Newsletter March - February 2015

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

March – April 2015

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

Thought For Food – Global Summit................................... 2

Exchange Week France....................................................... 3-4

Training New Trainers........................................................... 5

Exchange Coordinators Meeting........................................ 6-7

Mediterranean Forestry Week ............................................ 8-9

Upcoming Events..............................................................10-11

Promotion New Regional Directors EU................................. 12

EXPRO...................................................................................13

Executive Committee Courier ..........................................14-17


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Thought for Food - Global Summit

Eight members (Lisanne, Steven, Samuel, Charlotte, Ratih, Damien, Seyhan and Veronica)

attended the Thought for Food Global Summit in Lisbon during the 13th/14th of February. One

of our IAAS member Mikayla participated with her team at the Thought for Food Challenge

with the project Kinosol. (http://www.tffchallenge.com/team/kinosol/)

These two day were very inspiring and valuable for all of us. Speakers from all over the world

were present and gave us new inputs how we could feed the population of 9 billions till 2050.

At the first day we had the unique opportunity to meet Julie Borlaug. Julie is the granddaughter

of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug and the Associate Director of External Relations at the Borlaug

Institute for International Agriculture at Texas. She is passionate about the need and

acceptance of innovation and technology in the fight against hunger and poverty. She is also

committed to mentoring and training the next generation of “hunger fighters” and helping

them to become part of the solution. Julie leaded the workshop about GMO and its acceptance,

where also representatives from Monsanto, Syngenta and CIMMYT were part of. “ Is GMO

good or bad?” The answer was: It depends. A lot of people see Monsanto and Syngenta as the

big devil. But their employees get up every day to find new possibilities how to feed the planet.

My second workshop was about in vito meat production. The big question was how to enter

the market. Should we sell it as meat, as meat

replacement product or as something that is even

better than meat. There still has to be done a lot

of research but how would it be if you could

design your meat without needing to kill animals.

This workshop was delivered from Mark Post.

You can find all the interesting persons who

delivered a workshop here:

http://www.tffchallenge.com/summit#program

Impressive to see three 14-years old girls are

eager to research, Sophie, Émer and Ciara are

now 17 years old, high school students from

Ireland who won the prestigious 2014 Google

Science Fair. They started three years ago with

their researach how bacteria called Diazotroph

that naturally occur in soil speed up the

germination process of certain crops such as

barley and oats by 50 percent.


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Exchange Week France

From the 1st – 7ht of March IAAS Belgium and IAAS Germany were invited in France for an

Exchange Week.

We, the members from IAAS Belgium, arrived in Nancy Sunday the 1st of March in the

afternoon and were welcomed by the members of IAAS France and of IAAS Germany who

arrived before us. After a delicious croque-monsieur we were off to visit Nancy city.

The next day we had a lecture and a tour in

the soil lab of the host university: ENSAIA

(L’École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie

et des Industries Alimentaires de Nancy).

The afternoon was very tasty because we

paid a visit to an artisanal chocolate and

candy factory.

We were not allowed to go inside the factory

because of hygiene regulation so he showed

us the techniques in a workshop.

That evening was the famous Trade Fair.

There was a lot of chocolate, cheese and beer

and much more. Not only France, Germany and Belgium were represented, but Switzerland

too, one of the members of IAAS Germany was Swiss.

The next morning we paid a visit to an artisanal ice-cream

maker. He had ice in many flavours, ranging from chocolate to

various flowers to even balsamic vinegar. His ice was made

with local products and contained no artificial preservatives.

In the afternoon we went to a research centre of INRA

(l’Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique). We had a

debate about forestry with the head of the centre. After that he

was our guide and had several scientists explain to us what

their field was and what they were doing.

In the evening we had a lecture from one of the teachers of

ENSAIA about the goats of Lorraine.

Wednesday morning we went by car to a farm where wine was

made from rhubarb. The farm didn't solely cultivate rhubarb,

but also potatoes, apples and lots more. They also had livestock so it was a mixed farm.


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In the afternoon we went to a beekeeper, who

showed us the process of collecting the honey.

After that we went to a botanical garden where

a student of ENSAIA told us more about some

of the plants.

Our

Thursday

started with

a visit to the winery, Cave du roi Dagobert. Besides normal

wine they also made sparkling wines, this works with a

secondary fermentation which was explained to us. Since

the winery was close to Strasbourg, we visited Strasbourg

on our way back to Nancy.

Our last full day, since we were leaving Saturday morning,

started with a visit to a brewery. This was a small, local

brewery, les brasseurs de Lorraine, where local French

beers are brewed.

In the afternoon we visited artisanal madelaine factory,

again, like the ice-cream factory, no use of any artificial

flavourings or preservatives.

Then we visited another winery where the Perlé, a sparkling fruit wine, was made. After this

we went back to Nancy and cooked and ate together. The next morning we left for Belgium.

Dédéé Ceusters

IAAS Belgium


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Training New Trainers

This year, in the period from 6.3.-13.3.2015

IAAS and EGEA in cooperation with BEST

organized a Train New Trainers event, held

in French speaking part of Belgium, lovely

Trois-Ponts. TNT (Train new trainers) is a

event where you learn the skills you need to

guide a working group, to work in a project

team, the skills you need to perform in our

society that’s mainly focused on the network

and interactions with the people around you,

basically all of the things crucial not only for

the NGOs but also for the individual and

personal development.

The program of the event was both

challenging and inspiring in many ways. It

was designed for shaping the participants

knowledge about soft-skill trainings,

challenging them and helping them to create an open mind-set to continuously learn. The

first part of the event was focused on getting the basic skills- getting to know what a trainer

is, and the qualifications he obtains. We learned about different learning styles, group

dynamics and each of us had a stage performance, delivering a one minute public speech

which we later analysed. The next part of the event was based on gaining TNT skills (skills a

new trainer has), throughout which we got the knowledge about training design, training

delivery and activity management. In between lessons we had a lot of practice time with the

help of our amazing trainers, which was going to get us ready for the final part of the event-

Creating and delivering our very own training! After our training delivery we had a debriefing

with our mentors, who helped us in facilitation of our training every step of the way. On our

final day we had a training follow-up and learned about the path we were hopefully going to

take as new trainers, we also did the final evaluation and wrap up of the event.

All in all this was an unforgettable event with amazing, dynamic and enthusiastic people from

different NGOs from all over the world. Everybody was so open hearted and amazing, that it

seemed like we had already known each other for a long time. We laughed together, we

cooked together, drank beer together, we went to sauna together, we learnt together and we

learnt from each other. It was an inspiring, knowledge and fun-filled experience for all of us-

the participants and the trainers.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the organizers for their amazing job done with

organizing this event, also the trainers for sharing their knowledge, experiences and ideas

with us- they were always there to help us and inspire us. Last, but not least, I would like to

thank the rest of the participants- The Saunas- for sharing the experiences, amazing spirit

and love, and of course the sauna time!

By Josipa Arapović – IAAS Croatia


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Exchange Coordinators Meeting

Driven by a desire to know more about Expro, agriculture in Spain

and to connect with students involved in agriculture, IAAS

members from all over the world attended the EXCO meeting 2015

under the theme, “The power of our future”. As interested IAAS

members, it was our goal to improve and work on the exchange

program. From 15th of March till 22nd of March, more than 20

participants gathered in Madrid and Avilla to create better

understandings and group feeling among the current and future

exchange coordinators. It was a week full of fun, motivation, group

feeling and interested excursions were members from Greece, Italy,

Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Belgium, Bangladesh, USA,

Switzerland and Spain had the time of their life.

Part 1, Madrid: The capital of Spain

The first day of the week was filled with country presentations,

original tapas workshop, improving our tractor driving skills,

a tour around the university and lectures from the main

sponsors.

The following days, assemblies

and debates are organised with

the help of the members and

coordinators from every present

national committee, who work

along to improve the program and

find solutions to the possible problems that may have arised

since the last period of exchange. Interesting solutions were

found and will be used to improve the exchange program in the

future.


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Part 2, Avilla

After two days of trainings and

intensive workshops, the whole

group left Madrid and moved to

Avilla, in the center of Spain. The

OC arranged a beautiful cottage

were all the participants had an

awesome time. Starting with the

well-known trade fair, the

following two days were filled with agricultural games, pig

farm visit and a lesson in how to make the famous Spanish

sausages. Off course, the small but cozy city center of Avilla

is a must see and could not be missing in the schedule.

Part 3, Madrid

After two awesome days in Avilla, the whole group returned to

the capital of Spain, Madrid. We spent the last two days in a

hostel in the middle of the city center. Time to discover the

cultural city center and to have parties to celebrate the great job

of the organizing committee. After two sleepless nights it was

time to leave Spain and go back home.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the OC for their awesome job to organize this

event. Everything was well organized and the atmosphere in group was perfect! A big thank

you to IAAS Spain!

Your

VP Exchange


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4th Mediterranean Forest Week l’Institut national de la recherche agronomique

From Tuesday, 17th until Friday, 20th of March, 2015, the 4th session of the Mediterranean Forest Week was held in Barcelona, Spain. Vincent Verdugt, as member of IAAS World Control Committee and IAAS Belgium participated at this event to learn more about what is

happening with forests in the Mediterranean region

and to represent our association.

The theme of this week was “Improving livelihoods: the role of Mediterranean forest value chains in a green economy”. Next to the most convenient and traditional value chain of

forests producing wood and other kinds of products such as fruits and cork, various other alternative value chains were presented and discussed about in separate sessions throughout the week. Some examples are how forests can purify and store water or how

biomass can be harvested for bio-energy production. Also the role forests can play in

tourism by providing a place to relax and to experience nature was highlighted.

To not only stick to high-level meetings, panel discussions and scientific presentations, a field trip was included in the program. This gave the participants the opportunity to see with their own eyes how cork oak forests in the Catalonian region are managed and

harvested. These trees are manually debarked (which actually does not kill them) and from

this bark - the cork - various products can be made, most commonly the cork stoppers to be put on a wine bottle. This is a tree species that

only grows in the Mediterranean region and therefore makes this quite an extraordinary production chain in the forestry sector.

The first Mediterranean Forest Week was held in 2010 with the aim to give the forests and forestry sectors from the Mediterranean region a voice on the international level. As these forests are very specific due to their location and climate, all around the Mediterranean the same challenges and threats are being faced whether it is in Spain, Croatia, Turkey or Tunisia. Meetings like this bring together decision-makers from wholeover the region and enable them to share their knowledge and experience, to broaden their horizon and so to improve themselves to go back to their countries with

more possibilities and opportunities. This setting has generated throughout the years a


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sort of community of Ministers responsible for the forests in their countries, scientists and NGOs all going into interaction and dialogue.

One of the sessions related to Youth, was about ‘Forest Education and Training’ in which various study programs were introduced, next to studies about education and training facilities. At last, a presentation about the importance of student associations (both locally as internationally) was brought by a representative of our partner IFSA (International Forestry Students Association).

As a closure of the week, the International Day of Forests was celebrated to honour the forests on our planet and all the benefits they can provide us.

If you are interested in forestry on an international level, stay updated about the upcoming World Forestry

Congress in Durban, South-Africa this September. IAAS is a Partner in organising the Youth Event during this

congress. More information about this specific event and

ways to be involved can be found on: http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/world-forestry-congress/get-involved/youth/en/. (IAAS Contactperson: Alexandra Rieder, [email protected])

http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/world-forestry-congress/get-involved/youth/en/

http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/world-forestry-congress/get-involved/youth/en/

mailto:[email protected]


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Upcoming Events

Alumni Meeting

From 24/04/2015 to 26/04/2015

This year the IAAS Alumni Meeting will take place in the

beautiful Slovenia. For the full program, application and

more details about the venue please visit:

http://www.iaasworld.org/event/iaas-alumni-meeting/

European Directors Meeting

From: 03/05/2015 - 10/05/2015 – Germany

Two premieres in IAAS:

For the first time in history of IAAS Germany, the southern

committee (IAAS Hohenheim) is organizing the European

Directors' Meeting.

Also very uncommon for IAAS is the date of this year's EDM.

Unlike other years the EDM will not be held over new year it

will be at the beginning of May.

This year IAAS Hohenheim will try to give you a wide

impression of German agriculture. Wether it is rather traditional farming or modern organic

plant cultivation, new sustainable technologies in agricultural egineering or just the most

simple thing on earth you would think: holding pigs.

They will try to show you a bit of everything.

Beseids that they will talk about the IAAS constitution, new Regional Directors will be elected

and old ones to be confirmed.

For the full program, please have a look at:

http://www.iaasworld.org/event/edm-in-germany/

http://www.iaasworld.org/event/iaas-alumni-meeting/

http://www.iaasworld.org/event/edm-in-germany/


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World Congress 2015

From: 06/07/2015 - 27/07/2015 – The

Netherlands – Belgium – Switzerland - Italy

Deadline application:

Applications CLOSED

The World Congress is our largest and most

important event of the year! In addition to

the regular knowledge transfer, networking

opportunities, lots of fun and new friends,

our General Assembly (GA) will take place.

For the year 2015, as none of the member

countries are able to host this event

individually, the WOCO15 will take place in

several parts of central Europe. Starting in

the Netherlands, the participants will

travel to Belgium and Switzerland and will end in Italy. During this journey, you will have

the unique opportunity to experience Europe from a scientific, entrepreneurial, cultural,

political and historical perspective. An introduction to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP),

a visit to the parliament in Brussels, tours through the visiting cities, and lead discussions

about current topics will all be key components during these three weeks.

During the first weeks of the World Congress, most of the attention will be paid to the GA

of IAAS World, company visits and member based projects. The GA does not only act as the

governing body of our association but will also offer the chance to our participants to improve

their soft skills. Hands-on learning experiences in the field of democratic structures and

decision making processes, strategic planning, and the evaluation of past developments are

topics which will be discovered and treated.

Furthermore, company visits and member-based projects, related to the theme: “How to

Feed the Planet” will be organised. The goal of WOCO15 is to inform the participants about

the agriculture methods in the different countries and to update them about the challenges for

the future. In this case, the IAAS members will improve their knowledge concerning specific

subjects dealt with during the World Congress and thus be able to discuss their new insights

with the representatives at the World Exhibition 2015, in Milano.

For more information: http://www.iaasworld.org/event/woco15/

http://www.iaasworld.org/event/woco15/


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Call 3 New Regional Directors - EU

Yearly during the European Directors Meeting the new Regional Directors of the Europe

Region are elected. The three positions that will be available are:

1. Regional Director of Western Europe

(Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium)

2. Regional Director of Central Europe

(Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina)

3. Regional Director of North East Europe

(Finland, Sweden, Poland, Belarus, Czech-Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia)

The main duties of a Regional Director according to the constitution are:

- “To actively keep in contact with both Members and the Executive Committee.”

This means you form the link between the EC and all the National Directors, Local

Directors and Members in your region.

- “To assist the Executive Committee in matters related to the region and the

members in the region whenever needed, especially in the support of possible new

and candidate countries.

For a more detailed description of the duties download the Regional Director Guide of 2014-

2015 from the website or mail to [email protected] to ask for it.

Please do note: It is NOT obligatory to be personally present at EDM to apply as candidate for

one of the free RD positions. In case of absence, please prepare a presentation in which you

present yourself, your iaas-history and why you would be a good RD.

If you’re interested in one of the positions and would like more information, mail: Lisanne

Meulendijks - VP of Communication on: [email protected]




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EXPRO


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EC COURIER

Samuel Navarrete, President Dear members, you can find in the following text the main topics on which I have been

working during the last two months. Feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Ypard: During TFF 2015 I had the opportunity to meet Amelia Ochoa, board member of

our partner organization Ypard (Young Professionals for Agricultural Development). We are

now looking forward to strength our collaboration, especially regarding communication and

promotion of IAAS, Ypard and agriculture itself. www.ypard.net

WOCO15: Our World Congress is day by day coming closer! We want to make sure to

have a great time during July and transmit the essence of IAAS to all participants and

followers online. Our beloved WOCO is the opportunity to boost your interest and broaden

your vision of what is possible to make as an IAAS member at local and international level.

The preparation of a suitable agenda of assemblies and great atmosphere during the

development of IAAS International projects where you can take action is one of my main

concerns.

Candidate Members: There are a lot of students interested to join IAAS and open a

committee in their home countries! Brazil, Ecuador, Macedonia, Mali, South Africa, Sri

Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad y Tobago, Turkey, Uganda and Zimbabgue are just

some examples! This is so exciting and we are working in a strategy to ensure a successful

long term development of new National Committees.

Africa Region: During last month I have been in contact with Ayobami Alabi

(Regional Director) and Oscar Doré (former Regional Director). I am organizing a meeting

with Ayobami (will join via skype) and Oscar (physically since is living in Belgium) to discuss

about how IAAS can be improved in africa and involve more African members as decided in

IAAS one and three year strategies (Iowa, 2014 and Chile, 2013). The main objective of this

meeting is to prepare a session during General Assembly of WOCO15 where the challenges

and proposals to improve actual situation will be presented.

EU Commission Grant: Together with Yahor (VP Finances), I have been

working in the application for an EU Grant, most of the work is administrative and paper

work though is high time consuming. We are looking forward for positive results of the

application.


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Yahor Vetlou – Vice President of Finance

Hello everyone as you know I’m in charge of Finances of our association. I want present to you

second EC courier where I will try to explain you what I was doing previous few months.

Progress on goals and projects:

Grants

During this term we applied for few different grants. At this moment we know that we just one

from all of them was successful. We will announce all details when we will sign agreement. If

you interesting or have question about grants feel free to ask.

Membership and Exchange Fee’s

Happily this year we have better statistics, more then 70% of our country members paid already

Membership and Exchange fee’s and few of them going to pay soon.

Development Fund

This year we financial supported African Director Meeting, and already launched Development

Fund call for support individuals from A and B countries.

Mainly two previous months I’m together with Samuel worked on grant applications. As you

may know It is huge paper work, so main time was spent in this direction. If all happens that

I’m planned next three years, IAAS will be more financial stable.

If you want more details, please contact me.

Steven Adams, Vice President of Exchange

Dear IAAS members,

Last two months were very productive in Expro World! I hope

all of you had as a productive time as Expro had!

I spend a lot of time to prepare the Exco meeting in Madrid, you

can read the report in this newsletter. The weeks before, I

spend a lot of time to make sure that the workshops are well

prepared. To make improvement in those kind of skills, I joined

the train new trainers event and to talk and learn from our great

IAAS trainers.

Since two weeks, I’m working on the solutions and challenges which are proposed during the

Exco meeting. I hope to show you results as soon as possible.


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Furthermore, I’m working together with IROICA to

corporate for new Expro places and with our webmaster to

change things in the application form, you will see the

results soon!

Many greetings,

Your VP Exchange,

Steven

Charlotte Soland – Vice President External Relatinos

My activities

Second Strategy meeting Zurich (20. – 22.2.15)

- got feedback about our work

- strengthen our team

- planed our next half year my focus is WoCo

EXCO Meeting Madrid (15. - 18.3.15)

- delivered training about Promotion

- got in personal contact with our motivated members

WoCo

- Second WoCo meeting Zurich (20. – 22.2.15)

- sponsoring is going in the right direction

- in contact with a lot of companies by phone and email

- supporting the Belgium team

- in contact with our partners to get delegated people to WoCo

- selection of the participants


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Partners and Sponsors

- UN Liason Team (Genna, Marta and Alex) were very active in Rome with the FAO and

the VCP congratulation!

- In contact with TFF to establish a partnership

- In contact with a potential sponsor

Lisanne Meulendijks-Vice President of Communication

Dear IAAS Members all over the world,

Past two months have been very intensive due to the many IAAS related travels I (and most of

EC) have made.

It started end of February when we attended the Thought for Food Global Summit, of which

you could have read the report at the beginning of this newsletter. In Lisbon all of us tried to

do some good networking to promote our beloved association among the many great names

that were present at this conference.

The next week EC held their second strategy meeting in Zurich. Here plans were made for the

next half year and we gave each other reflection of how we have been working the past half

year.

After Zurich off to Milan, to attend the board meeting of the European Agronomist Association

(CEDIA), to talk with them about an official Memorandum of Understanding. Since then I’m

in contact with the president for the preparations of this MoU. Also we were in Milan to discuss

the role of IAAS in the World EXPO.

The next week almost complete EC (except for Yahor) was present at the Exchange

Coordinators Meetings to promote the Exhange Program and to get to know the members that

were attending.

Next to all these trips I’ve kept myself busy with keeping the website and the Facebook Group

up to date, be in touch with potential candidate members who showed interest in IAAS, support

the preparations of the upcoming IAAS East Africa Exchange Week. Next to that I’ve been

preparing the activities of the World Congress that will take place in The Netherlands and some

of the activities in Belgium. Last but not least, I’ve made this Newsletter.

If you might have any questions about my work, please feel free to contact me!

Regards,

Lisanne


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 June,

2015.

This IAAS Newsletter was brought to you by Lisanne Meulendijks.

Leuven, 15th of April 2015

http://www.iaasworld.org/


Newsletter March - February 2015

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Transcript of Newsletter March - February 2015