The joint session of the European Commission (EC) and the European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN) was aimed at providing first-hand information on ongoing research as well as development policy activities related to tropical forests covered by the main Directorates General (DG) of the EC: DG I (International Cooperation), DG VIII (ACP-Countries), DG XI (Environment)and DG XII (Research).
The meeting was chaired by Ir. Erik Lammerts v. Bueren, Chairman of the ETFRN-General Assembly. J. Kreysa, official representative of the EC-DG XII introduced in the EC tropical forest activities and presented the International Cooperation Program for Developing Countries (INCO), which offers transnational research cooperations between European and Developing Country Research Institutes in the area e.g. of tropical forests and environment.
Following this E. Lammerts provided a background information on the past and future of ETFRN, which H. Freiberg, the Coordinator of ETFRN, complemented by presenting the information service provided by ETFRN also using INTERNET.
The presentation was completed by two brief EC-DG XII-INCO Research Project Co-ordinators by Dr. Claire Elouard/France and Dr. Risto Kalliola/Finland, providing some views on their personel experiences with research partnerships within the DG XII-INCO Programme.