International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences

International Association of students in Agricultural and related Sciences (IAAS) is an international non-profit and non-governmental student society headquartered in Leuven,Belgium.It was formed "to promote the exchange of knowledge and information among students and to improve the mutual understanding between countries and cultures". [http://www.iaasworld.org/]

History

It was founded in 1957 in Tunis by 8 countries. At the moment it is one of the world's biggest student organizations and one of the leading agricultural student associations. Fact|date=March 2008 IAAS gathers students studying, majoring or researching in agriculture and related areas like environmental sciences, forestry, food sciences, landscape architecture etc. Its committees are spread in universities in over 40 countries worldwide.

Activities

The principal aim of IAAS is to promote the exchange of knowledge, information and ideas among students, and to improve the mutual understanding between countries and cultures. To do this it organizes activities like seminars, working camps, international meetings, exchange weeks, an international exchange program, small-scale development projects.

Every year in summer, a member country organizes the Annual Congress, which consists of sessions of the General Assembly and a seminar. During the General Assembly all decisions affecting the association are discussed during working groups, and subsequently voted upon. Furthermore the participants take the chance of having such an international group to discuss in forums about (agricultural) hot topics together with their fellos students from all over the world. The seminar usually deals with a specific (agricultural) topic and includes excursions, visits, lectures, social activities and a round tour of an area in the organizing country.

Leadership

The main element of IAAS are the National Committees (NC) and Local Committees (LC), groups and/or associations of students in universities all over the world working for the association. They organise and run activities like Seminars, Working Camps, Village Concept Projects.

The General Assembly (GA) is the supreme governing authority of the association. It gathers once a year during the Annual Congress, and consists of delegates from all the member countries, which are appointed by the National Committees (a). Decisions are taken by voting, with each member country having one vote.

Major positions

*PresidentThe task of the President is to represent the Association to its external partners and to ensure that the whole EC functions properly.

*Vice President of FinancesThe VP of Finances takes care of the finances and bookkeeping.

*Vice President of CommunicationThe VP of Communication keeps in contact with the members and takes care of communication matters within the association.

*Vice President of PartnershipThe VP of Partnership is the one to keep in contact with our sponsors and to search for new partnership opportunities. VP of Finances and VP of Partnership work closely together.

*Vice President of ExchangeThe VP of Exchange is responsible for the coordination of the IAAS Exchange Program. Since 2006 the Exchange Quality Board helps with the task of improving this important activity.

Membership

There are currently members of IAAS in the following countries: Austria, Belarus, Belgium [http://www.iaas.be/] , Bulgaria, Benin, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark [http://www.iaas.dk] , Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Macedonia, Mexico [http://www.iaasmexico.com/] , Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Poland [http://www.au.poznan.pl/iaas] , Portugal, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain [http://www.iaasspain.com/] , Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

External links

* [http://www.iaasworld.org IAAS homepage]
* [http://www.malaysia2006.dk IAAS world congress in Malaysia 2006]
* [http://www.iaas-woco2007.org IAAS World Congress in Germany/Switzerland 2007]
* [http://www.iaasmexico.com/WoCo%202009%20eng.html IAAS world congress in Guatemala/Mexico 2009]
* [http://www.iaasamericas.com IAAS Americas region website]