IAAS Newsletter Nov-Dec 2014

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N

A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

November – December 2014

I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S T U D E N T S I N A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D R E L A T E D S C I E N C E S

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Contents

Activities

Seminar Croatia ......................................................................................................................... 2

IAAS East Africa Conference…………………………………………………………………………………………..6

Exchange week Belgium………………………………………………………………………………………………...9

Exchange Week Italy……………………………………………………………………………………………………11

Partners

The FAO Committee on World Food Security………………………………………………………………….14

FAO - Second Interntional Conference on Nutrition (ICN2)…………………………………………….15

Other

Climate Change Conferences in Lima……………………………………………………………………………19

IAAS WOCO contest: Food Saving BEC……………………………………………………………………..…20

Opportunity partner: Study Portals: Win a Language Holiday Abroad !................................21


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SEMINAR CROATIA

“MOUNTAINOUS CROATIA –

POTENTIAL FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND

DEVELOPMENT”

This year, in the period from 2.–9.10.2014. IAAS Croatia organized one of the most valuable

and most demanding projects so far, a seminar on the topic “Mountainous Croatia – potential

for sustainable agriculture and development”. The seminar included IAAS members from 10

different countries: Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Czech

Republic, Bangladesh and Croatia as the host.

The seminar started with a lecture at the Faculty of Agriculture on the topic “Advantages and

disadvantages of organic farming in Mountainous Croatia” held by prof.dr.sc. Ivica Kisić. After

the lecture there was an organised discussion about organic farming in Europe. We had lunch

on the Faculty after which we headed to Lika. Along the way we visited Modruš Eko- Family

farm Rendulić in Josipdol who specializes in organic production of vegetables and flour.


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The next day, after breakfast, there

was a presentation “About Croatia”

which briefly presented our

homeland, our climate and regions,

major cities and attractions as well as

traditions and local products. After

the presentation, we visited the

Museum of Lika where the curator

guided us trough the history of Lika.

Then we visited the local fair called

“Autumn in Lika” where we had a

chance to see, taste and feel all of the

local organic products as well as tipical croatian souvenirs. In the evening there was a Trade

fair which included delicacies from all over the world. On the tables you could find Belgian

chocolate, Greek halva, Greek salad, Spanish tortilla, Swiss fondue, Polish pralines with “bird’s

milk” and spicy risotto from Bangladesh. On Croatian table we proudly presented our

traditional products such as Slavonian Kulen, Dalmatian smoked ham and bacon, Lika’s

famous cheese škripavac, bajadere and other products. Special attention was devoted to a great

quantity of Croatian wines. On this occasion we would like to thank all our sponsors who

provided the wines and by doing so, made the presentation possible. We would like to thank

wineries Vuglec Breg, winery Vrbanek, winery Zrinšćak, winery TRS, winery Filipec, winery

Režek, winery Župančić, winery Sirovica, winery Mladina, winery Pavlin and Franjko family

farm.

The following day we visited Agricultural cooperative Bahra

engaged in the cultivation of medicinal herbs. After guided

walk trough the vast fields of medicinal herbs, we visited

Barać Caves where the participants of the seminar had the

opportunity to see the peculiar and specific underground

karst relief. Furthermore we visited family farm Lavender

where the owner held a brief presentation and a lecture, after

which he took us for a walk trough the fields of lavender and

explained the production of lavender essential oil and its benefits. We also visited Turkalj

family farm where we had a chance to see the barn with cows and calves as well as the milking

process, we had a short lecture where we learned more about the process of cheese making and

the advantages and disadvantages of such production. The final visit of the day was Eko-Klanac

farm where we had a short lecture on the basic principles of organic farming. Walking around

the farm we had a chance to see the way they are growing traditional crops like potatoes and

cabbage.


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The fourth day of the seminar began with the visit to

the cheese factory Runolist. The owner gave an

interesting lecture about the long-standing tradition

of the factory. He also gave us a tour of all the stages

of cheese production, from raw material to

packaging. We went to Majerovo vrilo, one of the

river Gacka’s springs, where we saw the archaic mill-

houses, that are still used for grinding flour in the

traditional way.

After lunch, our colleagues gave interesting and instructional presentations about sustainable

agriculture in certain countries and they also shared their own reflections and visions on how

to improve it. A debate about the pros and cons of this kind of agriculture followed.

On the fifth day of the seminar we visited Udbina county. After sightseeing of the Church of

Croatian martyrs, we visited various farms in the county. The first one was the cattle farm

Angus, which uses the cow-calf system of production. The breeds used in this production are

the french breeds Angus, Aubac and Simental. The second farm was the family farm Gučanin

whose main products are sheep milk and meat. The third farm was the farm owned by the Imex

bank which also uses the cow-calf system. The fourth in line was the Ljubojević family farm

which is specialized in the production of milk . There we also had a presentation of cow-

milking, which we all had the oportunity to try ourselves.

On our way to Zagreb, we made a stop in

Perušić to visit the family farm Vlainić. The

Vlainić family produces several types of rakija

(schnaps) in the traditional way. The whole

process of the production was described to us

in an interesting lecture which includes the

cultivation and gathering of fruit, the

destilation and the presentation of the final

product in the market. We also visited the

Krnić farm which is specialized in ecological

bee-keeping. We ended the seminar with the

sight-seeing of Zagreb

Comments from the participants:

- Miroslav Macak – Czech Republic

„…I also saw the seminar from position of businessman. In my mind I still have the memory of

the excursion to lavander fields because it is great idea how to start business. And of course,

the both cheese factories.

I had a great time when I had a chance to present sustainable agriculture in Czech Republic.

Listening of the other presentations was also a big benefit for me.


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- Ilias Chaklias – Greece

„…One more thing that should be mentioned are the presentations given by the participants

about the organic production in their countries. This help them to promote their public

speaking skills and gave them deeper knowledge about the situation of organic production in

other countries and the chance to compare to theirs.“ „…They had good team work between

them and were able to solve any problem they faced immediately. The most important thing is

that they did not let anyone to leave disappointed from this seminar. It was one the most

organized and full of activities IAAS event Greek participants have attended.“

- Eva Hulsmans – Belgium

„…It was really interesting for us to see and experience organic farming from up close in such

a beautiful environment. All the visits, but also speaking to students from all around Europe

about agricultural issues, brought us a lot of new perspectives. You could say the seminar

broadened our horizons in a very fun and easygoing way.“

- Alberto Munoz – Spain

“… In rural areas, tradition and industrial scale production seemed he could perfectly

reconciled. An example is the region of Lika, where care for the environment was a priority.

We also visited the Croatian coast in karlobag where the water is colder and cleaner than in

western Italy by an ocean current that comes from the south and that is generally an advantage

for the Croatian fishing. Overall, Croatia is a country of contrasts and many agribusiness

opportunities.“

- Ivonne Kampermann – Germany

“…The Croatian team started a good discussion about the demand of organic products in the

different countries and in different age groups; what are advantage and disadvantages about

organic.

In general it was a good mix between agricultural knowledge, culture, nature and fun.

We had a great week with a diverse group of interesting people of many different countries.

And everybody made one’s contribution that this week was such a success.”


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IAAS EAST AFRICA CONFERENCE

Written by: Lisanne Meulendijks, VP Communication

From 27-29 November 2014 the first IAAS East Africa Conference took place at the Egerton

University, Nakuru, Kenya. This conference with the topic “Unite African Students and

Together Feed 9 billion People by 2050” had a double goal. Firstly provide agricultural

students with high quality lectures from speakers from different institutions and companies.

By these lectures IAAS tries to provide her students a link with the professional world. This

link is important because it provides the students insight in their future job market and can

create curiosity and motivation for their studies. The second goal of the conference was the

union of agricultural students by making them a member of IAAS. Unfortunately at the

moment in East Africa agriculture is not a very popular field of study, though it is a very

important field. With the explosive population growth in the region, also a similar increase in

food production should be realized. For this agricultural students are necessary. IAAS tries,

partly with this conference, to unite agricultural students and attract new students by showing

them that agriculture is a very interesting and important field of study.

Before the start of the actual conference

Kennedy Ouma (National Director IAAS

Kenaya) together with myself (Lisanne, VP of

Communication) made an IAAS promotion

tour through Kenya. Thanks a lot to the dean of

the Faculty of Agriculture of Egerton

University who provided a vehicle (with IAAS

logo!) for this purpose. We visited different

universities spread over the country (Moi

University, the University of Eldoret, Maseno

University and finally the hosting university of

the conference: Egerton University). During

our visits we had the honour to be invited by several deans who were the patrons of the local

IAAS committees on their university. Next to that we gave presentations about the different

possibilities IAAS offers and motivated students to come to the East Africa Conference.

Thursday the 27th of November was the big day: the start of the conference. Unfortunately the

promotion of the conference outside Kenya appeared not to be as successful as we hoped. We

were happy with our one foreign guest from Uganda, who was very interested to set up a new

IAAS committee in his home university. Though the presence from non-Kenyan students was

low, students from many different Kenyan universities were present, such as from the

University of Nairobi, Kisii University, Rongo University and all of the above mentioned

universities visited earlier that week.


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After the words of

welcome and an

extensive explanation

about our association

we had the honour to

give the stage to our

guest speakers. Firstly

the Regional Director

of East Africa from Self

Help Africa gave a

presentation about the

work their association

does. Self Help Africa is

a NGO that already for

30 years empowers rural Africa by several projects. These projects are focused on the

sustainable improvement of agriculture and by this providing food security for the local people.

Self Help Africa has several projects in Kenya and also has been the major sponsor of the

conference.

After this presentation the stage was given to the representative of the Syngenta Foundation

for Sustainable Agriculture. The aim of this foundation is to help small farmers become more

professional growers. During the presentation the topic of the conference was addressed and

next to that students were given many tips and tricks on how to be prepared for the professional

world after their graduation. The SFSA also has been a sponsor of the conference.

To conclude the first day, it was time for the students to come up the stage. Here some of them

explained about their cultural

background and the different traditions

the tribes where they come from have. A

nice variation on the traditional IAAS

Trade Fair.

The next day the morning started in an

interactive way: There was a discussion

among the students on how IAAS could

play a role in achieving the goal of

feeding 9 billion people by 2050, the

topic of the conference. Many different

and innovative ideas were raised to

implement in the activities IAAS Kenya

organizes. The afternoon was filled with

soft skill training sessions. Firstly one

on Leadership, emphasizing on the lead

of a local IAAS committee. The second


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training was on how to be a good event organizer, addressing different events that could be

organized, a timeline and a job division for this organisation.

The last day of the conference consisted of a summary of all the different things the students

had learned in the previous two days. After this there was the official closing ceremony by the

dean of faculty of Agriculture, Prof. J. O. Ogendo and myself during which we handed over

official certificates of attendance and gave our final thank words to all the organizers of the

event.

Hereby I’d like to do that once more: I would like to thank everyone who helped to make this

conference a success, and a special thanks to the sponsors and Egerton University who has

been a very generous host.

Thanks a lot,

Lisanne


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EXCHANGE WEEK IN BELGIUM

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a great year with IAAS. At IAAS Leuven, we had an amazing time. It was a

busy year, but we made some great new friends and created fabulous memories. We also made

a lot of crazy pictures, which I would like to share with you. So, let’s see what happened on our

previous exchange week in Belgium.

In November, we had the crazy idea to invite 8 Greeks, 6 Frenchmen, 2 Mexicans and a

Brazilian to our exchange week in Belgium. We showed them our breweries and some typical

aspects of our agriculture, like the Belgian Blue-White cows and the cultivation of chicory.

Party time! There ain’t no party like an IAAS party.

There was plenty of traditional food like Chilakile from Mexico, Greek chees, Belgian chocolate

and waffles and many more at the trade fair.

We also explored Brussels (beer lovers should visit the Delirium café) and Bruges.


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I hope you are all ready for another IAAS year. I know I am.

Greetings from Leuven,

Annelies

I will miss all of the crazy people on our exchange week.

A visit to the

greenhouses

and the

campus of the

KULeuven

university.

You will need more than one

exchange week to try out all the

Belgian beer.


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EXCHANGE WEEK ITALY

The LC of Sassari held an Exchange Week

from the 17th to the 24th of October 2014 with

IAAS Croatia, IAAS Poland and IAAS France.

14 IAASers took part in the Exchange Week, 4

from Croatia, 5 from Poland and 5 from

France. The visits of the week were

concentrated in the northern part of Sardinia,

and the aim of the week was to give to our

guests a brief but intensive view of the

Island's agriculture and tradition. We've

started with a relaxing and sunny Saturday

morning at "La Pelosa” beach in Stintino.

We have been very lucky, because it was like a summer day so we could have a wonderful beach

time…in October! The Polish girls were absolutely amazed….in Warsaw there were about 7°C

degrees when they left Poland, and in France and Croatia it was very cold too! In the evening

we had a tour of Sassari town: we had the chance to visit the whole ancient part of the city and

discover its inner beauty.

On Sunday we went to Orgosolo, a village located in

the center of Sardinia. There was a “festival”, and all

the ancient houses and gardens of the village were

opened to public. It was a invaluable occasion to

meet directly the Sardinian tradition, in a village

which is still very well preserved. Orgosolo is also

rich in beautiful “murals”, which are UNESCO

heritage.

On Monday we started our “technical visit”. In the morning we visited the " 2M Company" in

Sassari, which works on flowers production in greenhouses. They were cultivating poinsettia,

chrysanthemum, and succulent plants, and they gave a little cactus to every participant as a

present! Very kind of them! After that, in the afternoon, we went to "Associazione Ippica

Alessandra" riding club where they explained us how a horse farm is conducted, and which

activities they do there, like “hippoterapy” and the equestrian sports they teach and practice.

At the end of the visit they allowed all of us to have a short ride with 2 horses.


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The next day morning we visited the “P3-Brewing” brewery, in Sassari. The company makes

craft beer, and we could taste it after the visit…and it was very good! In the evening we moved

from Sassari to Tempio Pausania to visit “Cantina Gallura”, which is famous for its good wines,

especially for the DOCG of Vermentino di Gallura, a white wine, made from a traditional

cultivar of Sardinia. We visited the winery, we had a tasting, and they also gave to each

participant a bottle of wine as a present.

On Wednesday it was the time to visit the

“Sardinian Biodiversity Conservation

Center” in Surigheddu. The center, which is

managed from the Agricultural Faculty of

Sassari, has got modern labs and a

germoplasm collections of vegetable crops

of Sardinia. In the evening we visited a other

winery, “Cantine Santa Maria La Palma”,

near Alghero. We could visit the

winemaking facilities and we had a wine

tasting, that was very good. On Thursday it

was the time to visit the experimental field

of our faculty. At the moment of the visit there were only the thistle field, that they are

investigating as an energy crop. In the afternoon we held the “ExPro Inauguration

Conference”:we explained to our guests and to all the students who took part in the conference,

which results we achieved with the ExCo Meeting, which plans for the Exchange Program in

the future we have. In the last part of the conference, Mr Zucca (a phd in agriculture

department) and Mrs Mossa (a phd in Veterinary department) explained the new Archimedes

places that we have recently inaugurated in Sassari.

The exchange week has reached the end. It left us many good memories, strong bonds and

friendships.

Our French friends Clemence, Mitra, Laura, Doris and Adele would remember this experience

with those words:

“Even though the journey from France to Sardinia was long and exhausting, we only

keep good memories of our exchange week on the Island. Indeed, we visited only interesting

places which thought us about how agriculture works in Sardinia and permitted us to compare

with the French vision of farming, which can not be the same due to the climate for instance.

Besides, we discovered this Island, in which none of us had already been before, through

breathtaking spots such as Capo Caccia or Stintino beach.

We also had the luck to enjoy all of the sardinian food during the Trade Fair party, at

restaurants and during a festival in Orgosolo. We visited beer and wine factories which was

very interesting. The tasting was made by professionals, which was very useful. Moreover we

met people from several countries which was very rewarding and especially funny.


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Finally, we just want to say that it was an amazing experience, and that we are going to

remember the Sardinians boys and girls during a long time! So thank you very much for

everything you did for us.

Well ... we are looking forward to come and see everybody of you!


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FAO Committee on World Food Security

Hello IAAS!

Several months after the end of my work as IAAS

President, I am pleased to still be working for IAAS! If

you have been watching the IAAS Facebook and

Newsletters, you have seen opportunities to attend

meetings of the FAO and earn internships with the FAO.

To cultivate these opportunities and future ones,

Michael Hess (IAAS Germany) and I (IAAS USA)

attended the Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations’ (FAO) Committee on World Food

Security (CFS) in Rome, Italy from October 13th-

October 18th, 2014.

The goal of attending the CFS of the FAO was to revive

sending student members of the International Association of Agriculture and Related Sciences

Students (IAAS) to meetings of the FAO and other United Nations (UN) bodies. The goal of my

honors project and work with IAAS this year will be to develop a training program to prepare

student members to attend these conferences.

The trip was incredibly successful! We were able to meet with the Partnerships Unit of the FAO,

who is also interested in preparing IAAS members to attend FAO meetings by preparing online

videos and meeting with students directly. They are also interested in informing IAASers who

are unable to attend meetings through webcasts and sending speakers to IAAS events. In

partnership with the EC.CC, we are continuing work with Mr. Franz Martin of the FAO

Partnerships Unit to bring these ideas to life.

We also learned a great deal on how IAASers can understand the structure of the CFS and

similar meetings. I made contact with the director of the Civil Society Mechanism, which IAAS

members can also observe on in addition to the main plenaries and side events. Thanks to this

understanding, IAAS just sent two members to the Civil Society Mechanism pre-meeting for

the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) and one member to the main events

of ICN2.

We were also able to talk with Mr. Franz Martin of the Partnerships Unit and Dr. Irene

Hoffman of the Animal Genetics Unit on a process of cultivating internships with IAASers. We

have already been lucky to be able to advertise 3 internship places directly to IAASers!

Most of all, I want to thank IAASers for your interest, support, and understanding while our

new programs with the FAO take flight. The FAO is interested due to the high qualities of

IAASers all around the world! Stay tuned for further opportunities on our IAAS Facebook page,

Newsletters, and website!


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FAO - Second Interntional Conference on

Nutrition (ICN2)

17th and 18th of November 2014 we, the French student Helene Kergoat and Ukrainian

student Galyna Dukhta (see photo), had the honor as agricultural students to be present at

international meeting on nutrition. We have been selected by the International Association of

Students in Agriculture and Related Sciences (IAAS World) to participate as an observer in

ICN2 CSO forum. It does not speak to you? Read the further for more details!

ICN2 – A historical meeting

FAO and WHO organized on 19-20-21 of

November the Second International

Conference on Nutrition (CIN2) to guide

national policies on nutrition of the 170

countries present. This event was a

historic forward step for our food sector

since governments committed

themselves on nutrition for the first time

since 1992, when was the First

International Conference on Nutrition.

Indeed, they have approved the Rome

Declaration on Nutrition and the Action

Framework. Governments call UN General Assembly to incorporate the recommendations of

these documents in their post-2015 development plan.

In order to fix their position on the issue, civil societies organized the ICN2 CSO forum, a two-

day event that will result after more than 15 hours of debate in their contribution to the ICN2

(document available online1). Thus, during the preparation of conference, spoke with

representatives of different organizations, followed by discussions, all punctuated by work

groups returned to the plenary. A Redaction Committee had indeed written a rough draft

before the pre-conference through preliminary work, they corrected, completed and constantly

reshaping through feedback from participants.

1http://www.fian.org/fileadmin/media/publications/CSO_Forum_Declaration_-FINAL_20141121_e.pdf


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Malnutrition like a main global stake

Participation allowed us to better understand not

only the issues around nutrition, but also the

functioning of international cooperation.

Malnutrition as an indicator reflects the food

security problems. It affects 180 million children

under 5 years and is responsible for deaths of

800,000 children every year.

Moreover, civil societies have agreed, that the

main cause of malnutrition is poverty.

International collaboration is therefore a first part

in the economic development of the South. Then

distributions systems must go through collaborations on exports, but not only. It must indeed

focus on local markets and balanced traditional products which, in addition to reducing

transport costs, involved in the ethnic and cultural expression. This of course depends on

education. It must raise awareness about nutrition so they know how to eat well.

This work should be done mainly to young generation, and also to adults. The food industry

often becomes an obstacle for this kind education, and sometimes guides consumers towards

bad habits with their marketing strategies. One of the most perverse effects in this area is called

the business of malnutrition, such as lobbying on food supplements. Rather than try to have a

good diet, consumers tend more towards to use these products. Manufacturers also cause other

debates, particularly at governance. It is normal for them to express their views on decisions

about it, but how far should we involve these processes? Is it normal that they have the more

important weight than civil societies, non-profit organizations to the views about conflicts of

interest in results to their profitability goals?

An unique personal experience!

The ICN2 CSO Forum was an opportunity to lead our thoughts on the issues of nutrition, and

above all it was a personal experience out of the ordinary. The event started by the opening

speeches of José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director, and Francesco Branca, director of the

Nutrition Department at WHO. In addition, two young and ambitious French and Ukrainian

students met each other and became friends. We were able to interact directly with key industry

players. Breaks and meals were indeed part of the most important moments where we could

meet with as many large structures such as Action Against Hunger, as fishermen associations

of Honduras or Indigenous Latin Americans. Finally, one of the most impressive aspects of the

event was its logistics: a drafting committee to work day and night, but especially the

translations of the real-time discussions in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese!


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The major challenge for young Agrarians!

Finally, we would like to talk about the role of students in this type of event. The majority of

people were really surprised to see us. Besides that, also very happy that the youth feel

concerned by these issues. I guess they soon felt our curiosity and shown enthusiasm to answer

all our questions. We have learned a lot. However, the fact that we are still trainees does not

mean that we cannot get involved and take action. Dynamism, will and creativity make us

young people and students of the key players in the construction of solutions of tomorrow. We

of course need to be accompanied, but we have a lot to contribute. I'm really happy that

institutions recognize and involve students in these international processes. Last but not least,

thank you IAAS World for making possible our participation in the ICN2 CSO Forum.

Helene Kergoat (IAAS France) and Galyna Dukhta (IAAS Ukraine) at the Second International Conference on Nutrition, Rome, Italy


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IAAS student observer attending the ICN2 in Rome

I had the great opportunity to attend the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2)

in Rome. After the selection process and some major problems concerning the involvement of

students, I was very relieved, and excited, to travel all the way to Italy from Helsinki, Finland.

Numerous national governments, private sector organizations and the CSO gathered to address

global problems. More than 2 200 participants attended the ICN2, including representatives

from more than 170 governments, 150 representatives from the CSO and almost 100

representatives from the private sector.

In the conference, which took place at the huge headquarters of the FAO, there were three

rooms; the Plenary, the Green room and the Red room. Each morning all the Non-State Actors

would go to another room to pick up a new pass to one of the conference rooms, and the same

process was repeated before the afternoon sessions. The conference included many round tables

and side events with more specific subjects.

ICN2 focused on malnutrition, which is a major problem all over the world. Today, more than

half of the world’s population is negatively affected by some form of bad nutrition, such as

undernourishment and obesity. As Graziano da Silva noted, the world already has the

knowledge and expertise it needs to overcome malnutrition. Now we need action and results.

The motto for the conference was Better nutrition, better lives – and you could actually feel

how especially the CSO was motivated to change the situation.

As a result of the conference two outcome documents were approved by the governments: the

Rome Declaration on Nutrition and the Framework for Action. Approving the documents “the

world leaders were committed to establish national policies aimed at eradicating malnutrition

and transforming food systems to make nutritious diets available to all”.

What surprised me was how political the ICN2 turned out to be - I had assumed it to be a bit

more scientific. Nonetheless, I found the conference engrossing. You could really feel the

political dimension when the Queen Letizia of Spain and even the Pope visited and gave

speeches.

Overall this was a great opportunity to me to learn more and the conference was highly

stimulating to me. Even though the process was not the easiest one, as tjhis was my eveer

conferences of any kind, I was very glad with IAAS in managing to arrange my participation.

Having had the chance to attend the conference inspired me to to I apply to become the National

Representative of the IAAS Finland – and I was chosen!

EveliinaHanski

Nutrition Science student in the University of Helsinki, Finland


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Climate Change Conferences in Lima

With rising sea levels, increasing global temperature, droughts at some places and severe

storms in others, it seems quite important to talk about climate change! That’s what most

countries are thinking and that’s why ministers, scientists, big company representatives, NGOs

and many others from 195 countries came together from 1-12 of December in Lima, Perú to sit

together and see what they can do to fix this.

IAAS was also represented! Helena Ström (Sweden) and Vincent Verdugt (Belgium) attended

two events related to this big event (which is actually called the 20th Conference of the Parties

to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or just COP20).

First, we wanted that the Voice of Youth would be heard

about the climate change topic. So we attended the 10th

Conference of Youth (COY10). Very interesting, because it

was filled with presentations from Peruvian and

international youth about their scientific investigations,

their activities and actions against climate change and there

were also discussion groups about what is happening in Peru

itself (including the many indigenous communities the

country counts!), what youth thinks about certain topics,

how to do creative activism and much more. One of the

results of this Conference was a document containing the

declaration of the youth with regards to the climate change,

to be sent to and spoken out during the COP20.

The next big event (+1500 attendees!) was called the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), an event

in which all different stakeholders could come together to talk about “Sustainable landscapes

for a new climate and development agenda”, as the main theme mentions. You want to get to

know some of the speakers? Here is a list of the 10 most inspirational quotes from the GLF!

In between these events, we participated at various soft skills

training sessions. Vincent first learned about how to use social

media and how to pitch your idea. Helena was learning more

about how to facilitate discussions between various persons.

Afterwards both of us learned how to effectively network and

through a role-playing game we got to know what it actually

means to be one of the many stakeholders trying to reach a

landscape approach in the context of an environmental issue

(ours was about fracking). Most of these trainings were organized

by one of IAAS’ partners YPARD, who also gave us the

opportunity to promote IAAS during the GLF!

http://www.cop20.pe/en/

https://www.facebook.com/COY10.Peru?fref=ts

http://www.landscapes.org/

http://www.landscapes.org/hero-teasers/cop20-chooses-10-inspirational-quotes-2014-global-landscapes-forum/

http://www.ypard.net/


20

#FoodSavingBEC: IAAS WOCO Internal Contest

World Congress 2015 is going to be held in Belgium, Switzerland and Italy! Organizing

committee is preparing an unforgettable time for you from July 7th to 27th. During the last days

it is planned to visit ExPo Milano and many is happening around this huge event!

In the frame mark of WoCo 2015, IAAS is ambassador of #FoodSavingBEC and we have some

surprises for the first IAAS members ranked in #FoodSavingBEC! This time I want to share

with you the great opportunity we have as students and specially as IAAS members to speak

out about an issue which definitely concern us:

“FOOD WASTE”

According to FAO, each year one third of the food produced on the planet is

never eaten and food waste is responsible for: 3.3Gt of CO2 equivalents

(between 6 and 10% of total greenhouse gasemissions – only the United

States and China have higher emissions), it occupies 1.4 billion hectares of

land (only the Russian Federation is larger) and it uses 250 square kilometers

of water (no country in the world uses as much).

I’m sure that if you think for a second about Food Waste, it will come to your mind tens of

images in which food is being wasted in your university, home, restaurants, farms, orchards

and industry. For sure you and me; members of IAAS can do something about that!

What can you do?

It is very simple… and you can win 50% discount for WoCo!

Bocconi University of Milan in cooperation with ExPo Milano 2015 is organizing

#FoodSavingBEC and encouraging students from all over the world to find solutions for Food

Waste. Just follow the rules of #FoodSavingBEC IAAS WoCo Internal Contest in the following

link: https://docs.com/1FJJP

Prices:

The first IAAS member ranked on #FoodSavingBEC will get 50% of discount for IAAS

World Congress participation fee.

Meet with 200 students from around the world at Bocconi and ExPo Milano for a week

of learning, teamwork and competition during ExPo.

a. 10 places shall be allocated by means of a vote on the internet site.

b. 190 places shall be allocated according to the judgment and discretion of a

selection committee

c. 5 air tickets, round-trip between place of residence or study and Milan

Deadline to upload videos: January 31th.

https://docs.com/1FJJP


21

STUDY PORTALS CONTEST

Do you want to learn a new language or improve your language skills? Please check out the

following contest of our partner Study Portals:

Enter your exciting YouTube contest and get a chance to win a language holiday abroad, which

includes a language course, travel, and accommodation up to € 800 !

How? Simply submit a short YouTube video in which you explain why you want to learn this

language and get as many views as you can!

LanguageLearningPortal will help you to find the perfect language course for you!

PS. Before participating, make sure to check the Terms & Conditions of the contest at

StudyPortal’s site

http://www.languagelearningportal.com/articles/1022/youtube-contest-win-a-language-holiday-abroad.html


www.iaasworld.org [email protected]

Call for Articles

Did you organize an event in your Committee and you want to

share it with IAAS World? Please send your article with pictures

to [email protected] before the 10th of February,

2014.

This IAAS Newsletter was brought to you by Lisanne Meulendijks & Vincent Verdugt.

Leuven, 15th of December 2014

http://www.iaasworld.org/

mailto:[email protected]

IAAS Newsletter Nov-Dec 2014

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Transcript of IAAS Newsletter Nov-Dec 2014