International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCI ATION OF STU DENTS IN A G R I C U LT U R A L A N D R E L AT E D S C I E N C E S
March - April 2016 By Sam Raeymaekers VP Communication IAAS World
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Contents News from new applying countries .............................................................................................................................. 3 Montenegro ............................................................................................................................................................................................3 IAAS Guatemala ....................................................................................................................................................................................5 Costa Rica ................................................................................................................................................................................................5 IAAS Uruguay ........................................................................................................................................................................................5 IAAS activities....................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Exchange Coordinators Meeting 2016 .......................................................................................................................................6 Increasing meaningful activity and ensuring funding for the association in Zimbabwe.....................................8 Food, music and social media in Belgium .................................................................................................................................9 IAAS Ecuador ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 IAAS Indonesia................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 IAAS Mexico AgroTour 2016 ....................................................................................................................................................... 14 IAAS Ghana activity collage .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 IAAS Italy .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 17 IAAS Chile - Salida técnica a Viña orgánica y biodinámica Emiliana” (Mayo) ....................................................... 17 Partners events and more ............................................................................................................................................ 18 33rd Session of the Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific ............................................................................... 18 Thought For Food Global Summit ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Upcoming events .............................................................................................................................................................. 22 EC Courier ........................................................................................................................................................................... 25 Josipa Arapović – President ......................................................................................................................................................... 25 Sam Raeymaekers – Vice President of Communication .................................................................................................. 28 Steven Adams – Vice President of Exchange ........................................................................................................................ 30 Lucas Marin – Vice President of External Relations ......................................................................................................... 31 Giannis Chaniotakis – Vice President of Finance ................................................................................................................ 32 Genna, Ohemaa, Yahor – Conrol Committee......................................................................................................................... 32
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
News from new applying countries 2015-2016 will be a year of growth for IAAS. Old committees rebuilding, new committees joining. IAAS is growing steady! Are you interested in joining IAAS? Get in touch with us! info@iaasworld.org and vpcommunication@iaasworld.org.
Montenegro As a new, and to our region unknown organization, we started our activities with an official presentation about IAAS World and IAAS Montenegro to the students of Biotechnical Faculty in our capital town, Podgorica. We were more than satisfied with the number of attendants and with their enthusiasm for the opportunities IAAS World has to offer. Firstly, we presented our National Committee, and advised our future members on how to get any further information. We explained IAAS World's goals, rules, principles and activities hoping to bring us as many members as possible. We focused mostly on exchange programs and workshops we could organize. IAAS Montenegro was more than encouraged by the optimism we felt from our students at the cocktail we held later on. We are hoping to keep the students motivated by conducting other activities mentioned below. “It feels so good to be welcomed to FamilIAAS as true members from our first day. Even though we are newcomers in the IAAS community we hope to represent our country the way it is: beautiful, nature-oriented and motived to develop in the field of agriculture. �
Registering at the national court and establishing connections We have officially been registered as a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) so that we can start promoting ourselves even more through various activities.
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
We are working to establish connections with some of our local producers so that we can use their help for our educational workshops regarding practical work in agriculture. Activities In one of our workshops, we would like to address one of the biggest ongoing dilemmas in agriculture. We think our students should start forming their own opinions on this, and other subjects, and we want to encourage that by holding an Organic vs Conventional production debate. With a little help from our professors, this could be a very educative, but also a fun program that would, hopefully, even light the path of some of our students' professional future. We have already joined the worldwide waste-cleaning action called "Let's do it". Participants of the section Let's do it Montenegro, will be separated all around the country to clean our polluted areas. This action's goal would be animating us, the youth to keep our beautiful sites clean, because it is our responsibility to take care of our homeland. This September, it will be 25 years since Montenegro was recognized as an ecological state, and we must work hard to defend this claim. All of nature's work in forming such beautiful landscapes will be in vain if we don't act fast, fight against pollution, and prevent all sorts of garbage piling up on our streets, coasts etc. Communicating within the committee and externally Communication among our members is very important to us, and in that light, we have started planning Open days of IAAS Montenegro and a barbecue to maintain office relations, enthusiasm, and show our members how entertaining all work can be if it's done in a good mood and in a group of good people. “Here, in IAAS Montenegro, we believe that great people and a positive atmosphere is the key to success. It is wonderful to know that, as agr icultural students, we can give back at least a little bit to our planet, which has given us plenty.�
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
IAAS Guatemala The team from Guatemala is reactivating the committee and promoting the IAAS culture in their University. They wanted to show the new logo that they designed after the DMA 2015.
Costa Rica Costa Rica wants to say hello to the Word! This is the one of the new committees that started after the DMA 2015. They have been working to have more members who wants to have an international experience. The members of the committee are: National Director : Estefanía Ortiz Pérez Exchange Coordinator : Alexander Jimenez Rivera VP of Finance: William Boniche VP of Communication: Daniel Mora Castro VP of External Relations: Wilfredo Farias Jofré
IAAS Uruguay During the DMA 2015 come up to join us, IAAS Uruguay, this committee has the responsabilitie to organize the next DMA 2018. Since the beginning of the year they have been working to get the support of their University and find the possible sponssors for the next year. This committee is formed by: Santiago Leániz Cobo - National Director Valeria Lista Cedrés - Exchange Coordinator Leonardo Canedo Maldonado - VP of Finance Lucas Sabbatella Bianchi - VP of Communication Paula Assandri Gómez – VP of Project Development
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
IAAS activities Exchange Coordinators Meeting 2016 8 – 15 April, 2016
This year the annual ExCo meeting was held in two of the most beautiful cities of Greece, Thessaloniki and Volos, from the 8th of April till the 15th of April. Stay tuned for the wrap-up documents on the trainings and outcome of the sessions! IAAS members from Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Chile as well as members from two new IAAS committees (Austria and Bulgaria) gathered in Greece to exchange their ideas and share their experience upon the Exchange Program, in order to find ways to improve it. Trainings and General Assembly in Thessaloniki During the first 3 days in Thessaloniki the schedule was filled with interesting soft-skill trainings and workshops, a presentation from the IAAS president Josipa Arapovic as well as from the VP of Exchange Steven Adams and General Assemblies. At the same time, the participants had the opportunity to visit Thessaloniki and meet its history and architecture. Volos, company visits, Meteora and more Afterwards, the Event’s journey brought everyone to Volos, city of the Argonauts, where during the first day the University of Thessaly welcomed us with small presentation and lecture. Later during the day, participants enjoyed a small city tour and tasted local dishes from the famous cultural “Tsipouradika” by the port of Volos.
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
The next day , our group visited the largest mill company in Greece “Loulis Mills S.A.” and “Family Farm”, a local sheep farm that produces the worldwide known Greek cheese “Feta“. In the evening
everyone loved the traditional Spoon Sweet workshop at the upper side of Volos by the local women’s association. Last day, as we said goodbye to Volos, we visited Monasteries on top of the unique rock formations “Meteora” and returned to Thessaloniki for the goodbye dinner. The Organizing Committee did an excellent job and all the participants, with their motivation and excitement, made this meeting an incredible experience! The Always Motivated, IAAS Greece
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Increasing meaningful activity and ensuring funding for the association in Zimbabwe Having social impact We carried out a Clean-Up-Campaign together with some of the students in the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources off campus. It was mainly to help keep our environment clean and bring awareness on the dangers of throwing litter everywhere. Also shared on the duties of citizens to use environment friendly things or products and reduce on the use of those things which pollute our environment. We promoted the idea of reusing, reducing and recycling. It is our duty as IAAS ambassadors to advice people around us that it is our moral duty to keep our environment neat and clean. It was a great feeling for us all as a team, in knowing that we had helped saving our environment and organisms from pollution. Generating funds To generate some money for the organization, we decided to start a project on selling green mealies. We got 0.7 Ha piece of land from the University, the University farm assisted us with the seed, fertilizer and water. In most projects, things are hard at first and get easier as time goes on but for ours, it was vice versa. We got pests and weed infestation that we could not afford to control in time due to money. And we lost not only a large percentage of our total yield but also some of our members. “I still remember one Friday morning, when I and our former Project Manager, Tashinga had to apply the whole field with a fertilizer by hand, finished around 7 pm and had to prepare for my Agricultural Policy exam which was on the next day � says Anne-Marie. Our market was mainly local people because we were trying not to incur more costs than we already had on transportation. We got enough money for ourselves to start another small project and also paid back the money for the inputs we had gotten from the University. This was a great experience for we managed to see those good at team work, those who are dedicated and hold in them the IAAS-spirit of not giving up. We also managed to measure ourselves on how much of an extra mile can we put in our organization. This particular activity had challenges attached to it but we learnt al ot of good in it, and got great qualities from it.
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Food, music and social media in Belgium Yes, IAAS Belgium has been busy organizing tasty and interesting activities! Do you like food or are you a frequent user of social media? Then you’ll be interested in the activities of our committees. The Breakfast Action: our national fundraising activity Every year you can come and enjoy a wonderful breakfast from IAAS Belgium. Plate full with delicious food and a goodiebag stuffed with tasty and fun gadgets, what else do you need to start your morning? In Leuven they brought the breakfasts to the people’s homes, while in Ghent you could go and eat your breakfast with your friends at the faculty. Planning months beforehand, searching for sponsoring and helping each other whenever needed. It was a challenge, but the ‘Breakfast action’ was again a success!
Trade fair without stolen flags?! Trade fair, favorite evening of every IAAS-member. But people who are not involved in IAAS, are confused (‘Fair Trade’). So IAAS Ghent wanted to change that and organized a trade fair at their faculty. Everyone was welcome and could eat food from all over the world for a very small price.
They made a nice and professional poster, a Prezi about IAAS and contacted a lot of international students to cook a typical dish from their own country. Spring-rolls from Vietnam, sweets from Brazil, bean soup from Bulgaria, … It was all there and people loved it! As it was the first time that they organized it, it was difficult to predict how many people would come. But a lot, really a lot of people came with the consequence that the food and drinks were sold out within two hours. Luckily, they also asked a few bands to play during the whole evening, so people stayed until the
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
end to enjoy the music. We can conclude that everybody loves the concept of Trade Fair! Only, the real IAAS members were really surprised to find out that none of the flags were stolen, an usual feeling!
Social media is more than only Facebook, what? We all use social media every single day. You are even using it right now! We use it to keep in touch with our friends and relatives, to share our holiday pictures, and to update our status. But you can do so much more with it. An important question is: how can we use social media in a professional way for our organization? That is what Peter Casier, an experienced soft skill trainer about social media, answered us during the workshop organized by IAAS Leuven. He gave us a look of all the different forms of social media available today, and the way to use it as a professional tool. Unfortunately, the last activities of this semester are finished and everyone is already studying for their exams. To end this wonderful IAAS year in Belgium, there is an upcoming weekend for IAAS members. The general assembly will take place then, but also teambuilding activities and a barbecue are on the schedule! IAAS Belgium also has a website now. It’s only in Dutch at the moment, but the English version will be available soon. So, if you want to practice your Dutch or just have a look at the pictures and activities, you can find it on: http://iaasbelgium.wix.com/iaasbelgium.
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
IAAS Ecuador Reforestation, March 19 IAAS Ecuador participed in a big Reforestation in all the country. The activity was organized by the ministry of environment and some ONG like IAAS, RENAJU. This initiative aims to generate environmental awareness among citizens about the importance of forests and ecosystems, promoting actions such as reforestation, which contribute to the mitigation of climate change and ensure the natural heritage for present and future generations. More than 30,000 volunteers planted 300,000 native trees at key sites around the country. It was planned the participation of 20 thousand people.
Hour of the Planet, March 19 A symbolic activity was made by the members of IAAS Ecuador. The 19 of march was the hour of the planet so the members of IAAS organized material to expose about the importance of take care the planet and practicing a sustainable agriculture and ask to the people own phrases for the planet. The activity was held in front of the Government palace. At the end, the team of work had an interview with some media partners.
International Water Day, 22 March IAAS Ecuador was present in the International day of the water. IAAS Ecuador participated as an exhibitor in a conference about Technology and Innovation in Quito (Cumanda Park). The principal topic was the importance of water and how to take care of it. After the exposition, the IAAS members had a place to expose to students of different colleges and universities the importance of having a sustainable agricultura and also the importance of the vital liquid.
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
IAAS Indonesia International Earth Day Celebration by IAAS Local Committee Lambung Mangkurat University (ULM) IAAS LC ULM had two events to celebrate the earth day. First, earth day was celebrated on Friday, 22nd April 2016 at IAAS LC ULM Village Concept Project. This event can we called as “Tour de’ VCP IAAS LC ULM”. We taught how to managed waste bank and how to make a simple hydroponics plant methods. We also shared about utilizing organic waste such as vegetables which will be used as local microorganisms. Those local microorganisms will be used as natural pesticide and decomposer for making organic manure. The second event was carried out at Banjarbaru Car Free Day on May 1st, 2016. We made oration to raise the general public awareness about the importance of maintaining the sustainability of the earth by not littering. Usually, many visitors of Car Free Day event were not concerned with their waste. At this time, we have “exchange trash activities” with Pumpkin Churros using by local pumpkin made by ourselves. TAJI BERPIJAR The new shining eco-tourism village by IAAS Local Committee Brawijaya University (UB) Background Village Taji is an Indonesian village located in East Java 34 Km from Malang City. Taji has many potential resources such as natural resources, agricultural commodities, friendly community, and potency of tourism. Most of local community in Taji works as farmer and farmworker that produce agriculture commodity like Horticulture crops chili, cabbage, carrots, Apple, Corn and Cassava. Taji has two formal school they are SDN 1 Taji
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
and SDN 2 Taji which has 60 students and 3 teachers with educational activities from Monday until Saturday. Proposed Project “Taji Berpijar” This program will be held at SDN 2 Taji which has 2 classrooms, the first classroom is for the class 1 and 2, and the second one is for the class 3, 4, and 5. The program will be done in 12 meetings include teaching about basic english, agriculutre and environmental. Through this Taji Berpijar, we try to give the children additional education which they don’t get from school and help the teachers in achieving their goals. From these activities, we will try to make the children to be motivated to study and increase the love of the children in agriculture and environment through modern agriculture like hydroponics and verticulture which are applied in school. Entrepreneurship and Development of Local Communities Entrepreneur team in Taji Berpijar will focus on the development of commodity which is horticultural crops such as cabbage, carrots, peppers, apples, cassava, sweet potatoes, and many others. We are going to make some food products that made from those local commodities to increase the sale value with empowering and training the housewives. From this program, we hope that we can help the villagers to build a cleaner, smarter, and more independent village.
“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope. You will fill yourself with hope”
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
IAAS Mexico AgroTour 2016 March 17 to 20, Mexico From March, 17th to 20th we experienced de Agrotour 2016 with the objective of bring and motivate new people to IAAS México to know more about de Agroindustry world and the new challenges. With students of Agronomy and Biotchnology and one coordinator, we traveled from Querétaro city, the IAAS México house , to Jalisco visiting different localities from the beauty state of Jalisco. DOW Semillas. Agrosciences (Sayula, Jalisco) Leader company on biotechnology; we visited de experimental crops, where they make different hybridizations with varieties of corn plants to search genetic improvement in all aspects, caring about resistance, pests or drought.
Driscoll’s (Tapalpa, Jalisco) Company dedicated to sales of berries (strawberry, cranberry, bluebaerry, raspberry). We visited the differrent producers that harvest the most quality fruit for sales to national an internacional levels as exportations. Also we knew the refrigerators where they keep the berries fresh for distribution and sendings.
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Bionat-Sano (Huaxtla, Jalisco) A relative new company dedicated to distribution of aditives and formulation for mixtures in order to maintain animal nutrition. –they focus on the improvemetn of digestibility of the animal and feed converstion. Their trend is to develop and grow upwith thir potential spreading in México. Corona (Guadalajara, Jalisco) Company beer leader con elaboration, distribution and sales in Mexico and since 2013 the beer world leader company. It exports 8 brands and has presence on more than 180 countries. During the visit they showed us that they worry about nature and enviroment. Corona recycles the CO2, bottles, condensed water, etc.
Tequilera “La Cofradia” (Tequila , Jalisco) We visited the agave (and its requirements) production and the hole process to end as a Tequila, the one that everybody knows. We learned about the “jima” (cutting the plant), the cooking and the distilled to obtain a drink. HE have the honored presence also of Union of Agronomy alumni: national IATEM.
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
IAAS Ghana activity collage IAAS Entertainment
Meeting at Winneba
IAAS UG Mushroom project IAAS Entertainment
National cloth IAAS Ghana
IAAS Ghana Institution Competition IAAS UG Maize Farm
IAAS Ghana Institution Competition IAAS UG Coconut Farm
Educational outreach
IAAS KUNST Farm Project Educational outreach
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
IAAS Italy News from the committee of IAAS Perugia, who has rebuilt itself to 20 members! Fermentum Umbrae Workshop on the realization of artisanal beer, talk with local artisanal brewers and tasting. IAASpettando la Primavera – second edition social lunch. 10th March 2016, Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences (University of Perugia). Members participating in international meetings - EDM 2015/16 Greece (Thessaloniki): Antonio Russo, Tommaso Cariglia - ExChange Week Switzerland 2016: Antonio Russo, Antonello Gualtieri, Lucia Giordano - Ex-Co Meeting (Greece) 2016: Irene Tozzi - Seminar IAAS Germany (Hohenheim) 2016: Monica Capra
IAAS Chile - Salida técnica a Viña orgánica y biodinámica Emiliana” (Mayo) In the Colchagua Valley, 20 students of Agronomy of the Universidad Mayor, they entered Placilla sector, to go to the field Los Robles Vina Emiliana, marveling at the autumnal tones of the place. There we received three professionals who showed us everything in great detail during this outing the students learned about the system of organic grape wine productive, export wines, and the main differences between a traditional vineyard and organic one. Many knew biodynamics, and also delighted with the social commitment that had the company towards its workers. "It was a good chance to learn about another area of agriculture, the truth did not expect that in Chile there were organic, biodynamic and a commitment to their workers superlative vineyards. The Emiliana vineyard is an example to follow, respects the environment and above all care about improving the quality of life of their workers, which today is a rare and remarkable practice "participant Testimony: Felipe Soto Sobarzo. The trip took three hours took advantage of that time in the bus to talk with participants to tell you that is IAAS, telling our experiences in international activities and inviting them to become members.
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Partners events and more 33rd Session of the Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific March 11, 2016 Two IAAS students, Anjela and Anggita from IAAS Indonesia, were present at the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific Putrajaya, Malaysia, 7-11 March 2016! Read more about the FAO conference here: http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/aprc33/en/ Are you interested in the IAAS – FAO partnership? Do you want to represent IAAS at an FAO event? Wait for an IAAS application form for a FAO meeting or propose your own campaign at vpcommunication@iaasworld.org and controlcommittee@iaasworld.org.
The Conference’s theme The FAO Regional conferences for Asia and the Pacific is one of FAO biannual conferences that focusses on the opportunities and challenges in Asia and the Pacific. This year, Conference was successfully hosted by the Ministerial of Agro-based Industry Malaysia from 7 until 11 March 2016. At the 4th day, there was an opening remark from Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, HE Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, accompanied by remarks from the Director-General of FAO, Dr. José Graziano da Silva. Beside of that, this conference was also attended by the representative from 44 fao’s member , an observer from FAO, 8 international NGO’s including IAAS, and 34 intragovernment organization. The activities and discussions During the first three days, the discussion led by senior government officer and on 10 and 11 march there was ministerial-level meeting. As FAO’s governing body, this conference has resulted
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
in the draft resolution that focuses on a discussion of the challenges and opportunities of various countries in Asia Pacific in order to achieve FAO’s program which is Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. The discussion also focused on the policy and regulations in the Asia – Pacific region, Reducing hunger and poverty, revitalizing the rural economy through enhanced linkages between small-scale agricultural production and value chains, and ‘blue growth.’ Besides of that, there was also held a roundtable discussion about the strategy to attract youth in agriculture. The discussion was held due to lack of interest of youth to be involved in the agricultural sector , but it is undeniable that the agricultural sector is one of the largest contributors to the GDP. They hope that there will be a lot of youth who engaged in this sector to promote the agricultural sector in the future. Our experiences As an observer on behalf of IAAS, Anjela from IAAS Indonesia LC UGM and Anggita from IAAS Indonesia LC Unpad feeling so interested in the discussions at the conferences. These conferences also lead them to “the great people” behind the country and people who care about agriculture. Also, they were feeling so happy because there was some field trip to “Crop For the Future” where they can learn about growing and utilizing the seeds in order to strengthen food and nutritional security under climate change in Asia and Pacific region. Anjela and Anggita were the only one who came as students, but it didn’t make them feeling so upset because this conference was a good opportunity to expand networking and experiences.
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Thought For Food Global Summit April 1-2, Zurich, Switzerland As an official partner of TFF, IAAS members were invited to join the Summit in Zurich on 1 – 2 April. IAAS Switzerland, Belgium and the IAAS World Board were present. The Summit consisted of workshops, speeches and pitches of the finalist teams, all tackling the global challenge of feeding 9 billion people by 2050! IAAS was present with 20 enthusiast members coming from IAAS Switzerland, IAAS Belgium and the IAAS World Board! More info? TFF’s website TFF’s Facebook TFF’s blog
The two day event After the opening keynote and lightning talks, we had 7 different THINK & MAKE workshop series to choose from: Growing Innovations, Sustainable Business, Hacking Biology, Empowering the Crowd to Influence Change, Potential in Open Data, Nutrition & Health, and Natural Resources and Climate Change. In the THINK session we examined and debated the world’s prevailing assumptions and how these are being turned on their heads through new thinking, new technologies and new business models. After the lunch break we continued with the MAKE part, which consisted of case studies, hands-on learning and development of new solutions. After the workshop series the groups gathered on the main stage for the Three Horizons (by the Global
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Knowledge Initiative) plenery session. We tried to connect the dots between the present and our desired future, while also defining the pathways for innovation required to get there. In the evening, the fondue dinner offered the opportunity to share your ideas and discuss with people from all over the world and different backgrounds. The second day was more about the TFF challenge itself. After the morning activities and updates from last year’s winning teams (FoPo Food Powder and FoodFresh) the 10 finalists took the stage to pitch their big ideas on how to feed the world. All pitches consisted of a short video about the team, a presentation, and some questions by the judges. While waiting for the final results, we had the chance build our personal and professional skills in practical workshops. The topics ranged from productivity hacks to financing, from storytelling to social media, and much more. Winning teams After the announcement of the winners – Kulisha, Biteback, Peer-to-Peer Probiotics and FrutiCycle – the TFF Global Summit 2016 terminated with drinks, dinner and an unforgettable After Party!
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Upcoming events IAAS World Congress 2016 22 July – 10 August, Indonesia With proud we announce the next IAAS World Congress, 59th edition! Find more info on the Official IAAS WoCo Indonesia Facebook page.
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Exchange Week IAAS Perugia 14 to 19 July IAAS ASA Sassari, IAAS Croatia, IAAS Greece, and IAAS Switzerland are invited to learn, exchange and kick-start the summer holidays with a trip to Italy, Perugia!
Seminar IAAS Germany, Bonn: Agriculture – changing structures and new ways to success 12-19 June We, the IAAS Bonn committee, would love to invite your committee to join our seminar week in June. Concerning our motto we offer you a diverse programme that guarantees fun, new knowledge and experiences in the beautiful region of Bonn and Cologne. Please fill out the following formula to make a confirmed reservation for your place during our seminar week (deadline: 09.05.2016). Participation fee will be between 20-50 ₏.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1a228BtcYBNfvOE0N2ZazMMSB5ZPZz0R_sbRelnLt7c/viewform?usp=send_form We confirm that the IAAS Germany (Bonn) bears the costs for food and lodging for the period mentioned above. Costs for the journey (arrival and departure) and medical insurance are to be covered by the participant. We are looking forward to your registration and an exciting week with you! Safe the date =) Hear you soon and best regards, Your IAAS Bonn-team
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Want to attend and represent IAAS at an FAO event? Year round As IAAS and FAO are historical partners, members of IAAS have the privilege to attend global, regional and national FAO events related to agro, environment and food topics. If you are interested and show good motivation to participate at an FAO event, Sam and Genna guide you in the application process. Don’t hesitate to take this opportunity and get to know the best of the best professionals in your field of study! Contact Sam and Genna: vpcommunication@iaasword.org & controlcommittee@iaasworld.org. Some possible events that might be interesting for you (you can always browse the FAO’s many event sites and propose an event you want to attend to us): FAO Regional Conference for Europe May 2-5, Antalya, Turkey
Committee on Agriculture September
FAO Council 154th Session Rome, Italy 30-May-2016 / 03-June-2016
Committee on World Food Security October
Committee on Forestry and Committee on Fisheries July
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
EC Courier
Executive Committee together at the ExCo Meeting 2016, Greece
Josipa Arapović – President Second Strategy Meeting Leuven
As a team leader I planned, facilitated and lead the second SM with a very positive feedback received Setting of goals and evaluation for the whole team, with a lot of improvements and feedback discussed
New email addresses
Constant communication with IAAS network to make the official change to new email addresses Working together with Jo Stulens, IAAS Alumni, who created the new and professional IAAS email addresses Working to solve any problems that may have occurred with the email transition
Full members
With goal to unite the entire IAAS network in ambition and direction and provide laserlike focus for the network as a whole. Implementing a comprehensive bottom-up process with representation from the entire network
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Beeing in touch with National Directors to offer advice and help them when and where needed Had live and skype meetings with Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Poland, Sweden, Taiwan.
Candidate members
Intensive meetings, coordination and support following up on new and old member countries such as: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Morocco, Montenegro, Uruguay, Working in a strategy to ensure a successful long term development of new National Committees Meeting with students interested to join IAAS and open a committee in their home countries, explaining everything about IAAS, how it functions, developing clear goals until their membership review at WOCO16 as well as motivating them and staying in constant contact to support their work.
Regional Directors
I have been actively in touch with all of the Regional Directors: RD of Africa, Ouma to provide help, mentoring and share advices, strengthening the African Region and to look for new member countries on the continent (online meetings) RD of America, Luis, to provide mentoring and offer help for the contact with the candidate members in America (online meetings + phone calls) RD of West Europe, Paco, to track the work done, provide support and motivation as well as help to strengthen and amplify IAAS Sweden (online meetings) RD of Central Europe, Ilias, to track the work done and provide help, support and guidance with contacting new candidate members (online & live meetings) RD of Asia Pacific, William, to provide help, mentoring and share advices, strengthening the Asia Pacific Region and to look for new member countries on the continent (online meetings) Improving the connection of RD’s to their regions and the Executive Committee Strengthen internal contact and the activity in the region through the Regional Directors
Administrative work
Intensive weekly EC & CC meetings Corresponding with our members and partners In constant contact with our members and partners
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International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences
Sponsor Document for IAAS world
Creating a coordinated program of Strategic communication to advance the institutional objectives of IAAS towards interested companies and possible sponsors Together with Lucas (VP of External Relations), we created the first official Sponsor Document in IAAS World, aimed at collecting funds for IAAS World. It’s an important document in the process of going from sponsorship seeker to marketing partner. Together, we conducted 7 key sections of IAAS sponsorship proposal :
1 - Sponsorship Opportunity ( Executive summary or synopsis focusing on the benefits and outcomes for the sponsor) 2 - Marketing Objectives (creating a social media strategy and developing a Facebook fan base of 5000) 3 - Measures of Success (Document the quantitative and qualitative metrics we will use to measure the success of the sponsorship program) 4 - Value to the Sponsor (Through good management and thorough research we already have this information straight) 5 - Unique Marketing Initiatives(Through good management and thorough research we included information regarding the target audience that's relevant to the sponsor)
WOCO Preparations
Helping the organising committee of World Congress 2016 I have several meetings every week with the OC, providing guidance, advices and organising the General Assembly
EU grant
Together with Giannis (Vice President of Finance), we worked on very time consuming and administrative task of the Erasmus+ grant for the upcoming year as well as submitting the Erasmus+ grant report for the past year
Exchange Coordinators Meeting in Greece
Communication with OC, following the progress of the organization and offering support with the organisation of the meeting and trainings Preparing the ExCo Meeting assembly and trainings Coordinated, created and held workshops and trainings for the participants from countries interested in joining IAAS World network Supervising the trainers and trainings preparations and taking care of the handouts The work of the OC and the participants were very high quality!
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This is just the beginning of how we are going to use the youth power to change the world, we are ready for 2020! Are you? If you have any questions regarding IAAS of myself, or any inputs or advices you would like to share, feel free to contact me at president@iaasworld.org and I will be happy to answer! Thanks for reading this and I hope to meet you at an IAAS event!
Lots of love, Josipa President
president@iaasworld.org
Sam Raeymaekers – Vice President of Communication Hi there! From January until April I have been doing the following things:
Daily contact With the IAAS Colleagues (my EC teammates, National Directors and those who have questions for the board) and with partners & other associations. Weekly meetings with the EC team.
Participation at events Thought For Food Global Summit Switzerland Representing the Board at the TFF Global Summit, one of IAAS Worlds partners. A lot of great connections were made, new students made aware of IAAS, the partnership TFF-IAAS is growing and at the moment we are working together with TFF finalist teams and partners in order to expose IAAS’ers with the youth-entrepreneurial spirit. Find our members’ experiences about the TFF Global Summit here! IAAS ExCo Meeting 2016 Greece As part of EC I was also present in Greece in order to link with the members, contribute to the sessions and spend time for the first tie with the complete EC, reunited in Greece! In specific, I was contribution to the New Members session and Online Communication training. We came up with a collection of tips & tools for new members to use in order to i) attract new members and promote about IAAS and ii) keep your members motivated once they are part of the team. Promomaterials and tips to manage your new committee can be found here.
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Third Strategy Meeting The 3rd strategy meeting was a big success for our team. I participated to the discussions and we came up with some good strategies towards the end of our term + towards shaping IAAS for the future. In specific, I will be working on:
- IAAS Video’s - EC&CC applications - EC hand-over - IAAS2020 social media campaign - amendments to the constitution - WoCo planning
Improvements to the website The freshly made website next year has a great set of assets and also a great improvement opportunities. Changes were made to overall lay-out, graphical content and text-load. Next on the agenda are creating a functioning and attractive news blog and linking this efficiently to the other social media platforms.
New applying IAAS Member Countries I’m in touch and actively including the new applying countries with pleasure! I’m putting extra focus on the following countries:
Morocco: will apply at WoCo, planning on having 3 local committees and good structure Tunisia: will apply at WoCo, establishing at the prestigious national university INAT Netherlands: will apply at WoCo, working together in 2 locations: Wageningen and HAS Israel & Prague: first steps to re-establish IAAS Israel and get IAAS Prague more active
Communication Quality Board and changing communication structure The Communication Quality Board (CQB) is finalized and structure and functioning are being evaluated. Last month’s we made great progress and this will make sure the next VPC will be able to right in from the start! Working together with:
- Regional Directors - Social Media Manager (Georgia from Greece) - Graphical Designer Team (IAAS Indonesia team) - IAAS Magazine editor (Indonesian team)
IAAS Annual Review 2015 and Newsletters The Annual Review of IAAS in 2015 was successfully finished, and we’re very proud of it! You can find it here. As editor I enjoyed working a lot with the content from friends and colleagues all over our network.
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The communication between National Directors, Regional Directors and the EC has improved quite a lot. The IAAS Newsletters are full of reports and announcements of inspiring and innovative activities, events and announcements. The flow of information between the newsletters, different social media and website can continuously improve and become more efficiently! Together with the CQB we are working on this.
IAAS Video’s The lost IAAS Video channel is being built up again, showing a collection of activities all around our network. Does your Committee have IAAS related video-reports and announcements? Share it with me in order to reach a larger crowd!
Let’s talk soon :) Sam Raeymaekers VP Communication
vpcommunication@iaasworld.org
Steven Adams – Vice President of Exchange Dear Expro lovers; Last months were very exciting for Expro. Together with the ITC we spend lots of time to prepare the assembly of the Exchange Coordinators meeting and make the best possible out of it. The outcome of every session can be found in the report of the event, which will be shared with all exchange coordinators and national directors before the end of the month. Training topics were carefully selected, not only to improve Expro but topics which are very useful for all aspects of our IAAS network. The delegates were trained in communication, fundraising, project management and so much more. The backbone of the assembly were the presentations, given by several EC and ITC members, spiced with triggering groups discussions and workshops. Ask the delegates to tell you more about everything they have learned. Big thanks to the committee of Thessaloniki. They organized an extra-ordinary schedule to reward the participants for the hard work. Together with some motivated people we are combining all the outputs and try to create a fixed proposal which can be discussed at Woco in Indonesia. All the discussions about this new structure are the most time consuming activity since several months but beside that, I try my best to complete other tasks as well, including; keep website up to date, helping committees which are starting Expro, Skype meetings with Exco’s, in contact with possible new partners for Expro and much more. If you have questions about Expro or if you want to be involved, don’t hesitate to contact me. Expro can use many helping hands and this interesting business is a perfect place to learn and develop yourself.
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Thanks for reading this and hope to meet you at an IAAS event!
Lots of IAAS love, Steven, VP of Exchange
vpexchange@iaasworld.org
Lucas Marin – Vice President of External Relations Dear IAAS’ers around the world, it is a pleasure for me to deliver these lines to you and talk about these last months were a lot of thing happen. My first month as VP of External Relations I was working in China in a company related with quality control of fresh fruits, once my contract finished I didn't think twice so I took my baggage and came to work at the headquarters office in KU Leuven, Belgium. The first stop was the Exchange Coordinators Meeting in Greece, were the whole EC team where together planning the next steps and strategy for our organization. These months were a huge challenge, trying to find the better way to solve the issues that concern IAAS related with our marketing and sponsoring policy, taking in account different opinions and ideas from our members and alumni. This work is translated in the new sponsor document that is focused in a serious and detailed analysis regarding our strategy for IAAS 2020. The third strategy meeting held in our headquarters this last weekend was the opportunity to discuss and prepare our strategy regarding IAAS 2020 that will be our guidelines for the next 4 years. The challenges, opportunities and possibilities for our association are huge; this is the open door for the new IAAS for which I am sure will increase the opportunities for our members globally. I am excited to present our work during the next World Congress in Indonesia and share our experience with our members around the world. Lucas Marin VP External Relations vppartnership@iaasworld.org
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Giannis Chaniotakis – Vice President of Finance No report delivered vpfinance@iaasworld.org
Genna, Ohemaa, Yahor – Conrol Committee As a CC we have been attending and moderating EC meetings, holding individual meetings with our EC members, and providing feedback and guidance for their questions. We continue to observe that the actions of the EC are in accordance with the IAAS Constitution and By-Laws. Overall, the work of the EC contributes to the success of the association. In the coming months, the CC will help EC prepare the General Assembly, including a membership review, final evaluation of the work of the EC, and assist with recruiting the next EC and CC.
Yahor Vetlou In the previous months, I attended the Council of Europe seminar in Strasbourg, France regarding European Youth Foundation. So now I have more clear idea of how to write successful applications for funding from the Council of Europe. I also attended a perfect Exchange Coordinator Meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece. Currently, I am fully immersed into my academic life since I have a lot of upcoming exams. In the previous months, I was mainly working with Giannis as Vice President of Finance, as I have some experience in this field before. So far his personal and work together is going pretty well. Everything that is planned has been achieved. I cannot say the same about Lucas, Vice President of External Relations, as our work was not completely productive for last months, but I am sure that in upcoming months it will be better.
Ohemaa Mensah In the past months, I followed VPE Steven during the planning, execution, and follow-up for the Exchange Coordinators Meeting. We also improved on our lack of communication as compared to previous months. I am currently working with VPC Sam to solve problems on lack of communication between the EC and IAAS Africa. In addition, I am assisting with preparations for ADM 2016 and working a lot on building my local chapter, including procuring funds for its Green Week.
Genna Tesdall As Control Committee, I am in correspondence via email and Skype with my EC members Josipa and Sam. They are keeping a positive outlook on IAAS and have a great deal of energy. Together, the CC will plan our activities for the rest of the IAAS year. I am still evaluating whether I can attend the WoCo.
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For my duties to FAO, I have requested applications for those wishing to observe the FAO Commission on Phytosanitary Measures and the FAO Regional Committee for Europe and Central Asia. No IAAS member was able to attend these meetings. Observer places for upcoming meetings will continue to be advertised. Related to IAAS, I am in correspondence with the FAO. For my master’s thesis, which will be external to IAAS, but serve the association, I am planning a research study to map all youth programs in FAO, their scope, and impact. The goal is to identify strengths of current programs and opportunities for improvement. I am in consistent contact with Josipa and Lucas regarding this work.
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Call for Articles
Did you organize an event? Do you want to share anything with IAAS World and its partners
Send your article with pictures to vpcommunication@iaasworld.org before the 20th of December, 2015
This IAAS Newsletter was brought to you by Sam Raeymaekers Leuven, May 2016
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