Background

In 2001, discussions on the status of global forestry education and the lack of an international forestry education forum gave rise to the idea of creating an entity that would link forestry institutions through curriculum development and networking. A group representing universities, education networks, and international organizations agreed to establish the International Partnership for Forestry Education (IPFE). Notwithstanding the difficulties in the forestry sector as a whole, serious national and global challenges were identified pertaining to gaps in forestry education programmes in many parts of the world. The IPFE was created to address these global issues by strengthening university level education concerning forests and forestry worldwide through the facilitation and support of collaborations.

The IPFE Secretariat is shared between University of Joensuu and University of British Columbia

IPFE history 2001 - 2006: a synopsis

The concept of an international partnership for forestry education emerged from discussions at the FAO/UBC Meeting of International Forestry Education Leaders, hosted by the University of British Columbia to mark its 50 th Anniversary, in December 2001. Hosny El-Lakany, FAO's Assistant Director-General for Forestry, championed the idea; Bart Thielges, of Oregon State University, and Peter Kanowski, of the Australian National University, agreed to work with Jack Saddler of UBC and with FAO to pursue the concept.

A working group comprising representatives of FAO, the FAO-supported regional forestry education networks in Africa, Asia and the Americas, and universities met at the Australian National University in January 2003 to further advance what was then called a consortium. Jim Douglas, Forests Advisor to the World Bank, was able to join part of the meeting, and suggested the group seek development grant funding from the World Bank's PROFOR facility. It was agreed that the partnership would convene a side event at the 2003 World Forestry Congress, to discuss amongst a wider group the concept, and the form it might take; that the group would make contact with other forestry education institutions and networks to facilitate these discussions; and that ANU, OSU, UBC & FAO would constitute an informal management group until then, with Bart Thielges as its convenor and UBC providing the secretariat. IPFE pursued PROFOR funding, and secured US$150K over an 18-month period from May 2003. Tragically, Bart Thielges died unexpectedly in June 2003.

The side meeting at the XII World Forestry Congress in September 2003 attracted 70 participants. The meeting agreed a new name (IPFE); a set of objectives and activities; and a management committee comprising representatives of 5 regional networks, 4 international organizations (FAO, IUFRO, IFSA, World Bank), and 4 universities (ANU, OSU, UBC, Yale), with Peter Kanowski as interim chair and Sandra Schinnerl of UBC coordinating the secretariat role. FAO's Forestry Education Officer, Pieter van Lierop, the Chair of the IUFRO Working Party on Forestry Education, Siegfried Lewark, Liisa Tahvanainen of the University of Joensuu, and International Forestry Student Association representatives played important roles.

IPFE then established a website hosted by the secretariat, produced other explanatory and promotional material, and established a contact list which comprised 55 institutions, mostly universities, in 27 countries. The steering committee issued a call under PROFOR funding for pilot projects to demonstrate the various forms of priority collaborative activities; 23 proposals were received, representing institutions in 42 countries, and 6 were funded. These covered the development of learning resources for NTFPs, for SFM in temperate forests, and for social forestry in Asia-Pacific; the completion of a collaborative textbook on tropical silviculture; the reform of forestry education in Central Africa; and the development of a Global Forest Information Service (GFIS) metadata framework for education resources. The management committee next met in conjunction with the SILVA Network meeting in April 2004, and the interim chair made presentations about IPFE to a side event at UNFF in May 2004, and to the World Bank/ PROFOR in June 2004. The pilot projects were successfully completed by late 2004.

The one-off PROFOR funding expired early in 2005; the management committee was not successful in securing subsequent funding from other sources in 2005. In April 2006, FAO convened a meeting of IPFE and regional education representatives in Rome to discuss how best to advance IPFE; at that meeting, Hosny El-Lakany agreed to serve as Chair when he stepped down from his role as FAO's Assistant Director-General for Forestry; Paavo Pelkonen of the University of Joensuu, Osvaldo Encinas of the University of The Andes, and August Temu of ICRAF agreed to serve as Vice-Chairs; and the Government of Finland agreed to support the IPFE Secretariat through the University of Joensuu. The next phase of IPFE's work could begin.

Professor Peter Kanowski
ANU