Engaging Arborists in Sweden

Johan Östberg, component executive

As with most chapters of ISA, the Swedish chapter has suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides a three-month window between August to October 2020, we haven’t been able to host any in-person meetings since March 2020. So, how have we managed to engage our members and still grow the chapter during this trying period? Where did we succeed and what could we have done better?

The answers to these questions might be obvious and some might be cultural, but I hope that everyone can get some ideas from our experiences.

Information

A key part of our strategy has been information-sharing, which primarily was conducted through the homepage of our website where all decisions were listed in chronological order. We have also informed our members using our newsletter and, of course, on social media. Since the pandemic has affected all aspects of society, we have only received understanding and support when we have been forced to cancel events or change how we operate. However, at the same time, clear information is still the key so our members can follow our decisions.

Digital meetings

One of the chapter’s most important volunteers is the Board, which was probably the hardest group to keep engaged. Even though they were fully committed to the chapter, it was still hard to keep their engagement when being forced to rely solely on digital meetings. We tried to create a more social environment by sending them cakes before one of the meetings, asking them to do a shorter presentation on their dream vacation and to talk about what we want to do once the pandemic is over. But still, nothing can fully replace the social interactions that happen during a coffee break, a beer in a pub or reading the body language of a whole group during a presentation.

Even though we tried to be creative, this is probably where we should have done much more. Since we didn’t fully succeed, we did lose some Board members who opted not to serve another period.

Taking the time to think ahead

Before the pandemic, the Swedish chapter was on the same level, or maybe a bit at the forefront, when it came to the use of technology and especially how our members preferred digital communication. The pandemic resulted in other chapters developing much more sophisticated ways of using technology than we in the Swedish chapter had, and, thereby, surpassed us in many aspects. Even though this might be hard for some to accept, this was exactly what we needed to experience to develop a sense of urgency and revise how we do things. This has led to the development of a whole new website homepage, which will launch this summer. One exciting feature will be on-demand courses for members to obtain CEUs for their ETW-certifications. This is long overdue, but the pandemic has forced us to (finally) start working on this.

Openness increases memberships

Even though the Swedish chapter has had challenges and been forced to realize that we might need to change how we work, we have still managed to increase our membership and create the country's first tree pruning standard. These two achievements, to a high degree, have contributed to each other. Thanks to our large membership base, we have become a large enough organization to be recognized by the industry and thereby a reliable partner when developing standards. At the same time, the creation of the pruning standard has increased our credibility and the will for people to get engaged and become members. One key part of this has been to make everything we do completely free, including our newsletter, magazine and all publications. We have also pre-paid all downloads of the standards created by the Swedish Institute of Standards.

Our members do not join to save money (though we do give them discounts on courses, certifications and conferences). They want to become part of an organization that is helping the industry to grow! This may be the reason why we have had success without making significant changes in our operations. Instead, we have remained focused on our core values — that we exist to help the whole industry and not only our members.