Building Partnerships with the Sector Community: A Process of Dissemination, Value Enhancement, and Sustainability for the Publications
Eucalyptus Online Book & Newsletter

All editions of the Eucalyptus Online Book and Eucalyptus Newsletter, featuring diverse and rich content, were released between June 2005 and July 2021, produced under the auspices of Professor Celso Foelkel’s company at that time, Celsius Degree - Businesses in Knowledge Management Ltd.

For these publications to come into existence, resources beyond those provided by Grau Celsius/Celsius Degree were required. Third parties supplied these additional funds to facilitate publications creation and dissemination. One thing is certain: the existence of these publications, and the extensive content regarding Eucalyptus and Pinus produced by Professor Celso Foelkel, would not have achieved such success without the tremendous support of ABTCP (Brazilian Technical Association of Pulp and Paper).

In 2005, Professor Celso was serving as Vice President on the ABTCP’s executive board. The presidency was held by a close friend and industry expert, chemical engineer Umberto Caldeira Cinque, who immediately backed the idea of creating and distributing these publications on Eucalyptus. Upon sharing his vision with the other directors, Professor Celso, in agreement with ABTCP management, established that the association would provide financial support to Celsius Degree to enable the creation of these eucalyptus-focused publications.

A contract was established stipulating a fixed monthly fee, subject to periodic renegotiation based on the success (or not) of the publications. Concurrently, ABTCP sought financial backers to provide funding, aiming to secure enough support to cover the amount it had committed to paying to Celsius Degree. ABTCP also pledged to increase the publications' visibility within the pulp/paper industry by promoting them and emailing notifications about each new edition to everyone on its mailing list. In short time, the subscriber base exceeded twenty thousand people, spanning Brazil, Latin America, Europe, North America, and other continents. Consequently, the publications were produced, announced, disseminated, and highly valued within the sector, due to the dedication of our primary supporter, ABTCP. It is worth remembering that social media was still in its infancy at the time; consequently, managing such a large list of email contacts entailed significant challenges and costs when distributing information about the publications.

Professor Celso received additional support from the ABTCP, including: 1) Access to the association’s technical archives, allowing Professor Celso to utilize and showcase the wealth of technical material contained therein; and 2) The acquisition of a web tool to create a Q&A forum on the ABTCP website, enabling Professor Celso, and soon later Dr. Ester Foelkel, to provide online answers to questions from the community. This forum was named "Pergunte ao Euca Expert" ("Ask the Euca X-Pert"). Some months ahead, the complete forum migrated with safety to Professor Celso Foelkel’s own website, where it can easily be found till now at the following web address: https://www.eucalyptus.com.br/eucaexpert_eng.html

The first six editions of the Eucalyptus Newsletter and the initial two chapters of the online book were produced with the institutional support and facilitation of TAPPI (Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry - USA), which promoted the publications on its website. Consequently, these publications were issued in both Portuguese and English. Even after TAPPI's institutional support ended, English editions continued to be produced until February 2012, more specifically, up to Eucalyptus Newsletter issue No. 39 and several chapters of the online book.

Given the tremendous success of the publications on eucalypts, Professor Celso suggested to ABTCP that a similar publication could be created for conifers (such as for Pinus and Araucaria). The proposal was well received, leading to the creation of PinusLetter. This publication was written by Ester Foelkel, PhD, under the supervision of Professor Celso Foelkel, with both serving as producers and as partners at Celsius Degree. Following the ABTCP's acceptance of the proposal, the first edition of PinusLetter was launched in January 2008, utilizing a similar management structure shared between the ABTCP and Celsius Degree. PinusLetter has always been produced in Portuguese.

Starting in late 2011, amidst a turbulent external environment, the financial situation became increasingly difficult, leading to the discontinuation of the English editions. However, this is no longer an issue today, as any text can be translated into other languages simply by using a suitable translation website (such as Google Translate or Collins Dictionary).

The partnership with ABTCP began to lose ground in late 2011, as the association’s financial statements started showing weaker results. Economic crises in Brazil and globally also led several of our financing supporters to withdraw their sponsorship. Consequently, while ABTCP maintained its technical support, the search for financial backers shifted to Grau Celsius/Celsius Degree. The association became just one of the financial backers, paying the same contribution as the others, who, at that time, came to be known as Sponsors. This arrangement also was applied to the PinusLetter publication. Naturally, this created immense difficulties and demanded a significant amount of Professor Celso's time. As a result, the publications started to be issued only in Portuguese, and their release schedule became irregular. Yet, the idea and the dream did not die; they endured until 2021.

Securing new sponsors was not easy; there was a great deal of red tape involved, and surprisingly, companies in the P&P sector did not show the same level of enthusiasm for supporting something that was technically very useful to the pulp and paper industry itself, particularly to its technical staff, as well as to students from a wide range of fields and educational levels.

The COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, severely impacting economies worldwide. As might be expected, corporate sponsors began cutting their support for our publications. They offered various explanations for doing so, such as one "interesting" response received when we requested a sponsorship renewal. The person in charge stated they were withdrawing support because the company would only back entities or organizations engaged in activities that provided some form of social benefit. As if providing free technological education to thousands of people through these publications was not a socially beneficial endeavor. Frankly, we deeply regret this situation.

Thus, marking the conclusion of this rich and productive history, the final edition of the Eucalyptus Online Book & Newsletter series was released in July 2021 with issue 89 of the Eucalyptus Newsletter. A year earlier, specifically in July 2020, issue 57 of PinusLetter had also marked the end of the production and free distribution of that publication.
Our final, loyal financial supporters were informed that the revenue generated from publication sponsorship fees did not cover our production costs; consequently, Grau Celsius/Celsius Degree ceased operations in December 2021.

The terms "sponsors" or "financial supporters" refer to the organizations that provided financial backing for the Eucalyptus Online Book & Newsletter publications. These financial supporters contributed with a set fee over a specific period (months or years). We extend our special thanks to all those who collaborated on the creation and dissemination of these publications throughout their existence. On behalf of the authors, our now-closed company Grau Celsius/Celsius Degree, and, indeed, the Ibero-Latin American community that continues to access and read the editions still available for free to the public on this website: we say, thank you all.

Both Dr. Ester Foelkel and I, Professor Celso Foelkel, have stopped producing new editions, both feeling saddened that we could not secure the necessary support to continue this work. Yet, we also take pride and joy in knowing we did our utmost for the Brazilian forest-based sector while the dream lasted.

To ABTCP - Brazilian Technical Association of Pulp and Paper, the primary organization providing financial support for all our editions and a key facilitator in bringing these publications into existence starting in June 2005 - we extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation.

We also extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation to our final financial supporters - ABTCP, Arborgen, Bracell, Ibá, Klabin, and Suzano, who, I am certain, would have continued to support the publications for as long as possible.

Interestingly - and marking a historic milestone - the first of our sponsors representing a company from the pulp and paper sector was Botnia (Uruguay) in January 2007. A heartfelt thank you to my friend Kari Kovasin, who saw merit in our publications and immediately encouraged Botnia to support us. By joining ABTCP, the company became the first industry in the pulp and paper sector to help us turn this dream into reality. Other Brazilian companies subsequently came on board, starting with Aracruz in May 2007, followed by International Paper in November of that same year, with others joining later, as detailed further on.

To better express our appreciation and gratitude, we present the sponsors and supporters of the Eucalyptus Online Book and Eucalyptus Newsletter publications from 2005 through 2021.

We also extend our thanks to OUR READERS, whose continued visits support us to this day.

Accordingly, the logos and names of all those who provided financial support to the Eucalyptus Online Book & Newsletter are presented below as a historical record; they played a vital role during the years they were with us - and many remain significant to this day for the Brazilian planted forest, pulp, and paper sectors.

We extend our sincere thanks to this enthusiastic, friendly, and remarkable group of individuals, companies, and organizations that embraced the cause of supporting our technical publications, making them freely accessible to the global community.

The forestry sector, the forest-based industry, and the public, seeking information on Eucalyptus and other planted forest species, have certainly benefited from your contribution.

To our supporters and sponsors, we extend our gratitude for believing in our efforts on behalf of Eucalyptus trees and society, a society that needs these trees and needs to learn more about them.

Warm regards to all.

Celso Foelkel & Ester Foelkel

List of Financing Supporting/Sponsoring Companies and Organizations

2019-2021 Period - including changes effective from 2018/2019

Arborgen, ABTCP, Bracell, Klabin, Ibá, and Suzano maintained their sponsorship up to the final edition of the Eucalyptus Newsletter

Lwarcel rebranded as Bracell in 2019 and maintained its sponsorship through the final edition

Fibria was acquired by the Suzano Group between 2018 and 2019 and continued its support under the Suzano name through the final edition.

List of all supporting/sponsoring companies and organizations throughout the history of the Eucalyptus Online Book & Newsletter publications
Covering varying periods for each of them

	ABTCP – Associação Brasileira Técnica de Celulose e Papel
	Air Products
	Aracruz
	ArborGen Tecnologia Florestal
	Ashland
	Botnia
	BRACELPA – Associação Brasileira de Celulose e Papel
	CENIBRA – Celulose Nipo Brasileira
	CMPC Celulose Riograndense
	Eldorado Brasil Celulose
	IBÁ – Indústria Brasileira de Árvores
	Klabin
	KSH-CRA Engenharia Ltda.
	Lwarcel Celulose
	Pöyry
	Pöyry Silviconsult
	Stora Enso Brasil
	Suzano
	Veracel Celulose
	Votorantim Celulose e Papel