NARM17: THE COMPREHENSIVE FULL GIST, OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The International Forestry Students‘ Association (IFSA) will be hosting the Annual Northern Africa Regional Meeting (NARM) in Sunyani, Ghana, 21-26 May, 2017. The theme of the meeting, hosted at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), is ‘’Improving resilience to climate change and realizing sustainable use of land, forest, and water resources: the role of youth’’.
This meeting aims to enhance youth participation and effectiveness in forest science, to motivate youth to adopt environmentally friendly practices, and to build and strengthen the capacity of youth through education and research to meet the challenges of the changing climate.

GOAL:

Students’ empowerment to enhance their participation and effectiveness in the fight of climate change to achieve sustainable development goals of forest, land and water resources for the benefit of posterity.

OBJECTIVES

To build commitment towards the achievement of sustainable use of land, forest and water resource.
To strengthen the capacity of the youth through education to meet the challenges of the climate change.

STRATEGIES

The meeting will endeavor to feature the following key activities:

-IFSA/IUFRO workshops
-Hands-on training with climate change experts and scientists
-Forum with government officials and key stakeholders

STRUCTURE OF THE MEETING

The meeting is designed to cover one geographical region of Ghana:  Brong-Ahafo Region, just to present to its participants the rich culture and beautiful landscape of Ghana.

The meeting will endeavor to handle key topics:

Nature based solution for sustainability and resilience to climate change
Green jobs and sustainability
Climate change and sustainable development goals
Experiential training in effective business planning for natural science/environmental science students
The role of youth as managers of forest, land and water resources for sustainable development goals
Climate change and bio-economy
The trend for sustainable management of forest, land and water.
The organizing committee members for NARM 17 will discuss detailed agenda and schedule for the meeting.

EXPECTED OUTCOME

Ultimately, the realization of capacity building of students to undertake climate change related activities.
To rise up students to be responsible managers of the natural resources (forest, land and water) for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.
Filling of information and communication gaps to limit knowledge deficiencies on climate change.

PARTICIPATION

NARM17 is open to about 150 participants from, especially, Northern Africa Region: Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Kenya as well as other participants from different regions and other interested stakeholders.

PUBLICITY

The official website, which has since been launched, for NARM 17 is narm17.webutu.com. Updates on NARM17 will also be launched on the following social media platform: Facebook: NARM17 and Twitter: @NARM17.

Mode of Payment for the IFSA Conference in UENR-Ghana

For those interested to attend the Northern Africa Regional Meeting of the International Forestry Students’ Association, you are to pay your registration or participation fee latest by 8th May, 2017 (Two weeks to the event). You are to register to attend the event before you make any payment. Register on the Event website: narm17.webutu.com


Registration or Participation fee:

GHS250: for low income countries,

GHS390: for Middle income countries and

GHS450: for High income countries.

You can make payment into the Account provided below.

Bank name: Ecobank

Account type: Dollar Account

Bank Account Number: 0301094467458101

Swift code: ECOCGHAC

Bank account holder: University of Energy and Natural Resources

Purpose of Payment: IFSA-NARM17 (it should be stated on the bank payment form)

Please, it will be ideal if you take into consideration or factor in bank charges for international payment.

You will be issued a receipt after prove of payment to attend the event.
Please send as a scan copy of payment receipt from the bank via mail: narm17.ifsa@gmail.com

Thank you for your usual cooperation. See you soon at the event.

Date: May 21, 2017 - May 26, 2017

The Joint IUFRO-IFSA Task Force on Forest Education is supporting NARM 2017 by providing a one-day training for students. The topic of the training is "Preparing and writing research proposals”.
We offer sponsorships for 6 students from Africa to attend the meeting. The sponsorship includes travel costs to/from the meeting and the participation fee of the event (including accommodation).

How to apply?
Students, studying forestry or forestry-related sciences, at an African University who are interested in participating in the students' event should submit an application including:
proof of student status
copy of valid travel document (passport) indicating citizenship in an African country
CV
motivation letter, stating why you want to attend IFSA‘s Northern Africa Regional Meeting (max 750 words)
estimated travel costs
Send all documents as one pdf to lena.ifsa@gmail.com no later than April 5th, 2017.

Please note that the meeting and training will be conducted in ENGLISH, and all applications must be submitted in English language.

Further process? 
The selection of candidates will be geared to achieve both geographical and gender balance.
All applicants will receive a notice on their status of application within 10 days after the deadline.
Successful candidates will receive further instructions for the registration process and travel planning.
A sponsorship agreement will be signed.
The 6 selected candidates will be required to together submit one report on the event (max 1000 words), including some pictures.

We are looking forward to receiving your applications!

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