How to get EFI involved in events
Event Assessment Procedure
If you are interested in involving EFI as one of the main or co-organisers or to apply the EFI Associated Event -status for the event, the applicant should fill in the
Event Information Form. The form should be sent to Event and Project Officer Ulla Vänttinen (ulla.vanttinen(at)efi.int). Within two weeks the applicant will get an acknowledgement of receipt of the application by EFI.
Terms and Definitions used by EFI
EFI Associated Event
EFI gives the status of EFI Associated Event to international events that are organised by EFI member organisation/s. In some cases EFI can consider giving the status also to national events reaching wide range of target groups and to events organised by others than EFI member organisation/s. EFI Associated Event is a status, and therefore EFI cannot be considered as one of the organisers of the event and it holds no liability of the event. The status is applied from EFI with the ‘ Event Information Form’. EFI provides a special logo to be used in the event material (web, printed materials etc.), and it itself promotes EFI associate events on its website, EFI News and electronic newsletters as appropriate.
Workshop
Workshop is a meeting of experts requiring active involvement of the participants to achieve the aim/s of the event. It should include interactive sessions, such as group work or small group discussion, and it may include presentations with limited time. It usually has a set, rather concrete target (i.e. producing a report, guidelines etc. on a given theme) and it often has a problem-solving approach.
Seminar, Conference, Symposium, Congress
Nowadays the terms seminar, conference, symposium and congress have generally the same meaning in the forest research community: a meeting which is organised on a particular subject or to bring together people who share a particular interest. The use of the term is often depending on the terminology used by the organisers. The programme consists mainly of presentations on a given topic. Time given for presentations is limited, as is their number. Manuscripts based on the presentations (and/or posters) are usually published as proceedings or as a special issue of some (scientific) journal. Some free discussion is usually included in the programme.
EFI usually uses the terms Conference and Seminar when organising this type of events.
More exact definitions on the conference, congress, seminar and symposium are available for instance in ‘ Meeting Industry terminology’ by IAPCO (ISBN 90-9013728-9).
Summer School/ Winter School
Summer / Winter School is an event, targeted to young researchers and post-graduate students. The topic of the event is enlightened with lectures by more senior staff, group works and interactive sessions. Very often the participants are expected to prepare a report or a scientific paper on the application of the theme. Some universities give credit for attending the event.
Further Information
For further information please contact:
Ms. Ulla Vänttinen, Event and Project Officer
European Forest Institute, Torikatu 34, 80100 Joensuu, Finland
Tel. +358 10 773 4306, Fax. +358 10 773 4377, email: ulla.vanttinen(at)efi.int
Examples of events where EFI has been an organiser or a co-organiser can be found through the event calendar.