Activities leading to a successful World Forestry Congress, WFC, billed to take place May 2-6, 2022 in Seoul, Republic of Korea, are already in top gear.
The Congress is being organised by the Korea forest service, the food and agricultural organisation of the United Nations and is being hosted by the Korea forest service. Theme of the 2022 WFC is building a green, healthy and resilient future with forests. It will be held at the COEX Convention and Exhibition Centre in Seoul. The WFC aims to bring together global forest stakeholders to review and analyse key challenges facing the sector, and ways to address them.
To achieve this, organisers have already set up 2-day zoom programme for social media reporters. The reporters were selected from a pool of applicants who applied to report on the WFC. The idea behind the formation of the reporters’ group is ‘to work together, plan and coordinate the activities of the social media reporters that are supporting online outreach and engagement activities for the XV World Forestry Congress’.
Mila Shopova, a representative of the organisers told selected reporters that they would hear from communications professionals in the field about the latest techniques and platforms for digital storytelling and engagement.
‘You will work collaboratively with colleagues from around the world to discuss case studies and identify ideas and approaches. On Day 2 you will apply what you’ve learned to support outreach efforts for the congress, prioritize actions and plan campaigns and actions in the run up to the congress. All communication leading up to the event will take place in a group dedicated to communicating about the Congress’, Shopova said.
The Congress is not an intergovernmental meeting. It has no formal constituencies nor country delegations. The implementation of recommendations is a matter for those to whom these are addressed – stakeholders, scientific bodies and forest owners. Exchanges of knowledge within the forest sector, and between the forest sector and other sectors, benefit all countries.
Already, all relevant information and materials for the two-day zoom meeting of invited reporters with communications experts have been sent out by the conference secretariat. A staff of the WFC secretariat, Pier Andrea Pirani, participants will continue to work and communicate through the group and coordinate activities together.
‘We will form a team that will be covering the event on-site in Seoul. We should be able to bring up to 10 of you to the event’, Andrea Pirani said. Dimire Kazika (an agronomist), Anabel Emebo (community manager), Isabel Claire, Nicolas Domke, and Kalbe Ali amongst others are part of the WFC Social Media Reporters Group.
The WFC is held approximately once every six years. The first Congress was held in Italy in 1926. The FAO has helped host countries organise the Congress since 1954.
Minister Byeong-Am Choi of the Korea Forest Service said that the Republic of Korea was selected as the host of the XV World Forestry Congress largely due to its success story in reforestation and its continued commitment to promoting international cooperation in the forest sector.
