ROUND TABLE ORGANIZED WITHIN THE FEM4FOREST PROJECT

11/12/21

One of the activities within the Interreg DTP project „Forest in women’s hands” (Fem4Forest), is the organization of a round table, which aims to share information with all stakeholders about the realised activities, as well as to enable discussion of the project results. National team from University of Belgrade – Faculty of Forestry organized 2 online round tables in 2021.

The 1st round table was held on May 27, 2021. The round table had 25 participants (and 4 members of Fem4Forest national team), representing 18 institutions and organizations. The 2nd round table was held, on November 03, 2021. The round table had 17 participants (and 4 members of Fem4Forest national team), representing 12 institutions and organizations.

The program of the 1st round table included:
• presentation of the project „Forest in women’s hands” (Fem4Forest) in the Danube region;
• presentation of the results of the national report „Forest in women’s hands” in Serbia;
• presentation of the results of research on the attitudes of women employed in the forestry sector, private forests owners, and students at the Faculty of Forestry;
• discussion of the presented results.

The program of the 2nd round table included:
• presentation of previous activities within the project „Forest in women’s hands” (Fem4Forest);
• presentation of the results of the work package T1: Analysis of needs;
• presentation of the results of work package T3: Innovative ways for effective inclusion of women;
• discussion of the presented results.

The moderators of both round tables were Prof. Dr. Dragan Nonić and Prof. Dr. Mirjana Šijačić-Nikolić. The brief information about the project, main results and detailed information about the activities within work-packages T1 and T3 were presented by all national team members: Prof. Dr. Dragan Nonić, Prof. Dr. Mirjana Šijačić-Nikolić, Dr. Jelena Nedeljković and Dr. Marina Nonić.

Some of the main conclusions from these round tables are:
– Fem4Forest’s results are valuable for all stakeholders and can be used as a basis and starting point for other projects;
– to increase the participation of women and attract more students, the promotion of forestry is needed;
– mentoring is the best form of learning;
– to build (successful) career in forestry, women need: to be equally treated as men; mentoring and support during all career;
– it is difficult to obtain data in the field, especially when it comes to female forest owners. Databases are missing. The support of all institutions and organizations is needed to create solid databases. All relevant actors should be involved: relevant ministry (Forest Directorate), FAO, Chamber of Forestry Engineers, etc.