22nd ISTF Annual Conference – January 28th – 30th, 2016
International Society of Tropical Foresters, Yale Chapter
Tropical Forests for Sustainable Development: Shaping our Post-2015 Future with Knowledge from the Field
The Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) is pleased to announce the 22nd Annual ISTF Conference at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The theme of this year’s conference focuses on the important role that tropical forests play in sustainable development. The world is at a pivotal junction as as it considers strategies for implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals that will inform the post-2015 global development agenda. Forests, while commonly associated with Goal 15, affect many other goals such as poverty alleviation; food security; human well-being; water conservation; gender empowerment; energy access; sustainable economic growth, production and consumption; combating climate change; and promoting sustainable resource use and development.
The Conference will begin with a keynote panel where researchers, practitioners and policy makers will discuss the future of forests in achieving the SDGs. Because of the timely nature of this discussion, tangible products from the event will inform the early conceptualization of post-2015 global development actions and define a path forward for tropical forest and development communities in determining how existing initiatives can support post-2015 sustainable development.
The Building Block Talks (BBTs) are a way for presenters to share their innovative research and work in the field of tropical forests and sustainable development in order to inform the tangible products that emerge from the conference. The BBTs are 5 minute presentations that will ground interactive discussion that immediately follows the series of presentations. The BBTs are intended to provide both practical case studies of how tropical forests can contribute to meeting SDGs as well as critical questions that will spark conversation.
Presenters are encouraged (though not required) to additionally prepare a poster corresponding to their BBT that can be displayed during the Friday afternoon session. The presentation of posters will allow further opportunities for participants to engage and explore specific case studies, as well as network to develop collaborative efforts.
The Building Block Talks should:
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Be a 5 minute presentation on innovative past work that connects forest research, use or conservation with one or multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs) and/or future directions and ideas to include the impacts of forests on the SDGs.
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Spark conversation that will spur creative and inclusive discussion on the role of tropical forests in meeting the SDGs
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The BBTs are encouraged to consider tropical forests’ connections to SDGs not traditionally associated with forests
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Follow a lightning talk, pecha kucha style with 15 image slides that automatically advance every 20 seconds and one slide at the end of your presentation with 1-3 questions that will inform the subsequent group discussion.
To apply: Submissions of concept notes based on either primary research or institutional experience are solicited from researchers, professionals, and students doing work in or around tropical forests that connects to sustainable development. Submissions will be selected based on their creativity, their relevance to a diversity of stakeholders, and their ability to connect tropical forest issues with the sustainable development agenda in innovative ways.
Please submit your Building Block Talk submissions by November 30, 2015 at http://goo.gl/forms/RRpYH3OZ2W
Each submission should contain:
- Name(s) of the author(s), Author Affiliation(s), address, telephone, and e-mail of the corresponding author
- Which of the SDGs does your submission relate to? Please see here for the list of SDGs, and list the goal number and text in your submission.
- Title, Country of origin/work, Concept description (less than 250 words)
- List 3 key broader questions your work raises in the discussion of tropical forests and the SDGs.
Please note that you may be asked to contribute writing on your work in an expanded form to be featured in a special issue of the Journal of Sustainable Forestry as part of the ISTF proceedings.
Questions? Please write to istf@yale.edu