The inaugural Forest and Society International Conference (FSIC), themed “Forest Frontiers: Between Well-being and Inequality,” took place on Saturday, 27 July 2024 at Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia. This groundbreaking event was brought together by the Forest and Society Research Group (FSRG), a leading group of experts, researchers, and practitioners worldwide. The conference offers a venue for reassessing forest and forest-related challenges from an interdisciplinary standpoint. The 1st FSIC was a hybrid event that focused on critical issues in forestry, bringing together researchers from various countries and disciplines. It functions as a platform for sharing research and engaging in comprehensive discussions. The conference opened with a special session titled “Decolonizing Theoretical and Methodological Exploration on Forest – Land Use Policy and Research.” This session featured presentations by Maria Brockhaus (Helsinki University, Finland), Moira Moeliono (CIFOR-ICRAF, Indonesia), and Nurhady Sirimorok (FSRG Unhas, Indonesia). 
Among the participants, three junior researchers from Sebijak Institute, Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), had the opportunity to showcase their work at the conference. The junior researchers are:
- Danis Syahroni discussed his research titled “Protected Area Commercialization: Governance, Sharing Benefit-Mechanism, and the Issues,”
- Ni Nyoman Bintarin provided an in-depth analysis of “Characteristics and Challenges of Smallholders in the Forest and Land Use Sector within the European Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR) Commodities: A Systematic Literature Review,”
- Moch Syaifulloh presented his study titled “Beyond the Glorification of Social Forestry Policy in Indonesia: Rethinking Future Concerns in Generational Shifts Context.”
The conference concluded with a closing panel session that explored the theme “Examining Histories and Inequalities.” Presentations included Hannah Ehrlichmann from the University of Helsinki, Finland, who examined “Colonial Legacies in the German and Cameroonian Forest Sector: An Analysis of Historical Economic Flows from 1892-2022.” Felicity Goldsmith, also from the University of Helsinki, discussed “Indigenous Representations in British Colonial Business Media, Cameroon.” Aristide Chacgom from Green Development Advocates, Cameroon, shared insights on experiences with land rights, resistance, and plantations.