On occasion of the 59th IAAS world congress, more than 60 students from 25 countries from all over the world gathered on Java island, Indonesia, to discuss about agriculture, exchange knowledge and ideas and make decisions concerning the future of IAAS. The 3-week congress with the topic “Plant Your Future” was hosted by 5 different universities that were located in the cities of Bogor, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta and Malang. Besides the days of General Assembly where changes to the constitution and the election of the new executive committee were discussed, the program included many excursions, insights into Indonesian culture as well as company visits. Some of the highlights were to learn how to cultivate dragon fruits on a university farm, to breed orchids in the botanical gardens of Bogor, to have a rice planting session and to experience the importance of mangroves in coastal areas. Besides that, the group got to enjoy lots of traditional dances from different islands of Indonesia, got an insight into the local cuisine, learned how to play the Angklung and had a workshop on how to make Batik, the very typical patterned cloth form Indonesia. Moreover, the students had the privilege to live for 2 days in a very remote village together with the locals. There, IAAS Indonesia has one of the partnerships within their unique village concept project, where they support the villagers with knowledge, new business ideas and development. This summary is way too short to describe all the precious memories and experiences the participants made, which is why everyone should go abroad to see and feel the familIAAS spirit himself!
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