The Role UK Plays in Global Forestry National Conference
The Institute of Chartered Foresters is the professional body for foresters and arboriculturists in the United Kingdom. I first heard of this organization when I was talking with Andy Heald a member who works for Confor, a membership organization for sustainable forestry and wood-using businesses. He invited me to go to the Association of Professional Foresters (APF) conference in September of 2018. It was impressive and my first look at what the United Kingdom has to offer in our industry.
This APF show brought thousands of people together to see and experience the machine operations, chainsaw carving, woodworking, professional organizations, portable mills, logging shows, and more all in one place. This scale of a show really is not achievable in the states because geographically it is hard to drive machinery from Texas to the Pacific Northwest and so forth. Being on an island, United Kingdom has an advantage to putting on this great show of machinery and inclusive forest sector professionals.
The Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) has conferences and I was interested in going to one to meet everyone and see the differences this organization has from my organization in the states called Society of American Foresters. To my surprise, the ICF had many professionals like many conferences, but what set them apart was the venue, Oxford University is the oldest educational institute in the world.
I was happy to see many friends and people who were excited to see the global perspective at this conference. The women’s panel received a standing ovation and people rushed up to the front to greet them and thank them for what they do.
Angelika Końko from Poland was giving us insight on how to think about the future. She gave us thinking habits for the 21st century. Taking action and "making today count" were important in her speech at the Institute of Chartered Foresters #conference in April. She is a great role model and I look forward to her future!
Jemima Letts MimaLetts of tree_sparks gave an inspirational speech to the crowd of professional foresters. She talked about the younger generation and the problems they face entering the forest sector. She also talked about the real-world use of social media and how impactful it is when we use it effectively.
Lacey Rose of Women in Wood and the television show, Mighty Jobs, gave us action items to work on improving our communications and mentorship in the forest sector.
The conference was a great way to meet new friends and see people that Talking Forests has connected with on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn and make new connections to grow this thriving network of professionals around the world!
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