From March to May 2021, the European Forum on Urban Forestry has planned a comprehensive programme with exciting speaker line-ups. In order to guide urban forestry enthusiasts through a wide range of online events, the free app myEFUF has been launched.

The European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) is excited to announce the release of the myEFUF app! COVID-19 challenges did not stop us from creating an extraordinary EFUF experience for this year. myEFUF can now be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play and is all set to guide urban forestry enthusiasts through a range of exciting events. myEFUF has been developed by Arbocitynet and the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden with the support of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).

What is myEFUF all about?

The app will facilitate knowledge exchange and meetings in a virtual setting. In times of social distance, we want to make it easier for you to connect with each other and keep on networking with Urban Forestry colleagues from around Europe and beyond. We are especially excited to invite you to join local events through the app – from wherever you are based.
 
The app is available in 5 languages: English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. Take the chance to get together for a virtual networking lunch, set-up your own marketplace to discuss specific urban forestry topics or create a local walk around your favourite urban green space and invite others to join online. The events will be organised from March until May 2021. Eager to organise your own event? The marketplace invites you to contribute by creating an online event yourself or uploading a poster or flyer. 

Check out this short video below to get a taste of myEFUF!

myEFUF can now be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play

The Urban Forestry Semester (23 March – 21 May 2021)

Urban Forestry Days (23-24 March 2021)

Two days of integrated urban forestry activities brought together researchers, practitioners and policymakers from around Europe and beyond. 750 unique participants from over 68 different countries joined the conference online to explore the latest developments in urban forestry. Interactive discussions shed light on integrated forest management and experts gave valuable insights about the linkages between urban forests and sustainability transition. Read more about the conference in our blogposts on the linkages between urban forestry and sustainability transition, find out why urban forests are a valuable tool for building metropolitan green areas, learn about the virtual excursion to Kottenforst or watch our conference trailer to explore urban forests from Bonn to Beijing. Hungry for me? Presentations and recordings will soon be accessible via efuf.org.

The future in cities is green – and so are the next weeks!

myEFUF allows everyone interested to view upcoming events at a glance or to browse through the full EFUF2021 programme. We are looking forward to a series of interactive online events with a range of exciting speaker line-ups that will share their urban forestry stories with us – and the next ones are just ahead:

Urban Forestry Friday Morning Live Guest Room (26 March – 14 May 2021)

There are some special Friday mornings ahead of us. Grab your mug of coffee or tea and start off your Fridays with a series of Urban Forestry insights from different perspectives. We are looking forward to early bird get-togethers online with a list of wonderful speakers that are ready to share their Urban Forestry stories with us: Ursa Vilhar (Slovenian Forestry Institute), Renate Späth (Ministry for the Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Consumer Protection (MULNV) NRW), Matilda van den Bosch (IS Global), Chris Baines (environmental campaigner, horticulturist and landscape architect) and Patrick Huvenne (Agency for Nature and Forests, Flanders). Looking forward to seeing you there, check out the app for joining in online.

Urban Forestry for a Resilient Future webinars (4, 5, 6 May)

The organisers of the supposed EFUF 2020 conference – Manchester City of Trees – will bring us a series of 3 webinars on the 4th, 5th and 6th of May (15:00 – 17:00 CET). The 2-hour webinars are targeted at practitioners, researchers, policymakers and people eager to learn about the manifold opportunities urban forestry provides to make urban areas more resilient. As part of the European Forum on Urban Forestry Semester 2021, this webinar series will explore urban forests through three main themes.

• Theme 1: ‘Keeping cities cool and reducing flood risk’ – How our urban forests help to provide resilience, and what we can do to make them more adaptable to climate change and urban expansion
• Theme 2: ‘The air we breathe and the way we feel’ – The role of the urban forest in meeting our basic life needs and addressing the challenges of physical and mental health
• Theme 3: ‘Trees and urban design’ – How trees and GI are integral to the development of our towns and cities in creating places where people want to live, work and play and how forest products can help to reduce our carbon footprint.

Registrations are now open – save your virtual spot via Eventbrite.

European Forum on Urban Forestry 2021 (18 – 21 May 2021)

Surviving the City – Urban Forests for nature-based health and happiness

To round off the Urban Forestry Semester 2021, a series of exciting events have been planned in Switzerland by ArboCityNet and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment. Get an overview here or check out the events of ‘The Swiss Week’ directly on myEFUF. Depending on the restrictions, there will be hybrid or virtual-only events. 

EFUF2021 weeks – call for local contributions

In these uncertain times, we invite all EFUF sympathisers to organise local events to bring EFUF and urban forestry to your doorstep. Potential contributions include walks, webinars, talks, quizzes, workshops, art exhibitions, games, etc. The EFUF team will help you to bring your event live through the brandnew EFUF.app. The local events are ideally organised between 26 March and 18 May (the “EFUF2021 weeks”), but the EFUF.app stays live and running afterwards. Get in touch with Bianca Baerlorcher (info@arbocitynet.ch) to discuss possibilities.

This article was originally published on MedForest.net on March 30, 2021.