside. I will definitely take some of my professors’ passion with me along with my own to the upcoming UNFCC Conference in Bonn, and hope to be able to ‘zoom in’ at policy level as well. After all, forest dynamics are complex and very case specific, and constructing overarching management- or conservation policies at supranational level can be a tricky process. I am very keen to learn more about this process, and see how the different stakeholders interact and arrive at agreements. Climate change mitigation is incomplete without inclusion of forests, and I hope to meet many forest loving delegates at the conference!   Celina Schelle celina Dear fellows, After living three years in Senegal and graduating at the International School of Dakar, I wanted to understand how to tackle society’s challenges such as development, inequality, exclusion and environmental degradation. Consequently, I did my undergraduate in Economics and Geography. Being concerned in environmental issues, I decided to further deepen my knowledge in natural sciences with a one year study in Environmental Management. Soon, I realized that to achieve any change one needs to understand the political processes underlying. Therefore, I am currently pursuing a Master program in Environmental Governance at Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg. While I am deeply interested in the processes that underlie sustainable development, I ultimately strive to put these insights into practical use. In this respect, I am very much looking forward to delve into the discussions and debates of the next UNFCCC Climate Change Conference in Bonn. Although, many efforts to implement the Paris Agreement are being made, a lot of work still needs to be done to fulfill the desired achievements. Together with other IFSA delegates I wish to gain a clear understanding of the current status and prospects of global environmental politics, ongoing initiatives and the next steps ahead to operationalize the agreement. I am hoping to provide you with many positive insights, but will not refrain from being critical and do my best to ensure that the voice of the present youth is heard and considered.   Steffen Dehn Hi everyone! ISteffen_Dehn´m looking forward to being part of the delegation that will represent our IFSA community at the UN Climate Change Conference which will host the forty-sixth sessions of the UNFCCC subsidiary bodies in Bonn this May. My name is Steffen Dehn and I´m currently studying International Forest Ecosystem Management, B.Sc. at the University for Sustainable Development in Eberswalde, Germany. Apart from interesting events like the Technical Expert Meeting on Mitigation (TEM-M), which I´m eager to attend, the conference will host many events that will deal with how the implementation of the Paris agreement can be accelerated. While it´s great to have the Paris agreement as a symbol of our willingness to take action it will be crucial to underpin this willingness with targeted actions. It will be interesting to hear and discuss which measures are proposed to foster this goal and we, as your delegation, will do our best to keep you in the loop and well informed about recent developments. I’m looking forward to lead the IFSA delegation for the second week.]]>