What is IUFRO?
The IUFRO, the International Union of Forest Research Organisations, is one of the oldest scientific organisations in the world. Traditionally Finns have played an active role in the IUFRO. Currently Tuija Sievänen represents Finland on the IUFRO board and acts as a coordinator of division 6, ‘Social Aspects of Forests and Forestry’. The scientific divisions and their units form a permanent structure within the IUFRO organisation. Several Finnish forest researchers currently serve as chairs and deputy chairs of the various units. In addition to these, the IUFRO carries several special programmes, such as the GFIS (Global Forest Information System).
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| Photo: Professor Liisa Tyrväinen and coordinator Tuija Sievänen at the peak of the Sompiotunturi fell in summer 2007. Photo: Tuija Sievänen |
Coordinators have their hands on many things
At the IUFRO, all officeholders work on a voluntary basis, driven by their own enthusiasm for international networking. A division coordinator acts as an expert in his or her field of research, in steering the IUFRO's activities, for example strategy work, or in raising and communicating topical issues. Coordinators are also responsible for the continuity of the unit’s operations when new officeholders are elected. The key tasks of a division coordinator include staying in contact with the chairmen of division units, briefing on events and activities, and above all, inspiring the officeholders within the units and reminding them of the importance of the work carried out by the IUFRO.
“Division coordinators report to the IUFRO’s board on happenings within their own divisions and other activities, while ensuring the visibility of the research field at conferences. IUFRO has developed several ways of disseminating information on new research, IUFRO Spotlight publications numbering among the finest of these. In the last year, I have co-edited two recent Spotlight publications – one on the topic of forests and human health and the other on the topic of forest use, management and gender equality,” states Sievänen.
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| Photo: Jouni Hyvärinen |
In addition, the IUFRO holds fixed-term programmes called task forces on various themes. Among the current themes are ‘Forests and human health’, ‘Forest for People’ and ‘Education in Forest Science’. Division 6 cooperates most with these task forces, as their themes closely relate to the fields of research represented by the division. These task forces also organise conferences: in May 2012, the task force ‘Forest for People’ held its first conference in Alpbach, Austria. The second conference will be held in Traverse City, Michigan, USA, in 2013. The units under division 6 actively participate in these conferences.
Activities around the world
One important task of the units is to represent the unit at the IUFRO world congress and regional conferences and provide visibility to their own field of research. The units also organise their own conferences. In 2012, the Urban Forestry unit participated in organising conferences in Canada, Malesia, Croatia, and Germany, on the topic of urban forest management, and the Gender and Forestry unit held a conference in Ethiopia. In 2013, a conference will be organised in Fóz Do Iguaçu, Brazil, under the title 'Protected Areas and Place Making: How do we provide conservation, landscape management, tourism, human health and regional development?’. Being a global organisation, one of the IUFRO’s main goals is to organise activities around the world. The current focus of its activities is to involve researchers from Africa and Latin America in the work of the IUFRO.
World congress in the United States in 2014
Preparations are now underway for the next IUFRO world congress, to be held in Salt Lake City, USA, in 2014. The congress theme will be “Sustaining Forests, Sustaining People: The Role of Research.”
“I am a member of the Congress Science Committee and have been able to influence the choice of themes for the congress, as well as the list of keynote speakers to be invited. However, the greatest work still lies ahead as the congress nears, when members of the committee will evaluate the received abstracts and allocate presentations to the right sessions. Hopefully as many Finnish researchers as possible will be able to attend the congress to present the highlights of their work. The IUFRO network includes around 15,000 researchers representing 700 member organisations and over 110 countries. From this group, everyone can find interesting colleagues and an interested audience. One couldn’t hope for a broader-based scientific community network,” Sievänen concludes.
Further information
- IUFRO division 6 coordinator Tuija Sievänen , tel. +358 29 532 5269, tuija.sievanen(a)metla.fi
- IUFRO