Leadership
The IRG President, Dr Rod Stirling of Canada, and the IRG Vice-President, Dr Miha Humar of Slovenia fullfill the leadership roles within the organization working with the Executive Council and the Finance, Scientific Programme and the Communications committees.
Management
Dr Mats Westin of Sweden is the Secretary-General of the IRG and provides the direct interactions with the members, sponsors and general public. Dr Westin arranges and manages all formal activities within the IRG organization.
Participation
The IRG Scientific Conferences are held annually and are attended by 200 to 360 participants. Between 100 and 200 papers are presented every year at the annual conference, along with poster presentations. Webinars are now used as needed during the year to provide further opportunities for active interactions between the IRG members and sponsorsRole of the IRG on Wood Protection
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Since the 1970s IRG has been the dominant international forum for scientific papers on wood protection
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The Annual Conferences have offered the most diverse programme, covering all aspects of wood durability and wood protection
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The Annual Conferences have also become an important, as well as highly appreciated, part of Members networking and allowing for face-to-face informal interactions
How the IRG interacts
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Awards for young scientists have facilitated Conference participation (RCA) and scientific development
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Newsletters, website, Facebook, LinkedIn and WeChat help personal Members and Corporate Members to be updated on what’s going on within the Group but also out there in the wider world of wood products protection science and technology
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The searchable database with IRG Documents (Compendium) provides a valuable source of scientific information
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The permanent Secretariat provides various services for all categories of the Members
The Role of the IRG in the Global Environment
.The IRG has approximately 330 members from some 50+ countries around the world. To date 55 Annual Scientific Conferences have been held, as well as 8 ancillary conferences of a regional or specifically topical nature. No two conferences have been held in the same city or location. While the IRG had its beginnings in Europe, it is global in nature with increasing involvement from the Asia region.
In the past 50 years there have been profound changes in the wood protection industry, wood protection values and in the wood protection scientific community. IRG seeks to respond to and/or participate in the ever changing global landscape. It is a fact that much wood protection science is driven by global currents in the environment, forestry, and climate impacts. The IRG provides an active forum for the development of a wide variety of responses and viewpoints in this time of continuous change in the world’s approach to the use of wood-based materials across a broad spectrum of applications as well as political and environmental situations.