Youth proposals for innovative technologies in the Asia-Pacific forestry sector

Young people have shown their capacity to generate and spearhead trans-national mobilization to address environmental challenges such as climate change and advance sustainable development. They are instrumental in shaping a sustainable future including: by taking leadership roles and generating momentum through collaboration and social media, by transforming rigid institutions from within and participating to the uptake and upscale of innovative technologies in the forest sector. This is why FAO and FTA, through an open call for contributions, invited students and young professionals to contribute actively to the roadmap being developed on the use of innovative technologies in forestry and forest management in the Asia-Pacific region, with key recommendations (policy and concrete actions) for their application in sustainable forest management. This exercise resulted in a FAO / FTA co-publication, accessible online,¹ which gathers the best youth contributions.

The authors of this publication interacting with youth and audience present in the room will be invited to reflect on two questions:

• Can innovative technologies improve and facilitate the engagement of youth in forestry and forest related issues?
• .How to better integrate innovative technologies in forestry curricula?