Keynote presentations will be delivered every morning in Plenary Sessions (except Thursday) by distinguished and internationally reknowned experts.
Ko Un, currently the Chair Professor at Dankook University, is the author of more than 60 books (poetry & novels) that are translated into 25 languages worldwide. He was also awarded 15 prestigious literature prizes both at national and international levels. Some of his reknowned works include Collected Poems, Collected Literary Works of Ko Un, Mountain Paekdu (grand epic poem) and Maninbo (Ten Thousand Lives). His message on “Forest is short; Desert is long” will be presented on Monday (August 23).
Frances Seymour, Director General of Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), has founded and directed the Institutions and Governance Program at the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington, DC. At WRI, she co-authored several WRI publications on sustainable development and has contributed to many other publications on forestry, environmental and development issues in Asia, Africa and Latin America. She will address the Congress on “Forests, climate change, and communities: Making progress up the learning curve“ on Tuesday (August 24).
Jose Joaquin Campos Arce, Director General of CATIE, is currently overseeing about 100 R&D projects in 17 countries in Latin America. He is also a member of the External Advisory Group (forestry) of the World Bank and is now serving as a Chairman in the Board of Directors of the Iberoamerican Network of Model Forests. With 30 years of professional experience and more than 100 publications, he will speak on Wednesday (August 25) on “Integrating scales and sectors to foster sustainable livelihoods, forests and landscapes“.
Elinor Ostrom was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2009. Being the first woman to win the prize in economics, Professor Ostrom is Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science and Senior Research Director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, Bloomington. Gaining worldwide recognition on her research and scholarship, she will be speaking on “The potential role of communities in sustaining forest resources” on Friday (August 27).
Peter Shaw Ashton is Charles Bullard Professor Emeritus of Forestry at Harvard University and has received the Award of Environmental Achievement of the USEPA. With keen interest in monographic and field studies of Dipterocarpaceae as well as conservation and sustainable use of tropical forests, he will be addressing the Congress with a presentation entitled “The disasterous trajectory of rain forests: Research imperatives” on Saturday (August 28).
