EFI and EFUF combining strengths to facilitate urban forest-based solutions employment in Europe
Marc Palahi (Director European Forest Institute) and Clive Davies (Chair of the European Forum on Urban Forestry) at the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding
Building on their mutual strengths, the European Forest Institute (EFI) and the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding strategic collaboration on research and policy in the field of urban forestry on Friday, 30th November 2018. This collaboration will further the understanding of the potential of urban forests, forestry, nature-, and bio-based solutions in supporting the development of sustainable cities. Both organisations will jointly develop a strategic approach to facilitate the employment of urban forest-based solutions in European cities, through coordinated communication, research and development efforts. Throughout the collaboration, EFI’s forest-based scientific experience and its European-wide science-policy network and EFUF’s multidisciplinary network with local authorities, practitioners and researchers will be complementary in developing a stronger discourse on urban forest-based solutions.
A first common initiative developed within the MoU framework, is the launch of the Call for Abstract for the 22nd session of the European Forum on Urban Forestry in Cologne (Germany). The EFUF2019 conference has been branded “Urban Forests: Full of Energy” and will focus on the role of urban forests as providers of energy, both through woody biomass and through physical activity, art, learning and collaborative working. EFUF is organised at the “Waldlabor” (Forestlab) in Cologne, which is a magnificent place for exchanging knowledge based on participatory science and experiments.
The European Forest Institute (EFI) is an independent international science organisation, which generates, connects and shares knowledge at the interface between science, policy and society. EFI has 29 member countries who have ratified the Convention, and c. 115 member organisations in 39 countries, working in diverse research fields. https://efi.int/
The European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) is a network for forest and greenspace managers, planners, architects, researchers, public authorities and policy makers to share interdisciplinary experience and good practices within the field of urban greening, urban forests and urban forestry. This science-policy-practice network provides a unique meeting place to discuss advancements and exchange knowledge regarding strengthening the role of trees, woodlands and forests as green infrastructure when working towards resilient cities. www.efuf.org
EFUF2019 – “Urban Forests: Full of Energy” – is financially supported by the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture, Nature Protection and Consumer Protection of the State Nordrhein-Westfalia and organised by EFUF and EFI Bonn Office in cooperation with the German Sport University Cologne, the City of Cologne and the RWTH Aachen University. The conference will take place on 22–24 May 2019 in Cologne (Germany). http://2019.efuf.org
Contacts
Marc Palahi, Director European Forest Institute, marc.palahi@efi.int
Clive Davies, Chair of the International Steering Committee of the European Forum on Urban Forestry, clive.davies@efuf.org
Rik De Vreese, Contracted Expert for Urban Forestry at the European Forest Institute, rik.devreese@efi.int
The 2019 European Forum on Urban Forestry invites researchers and urban forest professionals to submit abstracts for contributions. This includes – but is not limited to – applied as well as academic research, and perspectives/experience reports of professionals and practitioners. EFUF emphasizes the connection of practice and scientific knowledge, encouraging a variety of possible formats to contribute to the conference. Contributions may explore the urban forest as…
… the healthy forest: sport, wellbeing and human health
Recreational activities with a special emphasis on outdoor sports and their management
New well-being activities: supply, conflicts and visitor management in urban forests
Urban forests and human health: interrelations, activities, management
… the spiritual forest: culture, religion and art
Diversifying cultural perceptions of forests and related forest use
Religious aspects of urban forests and trees, including sacred and funeral forests
The urban forest in art, art in the urban forest, the urban forest as inspiration
… the learning forest: research, laboratories and education
Forest laboratories as approaches for experiencing and transforming urban forests
Participatory planning and research in urban green infrastructure
Education for sustainable development and environmental education
… the co-designed forest: diverging interests, governance and urban forest management
Diversifying societal demands, conflicts and their management: conservation, recreation, wood production, ecosystem service provisioning and infrastructure development
New and experimental planning, design and management processes
We accept oral talks, posters and other non-commercial contributions. Abstracts (maximum 2000 characters) are only accepted in English language. They must not include figures, tables or attachment and should be related to one of the themes mentioned in the call for abstracts. Deadline for submission is 1st of February 2019.
The programme committee will determine whether a work will be accepted for presentation, considering the significance and/or the innovative character of the contribution. Authors will be informed on the acceptance of their contribution by the 21st of February 2019.
At least one of the authors should register for the conference, and should have their fee settled by 30 April 2019.
UNECE/FAO published a discussion paper on “Green Jobs in the Forest Sector” . The study provides an overview of existing Green Forest Jobs and identifies possible areas for future activities and jobs in the forest sector, and may serve as starting point for further analysis and discussion on the future of Green Forest Jobs. It offers a framework for classifying Green Forest Jobs under seven thematic work areas, outlined in the seven main sections of the study, with a particular focus on major trends, needs and challenges as well as opportunities and prospects for the forest sector. Urban foresters will be mainly interested in the work area “Social and Urban Development” (including Urban Forestry, Arboriculture, and a “Culture and Forests” section), but also the section on “Health and Recreation” is a must-read.
Urban forestry practitioners not only need to design and manage healthy, stable, attractive and accessible urban forests able to cope with different demands, but they also have to promote and improve the understanding and acceptance of forests and forest management in urban settings.
The paper refers to Manchester, where an estimated corps of 15.000 urban foresters (in the broad sense) are providing forest-related services (forest product processing, tourism and forestry-related services).
Urban foresters’ skills and expertise are not only challenged from a technical point of view (e.g. diverging soil conditions, specific species, pavements, health issues), but they also need to know how to interact with the public, decision-makers and other professionals. As urban trees grow at people’s doorstep, the community holds a close look to the management of a city’s forets and trees.
The urban forestry chapter ends with a very interesting list of key competences and skills an urban forester needs:
Communication skills for managing complex stakeholder relations
Public relation skills for interacting with residents
Competencies in planning, designing, managing and maintenance of trees and forests
Comprehensive knowledge and competencies in ecology, forestry, agroforestry, ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services and their valuation, climate change, tree care, economic and social issues related to health care, recreation and leisure and environmental education
“Increasing cities, decreasing green areas – challenge to urban green professionals: Urban green planning, management and participation with residents”
Dear EFUF fellows,
EFUF2018 is about to be kicked-off in Helsinki. We are very keen that our Finnish colleagues have organised this year’s forum as Helsinki has always been a frontrunner city in the urban forestry scene. You can find the updated programme on https://www.efuf2018.com/scientific-program.
There are also still tickets available for the gala dinner (boat cruise) and the post-conference excursion on Saturday 19 May.
