International Paper partners with IIFM to establish centre of excellence

As part of the MoU, the paper mill will establish the IIFM-IP Paul Brown Centre of Excellence (CoE) at the IIFM campus in Bhopal. To facilitate and anchor several activities under this partnership, both the organisations will collectively carry forward applied research in the field of forestry, fiber sustainability and in forestry management, with sharing of best practices, case studies and knowledge-sharing. The collaboration between both the organisations will also cover training and capacity building for students, researchers and professionals of IIFM.

 

“International Paper has decades of knowledge on creating world class products through sustainable practices – methods that help not only conserve the natural resources but actually contribute significantly to maintain and grow the ecosystem. This partnership, as with several others that we have forged globally in the past, will allow us to share our expertise with the industry and academia to make sustainability a part of life,” said Rampraveen Swaminathan, president, International Paper - India and chairman and managing director, IP-APPM. 

 

The functioning of the CoE will be undertaken jointly by IIFM and International Paper. The paper manufacturer will share its global best practices and learning and will invest towards implementation of the objectives of the MoU. The collaboration will also provide a common and synergic platform for both IP and IIFM to develop training modules and knowledge for the future sectoral workforce.

 

“We are certain that these initiatives under the Centre of Excellence will enhance the intellectual interaction between both IP and IIFM,” said Giridhar Kinhal, director, IIFM. “We look forward to learn from International Paper’s global experience and knowledge in India in the forestry initiatives that will help augment our processes, and promote excellence in our studies.”

 

The MoU was signed by Giridhar Kinhal of IIFM and Rampraveen Swaminathan, president – International Paper India in the presence of Ashok Lavasa, secretary, ministry of environment, forest and climate change. In addition, senior dignitaries from the ministry, other relevant functionaries of government of India, and the state government, senior members from the environment and forestry related organisations like WWF, TERI, Forest Plus and IUCN, were present at the signing ceremony.

 

Broadly, the MoU will focus on the following, facilitated and anchored by the Centre of Excellence

1. Collaborative research initiatives, which will include work on common areas such as forestry, fiber sustainability, supply chain management, safety in forestry and paper industry, dependence of vulnerable communities on natural ecosystems for livelihood and subsistence, economic valuation of services provided by natural ecosystems, gender issues, amongst others   2. Partnership and capacity building of workforce, where both the organisations will share intellectual inputs in developing training modules and products on the subjects of mutual interests for local and national level, including current and future sectoral workforce   3. Hosting visiting delegations, where the organisations will facilitate exchange and hosting of distinguished academicians, civil servants and thinkers, who will deliver public lectures and conduct seminars and related activities on the issues related to forestry. These will be held to promote greater interaction and forge stronger links between academia and other related specialists and professionals   4. Exchange of relevant publications, where research publications undertaken by respective organisations will be shared with each other.