In 2006, 55 years after its founding, QLF hosted its First Alumni Congress in Budapest, Hungary. The first Congress assembled 170 QLF Alumni and partners representing 30 countries. The Congress provided an opportunity for the QLF family to collectively reflect on its first 55 years, plan for the organization’s next half century, and catalyze new, international conservation and stewardship partnerships and initiatives.

The First QLF Alumni Congress is a seminal part of the organization’s history, having launched programs and partnerships including the Global Leadership Network. It marked the first time that Alumni from each of QLF’s working regions came together in-person to catalyze new innovations and initiatives in conservation and stewardship. The centrepiece of the Congress was a two-day Stewardship Workshop organized and facilitated by QLF Senior Vice President Brent Mitchell. The 2006 Congress Publication outlines details of the Congress and what it accomplished.

QLF Senior Vice President Brent Mitchell introduces the Stewardship Workshop, QLF Congress, Bükk National Forest, Hungary, 2006. Photograph by Greig Cranna.