Volodymyr Kravets: Developing Communication and Negotiation Skills

As the Head of the FOREST EUROPE Sub-Commission in IFSA, Volodymyr Kravets has had the unique opportunity to engage in High-Level Policy Dialogues, Expert Level Meetings, and preparations for the upcoming 9th Ministerial Conference. He shares, “These experiences allowed me to see political dialogue and negotiations on an international level, and even participate directly. FOREST EUROPE’s strong capacity support helped us communicate our ideas effectively, leading to impactful suggestions.”

Volodymyr’s involvement has not only sharpened his communication skills but also provided insights into political trends and the demand for forestry specialists. “The skills and knowledge gained in policy development and negotiations open new opportunities and give insights into what actual work can be like,” he adds.

Lea Arbogast: Overcoming Intimidation in Political Processes

Lea Arbogast, who is currently writing her Bachelor’s Thesis on youth integration in environmental political processes, reflects on her experiences with FOREST EUROPE. “Through this event, I learned to be less afraid of political processes and the people involved. Everyone is only human and learns together, regardless of age,” she says.

FOREST EUROPE has provided a platform for youth to have an active voice in shaping their future. “They gave us the platform to have an active voice on equal ground, which is truly empowering,” Lea emphasizes.

Nikolina Mencin: Gaining Insights into Sustainable Forest Management

Nikolina Mencin highlights the knowledge she gained about sustainable forest management and the role of forests in achieving a sustainable economy. “Working with FOREST EUROPE, I learned about the importance of collaboration and skilled workforces,” she notes.

Her experience in policy dialogues and effective communication within a pan-European context has enriched her understanding of forest governance and sustainability, equipping her to contribute meaningfully to the field.

Raghav Sharma: Participating in High-Level Discussions

Raghav Sharma shares how FOREST EUROPE actively involves youth in meaningful ways. “FOREST EUROPE includes young people in Expert Level Meetings and collaborates with IFSA to gather youth perspectives,” he explains. Workshops conducted by FOREST EUROPE have gathered valuable insights from young foresters, which will be presented at the 9th Ministerial Conference.

“Participating in these high-level discussions has been an incredible opportunity for personal and professional growth. It significantly enhanced my knowledge and boosted my confidence,” Raghav adds.

Alina Lehikoinen: Building Confidence and Leadership

Alina Lehikoinen’s work with FOREST EUROPE has made her feel like a true equal in the forestry field. “This has meant opportunities for leadership while having a space to learn and ask questions without judgment,” she shares.

The inclusive and supportive environment created by FOREST EUROPE has inspired Alina to improve other working environments. “I have tried to develop my working environments in a collaborative, respectful, and encouraging direction,” she notes.

These stories from IFSA members underscore the significant impact FOREST EUROPE has on young professionals in the forestry sector. By providing opportunities for active participation, skill development, and leadership, FOREST EUROPE is helping to shape the future of sustainable forest management with the valuable input of the next generation. The entire interview with all the IFSA delegates can be found here.

As we celebrate World Youth Skills Day, we recognize the importance of such collaborations in fostering the growth and development of young professionals who are passionate about making a difference in the world.

The post World Youth Skills Day: Insights from IFSA Members on Working with FOREST EUROPE first appeared on FOREST EUROPE.

Our new report, written by the Expert Group of Green Jobs by FOREST EUROPE, sheds light on the topic of Novel Green Forest Jobs. It summarizes the state of the art in literature reviews, the results from a survey sent to esteemed experts, and a workshop where participants discussed and exchanged knowledge. The take-home messages are tailored to policy makers, researchers, and academia/education, enabling you to get the most interesting information at a glance.

Enjoy reading and download it here!

The post Report on Novel Green Forest Jobs in pan-Europe is published! first appeared on FOREST EUROPE.

During the meeting, the focal points were the presentation of a report on Novel Green Forest Jobs and the formulation of policy recommendations to promote Green Forest Jobs to policymakers. Experts further discussed important topics like new and innovative roles of jobs in the forestry sector and attractive and engaging ways to communicate these stories to the world. They also talked about how to represent their work effectively at the upcoming IUFRO World Congress in Stockholm.

The second day of the meeting was all about finding better ways to measure the work and jobs in the forestry sector. Participants shared ideas and experiences to improve our understanding of employment in forestry. The meeting ended with a field trip to the nearby Arnsberg forest, where the experts learned about managing forests in the face of climate change and how to deal with forests that have been affected by disturbances like storms or fires.

Photo: Wald und Holz NRW

“We want to thank ‘Wald und Holz NRW’ for their warm welcome and excellent organization,” said Vera Steinberg, workstream leader of Green Jobs and Forest Education and policy advisor at FOREST EUROPE. “Their support made this meeting possible and helped us take important steps to attract the workforce of tomorrow, thus ensuring the sustainable management of our forests.”

The Expert Group Meeting on Green Forest Jobs shows what can be achieved when people work together. By sharing knowledge and ideas, we can build a future where forests thrive, providing benefits for both nature and people.

For further information, please contact:

The post Expert Group Meeting “Green Forest Jobs” paves the way for a sustainable forest sector first appeared on FOREST EUROPE.

The webinar started with the introduction of the Novel Green Forest Jobs topic, by Ilaria Doimo from ETIFOR. 

She presented a survey carried out by Forest Europe, which focused on identifying the opportunities and challenges in Green Forest Jobs through feedback from different organizations and understanding the future development of Novel Green Forest Jobs. One of the key messages was that the number of jobs in traditional forestry has been decreasing over the past decade while new forestry (novel) jobs are emerging. This trend could be attributed to the development of bioeconomy, mechanization, digitalization, consulting, education, and cultural changes. 

The survey highlighted interesting trends and will be further developed to provide accurate information on the Novel Green Forest Jobs. It will be published in the spring of 2024 by Forest Europe.

The next speaker was Ewa Hermanowicz, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Communications Manager for Europe.

With a background in languages and international relations, she developed her own career, starting at FAO and then working for Bioversity International, followed by making movies on gender equality in India and working with National Geographic to showcase the magnificence of  Icelandic forests. Currently, she is preparing a movie on the wood chain from Congo, describing the challenges of the increasing wood demand and the need to combat deforestation.

Sharing her inspiring career, she highlighted that any kind of talent one has can be used in forestry; one only needs to know what they like, pursue it, and it will work out great!

The next panelist, Silvia Melegari, developed her career path in another branch of the forestry sector, specifically in the wood industry.

Having a background in law, she “accidentally” found herself in the wood industry. One of the decisive factors was her relocation to Brussels, where the main policy negotiations were happening. During her career, she worked with a Wood-based Panel Foundation, and now she is working with the EU organization of Sawmill and Wood Processing Industry and CEI-Bois. The main goal is to advocate for the family business in the EU parliament, work with other lobbying organizations, evaluate the changes that new legislation will bring to the industry, and advise their members accordingly. This is quite a challenging but exciting job, as the parliament is frequently changing, and they have to make sure that new politicians have the importance of the forest industry in mind.

Silvia provided a great example that forest jobs also require an understanding of human relations, and they support businesses in the wood industry.

The next speaker was Lioba Rath, who holds the position at State Forest Enterprise in Switzerland. She shared her experience of working in that part of the forestry sector, which is often called the “most conservative” one, and showed that even there, you can find innovative jobs as the sector is transforming. Same as the previous speakers, she ended up in the forestry sector accidentally, but this time in the digital support for the Enterprise. This includes her in all stages of work, starting from small tasks such as training on how to use measurement tools to high-level strategies such as planning the transportation of wood. 

She has been working just for one year but finds a lot of joy in the work she does. Lioba concluded her presentation with the call that there is a place for everyone, and the field needs it!

The last speaker was the current IFSA President – Isabelle Claire. She shared her path of education and development as a successful story of how the IFSA experience contributes well to the formal education received at the university. A striking example is her recently received position in CIFOR, where her forestry background and soft skills developed in IFSA are extremely useful. 

In addition to this, Isabelle used the opportunity to share youth perspectives on the current state of the forestry sector. It is visible that the sector is aging, and youth are less involved because of the low profitability and lack of training; thus, capacity building is needed. Some of the IFSA’s major projects in that area include the “TreE-Learning” platform and “Gender Open Letter.” 

Isabelle ended her presentation by pointing out that we need to invest in youth and women for the stability of forests and society!

For those who missed the webinar, you can watch the recording on the FOREST EUROPE YouTube channel here.

If you are interested in learning more about the forestry sector, Forest Europe is organizing another webinar on the 14th of March on the topic: “The roots of innovation – setting the course for innovation and sustainable growth in the forest sector.” For more information and registration please follow the link here.

The post IFSA reports on the FOREST EUROPE webinar “Shaping tomorrow’s workforce: Novel Green Forest Jobs” first appeared on FOREST EUROPE.

FOREST EUROPE is organizing on 14 March 2024 webinar, “The roots of innovation – setting the course for innovation and sustainable growth in the forest sector.” This will be in the run-up to the International Day of Forests 2024, whose theme is ‘Forests and Innovation.’ The webinar is specifically for you if you are a member of the FOREST EUROPE signatories, observer organizations and countries, private sector, industry, students, research organizations, or just an interested person in innovation.

Join us as we engage with policymakers, practitioners, and start-ups to tackle different aspects of innovations with the goal of raising awareness around the topic and giving visibility to the innovations in the sector as we address policy gaps.

One more reason why you don’t have to miss: Start-ups involved in forest-related innovation will have an open space where they will present their initiatives in an open coffee style and interact with the audience.

Please register here!

Get more info about the webinar’s programme!

The post The roots of innovation – setting the course for innovation and sustainable growth in the forest sector first appeared on FOREST EUROPE.

The forest sector is known to have a very low representation of females employed (below 20 %). This gender gap is also seen in the traditional forest sector workforce. Coupled with the challenge of an aging workforce, the forest sector urgently needs to find ways of attracting more people, including women, to engage in forest-related activities. Innovative forest-based Green Jobs are a way of alleviating potential labor shortages. Providing a more gender-balanced workplace, improving occupational health and safety at work, making working time more flexible, and offering fair wages will immensely contribute to improving the image of the forest sector and attract women and youth.

Through this webinar, we would like to highlight the Novel Green Forest Jobs based on the findings of the activities of FOREST EUROPE’s Workstream on Green Jobs and Forest Education and, while doing so, also showcase the transition from the traditional forestry profession to the novel green forest jobs-women perspective and the gaps in the curricular.

Objectives of the webinar

• Build up on the previous webinar on “How the heck did I end up here?” from the FOREST EUROPE series “From the Roots to the Canopy”. (More information: www.foresteurope.org)
• Present the results from the survey on Novel Green Forest Jobs and the workshop on Novel Green Forest Jobs to be held at the WS3 Expert Group Meeting (EGM) in October 2023.
• Highlight the transition and the potential of Green Forest Jobs by showcasing success stories of female professionals who pursued the traditional forestry programmes but transitioned to different fields of Green Forest jobs, the reasons behind that, and the challenges and opportunities that are there for women.
• Highlight opportunities and gaps regarding Novel Green Forest Jobs in the forest-related curriculum.

[1] Green Forest jobs, as defined by FOREST EUROPE, refer to “Jobs that provide forest-related goods and services while meeting the requirements of sustainable forest management and decent work.

Find here the Webinar programme, and speaker bios.

Date: 12^th December 2023, 2:00 PM CET

Time: 90 minutes

Target group: Students from a forest-related programmes, universities, Expert Group “Green Jobs,” industry, interested public, FE interested observer organisations.

Moderator: Vera Steinberg (FOREST EUROPE)

The post Shaping tomorrow’s workforce: Novel Green Forest Jobs (NGFJ) and the transition from tradition first appeared on FOREST EUROPE.

Vera Steinberg and Juliet Achieng.

The congress was organized by the Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald Bundesverband e.  V. (SDW) and the European Forest Pedagogics Network with support from FOREST EUROPE. Matthias Schwoerer from the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Head of the Unit European and International Forest Politics opened the meeting by emphasizing on the importance of the topic while also conveying his expectations of the congress.  Vera Steinberg, who was a panelist representing FOREST EUROPE, mentioned that Forest Education is one of the key areas of FOREST EUROPE’s work within the workstream “Green Jobs and Forest Education”. Here, they strive to raise awareness about FOREST EUROPE’s contribution to the forest policy process at the Pan-European level, capacity building and showcasing Green Jobs in the forest sector. The workstream’s activities and goals are aligned with the need for having skilled personnel to adapt European forests to climate change and managing society’s increasing demands on forests. 

In collaboration with SDW, FOREST EUROPE organized a working space on “How should forest-based ESD be integrated in the European Forest Policy Process?” In the discussions, they reflected on the importance of ESD, identified what was missing from the policies and lastly how to address the gaps.  

The main messages from the discussion include: 

• Forest-based ESD should start at an early age and continue through one’s lifetime since there is no end to learning.  
• New learning models are needed, which give pupils and students sufficient time to interact and learn about forests. The curriculum should also offer opportunities for more outdoor activities and other extracurricular activities. 
• Forest-based ESD actions and initiatives should be streamlined to amplify the voices of the actors and increase impact.  
• The policy process is perceived as slow and difficult to influence but proactiveness in communicating the needs for ESD is needed to ensure that the messages reach the policy makers. This can be achieved by e.g., producing summaries for policymakers and actively approach them. 
• Always build on existing initiatives or political agreements such as the Sustainable Development Goals and build partnerships across departments, ministries, states, regions and countries. 

It is without a doubt that the congress offered a great opportunity to pool and expand the expertise of the participants, boost the existing forest education network, and increased the interest and awareness on forest-based Education for Sustainable Development. It was a privilege for FOREST EUROPE to collaborate with SDW who have been working on crucial forest topics including forest pedagogics for many years.

More information about the Congress is available here.

The post “Learning to create together ‒ How can Forest Education for Sustainable Development build partnerships and empower people?” first appeared on FOREST EUROPE.

What’s on the agenda?

We will present survey results on Novel Green Forest Jobs and the ongoing work of the Expert Group on Green Jobs. We will shine a spotlight on the success stories of female professionals who transitioned from traditional forestry programmes to Novel Green Forest Jobs. Explore their journeys while discussing how and why they made the switch, the challenges they faced, and the opportunities they found.

Why you shouldn’t miss this webinar!

The best part of the webinar is that our all-female panel features accomplished women from diverse fields in the (novel) forest sector.

Through the webinar, we will raise awareness on the topic and increase visibility on how the forest sector is providing Novel Green Jobs!

Don’t miss this insightful discussion; register now.

Additional information

Webinar’s agenda.

Speaker’s bios.

Previous Roots to the Canopy” webinar series are available here.

The post Shaping tomorrow’s workforce: Novel Green Forest Jobs and the transition from tradition first appeared on FOREST EUROPE.

Hotel Steigenberger in Dresden, where the ELM was held.

Rapid Response Mechanism: supporting the Ukrainian forest sector and its forests

The ELM acknowledged the full implementation of the Ministerial Decision to support the Ukrainian forest sector and its forests from August 2022, which was created within FOREST EUROPE’s rapid response mechanism to react to emerging issues of relevance. The ELM recognized the importance of Ukraine’s forests and the challenges they face due to the war and demonstrated a strong commitment to helping the country in recovering. ELM’s delegates also agreed to a smooth transfer of the work to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to ensure continued support and cooperation in the region.

Silvia Abruscato introducing the High-Level Policy Dialogue 2023.

The 2^nd High-Level Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) and resilience

The ELM delegates supported the organization of the 2^nd High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD), which will be held in Berlin on November 9, 2023, providing a platform for policymakers, experts, practitioners, forest owners, students, researchers, and interested stakeholders to discuss how SFM can maintain and enhance forest resilience, from an environmental, social, and economic perspective. With a hybrid meeting format, the event aims to harness high-level speakers’ collective knowledge and experience to chart a path to a more sustainable future. Stay tuned to our social media for updates, or visit talks.foresteurope.org.

Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland were very active in the discussions.

Think Tank on the dynamic concept of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM)

The presentation of the ongoing efforts of the Think Tank about SFM highlighted the need to address gaps in current policy developments and emphasized the importance of developing tools and instruments to enhance SFM. The ELM recognized its relevance as a core activity of FOREST EUROPE. Additionally, forest monitoring was emphasized as a synergistic approach, and the importance of creating new narratives on SFM as a dynamic concept was underscored. The delegates’ opinion reinforces the significance of these efforts and sets the stage for future progress in SFM, monitoring, and reporting.

Yana Vikhtiuk (UA) and Tomasz Markiewicz (PL).

Preparations for the 9th Ministerial Conference in 2024

The meeting concluded with discussions on the preparations for the upcoming 9th Ministerial Conference (9MC), scheduled for October 1-2, 2024, near Bonn, Germany. As a significant event during the FOREST EUROPE signatory’s term, the conference represents the decision-making body of the process and marks the end of the German chairmanship. Ministers of signatory countries, renowned experts, and high-level representatives from observers’ organizations from the pan-European region will convene to discuss strategies and actions shaping the future of our forests. One key goal is to make the SFM concept fit for the future and to establish a Forest Risk Facility (FoRISK), to address forest risks, like climate change, forest fires, and biodiversity loss.

Green Jobs and Forest Education developments

The report on Green Jobs and Forest Education emphasized involving future generations and addressing challenges in shaping innovative pathways. Engaging policymakers is crucial in finding collaborative solutions to these challenges. The benefits and shortage of skilled personnel associated with Green Jobs and Forest Education were acknowledged, and the ELM offered guidance for future efforts in green job development and forest education.

Field trip on the second day after the conference

After being in a meeting room, an exciting field excursion took place to delve into the practical application of SFM in the State forests of Saxony, followed by a visit to the esteemed Campus Tharandt, one of the oldest forestry educational institutions worldwide, established in 1811.

Excursion to the Tharandt forest.

What have we learned?

It is important to maintain the momentum and build on the results of this meeting. Collaborative efforts, sound policy frameworks, and proactive measures are critical to achieving the vision of SFM for the benefit of current and future generations. The ELM demonstrated what can be achieved when nations, international organizations, and NGOs join in their pursuit of a more sustainable future.

Chris Quine (UK) and Helga Pülzl (EFI).

The post Signatories and observers of FOREST EUROPE met in Dresden to shape the future of sustainable forest management first appeared on FOREST EUROPE.

These questions will be addressed in the SILVA Network Annual Conference, held at the University of Sopron on April, 11 – 13^th 2023. The program includes inspiring presentations and a full-day excursion into the educational forests of Sopron University and the nearby national park.

It pays to be quick: An early bird rate applies until February 21^st. Please also keep an eye at the deadline for abstract submission if you are interested to present.

Please go to the SILVA Network website to register.

The post SILVA Network Annual Conference: Communication – a neglected topic in higher forestry education and further education? first appeared on FOREST EUROPE.