Become a member
Membership of IUFRO is open to any institution concerned with the promotion, support or conduct of research related to forests, trees and forest products.
Description
Building on the experience of the former Special Programme Directors' Forum, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) has initiated a co-development process with heads of forest research organizations and deans of forest faculties to strengthen regional science-policy networks.
With the Regional Science-Policy Information Networks (SPIN), a workstream of the Science-Policy Programme (SciPol), IUFRO aims to ensure that those taking political decisions at the regional level will have access to the best science-based solutions for the complex challenges and issues facing forests. A prerequisite for this interaction between science and policy is to have a trusted and strategic platform, where the exchange of scientific needs and opportunities can take place. As such, these Networks bring together regional research representatives to foster collaboration, raise the visibility of regional research, and reinforce science-based decisions in policy discussions and processes, while also facilitating communication with policy-makers to better understand their needs and provide more relevant scientific results.
Through its informal nature and by bringing together research representatives on a regional level, the Networks provide participating institutions with an innovative opportunity to learn from each other and address critical issues for forest-related research. They aim to provide a platform for fostering quality science and to deliver it to society.
Moving forward, the networks are expected to contribute to the following:
- Networking Function: An attractive science-policy platform can provide excellent networking opportunities not only within the forest research and policy spaces, but also beyond them.
- Increased visibility for research outcomes: Through the arrangement of, for example, regional webinars and/or conferences, increased visibility will be given to existing research networks, activities, and outcomes of research projects.
- Facilitating Interaction and Information Exchange between Networks and Policy-Makers: The Networks provide a platform to interact and exchange information bi-directionally with policy-makers, and to communicate the latest information on policy processes and developments of interest to Member organizations (e.g., through 'Members briefing' activities).
- Identification of issues requiring political action: As a strategic platform, the Networks allow to identify themes and important issues where policy action is needed. Specific attention will be given to the integration and presentation of regional information distilled from the outcomes of IUFRO's SciPol global assessment reports.
- Development of science-based policy options: To effectively communicate with governments and decision-makers, the SPIN regional Core Groups will steer efforts in developing science-based policy options for previously identified issues of interest.
The regional Core Groups bring together interested regional representatives and provide strategic guidance on priorities, structure, and envisaged activities for the coming years. Inital meetings have taken place at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025 for both the African and the Pan-European Regions.