The International Conference for Youth in Agriculture (ICYA) was organised by IAAS World to give future leaders in agriculture a voice. Held in Leuven from the 27th till the 30th of April, it was attended by over 60 students from across the world. Bram Van Hecke, student at Ghent University, shares his impressions with us.
Since I started studying at Ghent University, I became more and more interested in topics in agriculture. As I read (and talk) a lot about farming, I have learned quite a bit about the usual topics so far. These topics include “productivity in farming”, “supporting farmers in the South” and even “Feeding the 9 billion”. They tend to become old-fashion after a while. That might be the reason why I was this attracted to the ICYA. The topics where innovative. I knew the problems with women in agriculture, but I have barely ever talked about it and I never even thought about the role of refugees in agriculture par example. I didn’t doubt very long to participate in the conference. It was talking about fresh topics in agriculture in a young and international environment. This should be something for me!
Nevertheless, I did not know what to expect. Would the participants be open for a dialogue? Would the atmosphere be stimulating? Is a student organization able to organize an international congress like this? Honestly, I was not disappointed. Although this was the first time the congress was organized and there were definitely some improvement points, my overall experience was great! The participants were mostly Europeans, but the environment was very international. Moreover, the attendants were very diverse and the discussions were thought-provoking. The atmosphere was very challenging, but also sympathetic, which is proven by the fun nights out we had together. The organization fed us, guided us, and coached us during four days. They were well organized and prepared for every emergency or calamity.
I arrived in Leuven, where the conference took place, on Thursday afternoon. After a friendly reception and some food, we started the first day: soft skills training. It was an interactive class where we learned about creating ideas and projects. To be honest: I’m not a fan of soft skills trainings and I truly hate interactive classes. But I was astonished. I did not often learn this much about soft skills in this short period and I did not often like an interactive class this much. I don’t know what the X-factor was, but it worked quite well for me.
The following two days, were very intensive: constantly learning about agriculture, meeting new people, discussing with other participants. The morning was always filled with several speakers. Most of them were world-class speakers with great insights in the topics they were experts in. I tried to write down as much as possible (that is what I always do, when I hear something interesting), but I was not able to capture all of the cutting-edge ideas that came up those days. In the afternoon the participants sat together in small groups to go deeper into one specific topic. By discussing about the topics, it was possible to develop some thoughts even deeper and to work out real practical projects, that the members or IAAS could implement.
Although I liked the speakers and the discussions very much, the best part of the conference was probably the networking part. We were with 60 students from almost all continents of the world, so talking to people felt a bit like traveling. It was great to see how different people from various regions were, and how they could go along this good anyway. So I loved the IAAS tradition that is called “International Night”, I loved to show some participants the local bars and I loved to just share a meal and sit together with people that were very different from me.
It seemed as we only were day one, when I had to farewell my brand-new friends, from all around the globe. In the end, I was very happy to participate the congress. Albeit I did not know what to expect, it turned out great. I hope that IAAS will organize the ICYA again, that other people from all over the world will participate and that they will be able to engage, to grow and to enjoy a conference like this!
Written by Bram Van Hecke, Master's student at Ghent University in Belgium.