The organisers of the 23rd European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) in Manchester, UK regret to announce that the Forum meeting scheduled for the 19th – 23rd May 2020 has been postponed due to increasing concern of the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The outbreak is already affecting travel plans and a willingness for delegates to travel during the current outbreak. A number of travel restrictions are in place, students are being recalled and flights to several destinations cancelled. Whilst progress of the epidemic is uncertain the UK government policy is to first contain then delay the onset of the epidemic. Reports suggest that the peak for COVID-19 in the UK may happen in April and/or May 2020, regretfully coinciding with EFUF.
This decision has not been taken lightly and there is huge disappointment in Manchester at this turn of events. Those who have paid their conference fees, gala dinner and Saturday excursion costs already will be reimbursed shortly. Regretfully the organisers are unable to meet any other costs such as travel or hotel cancellation costs and suggest you refer this to your insurers or see if your travel provider or hotel chain is waiving fees at the present time due to the special circumstances.
Plans are being developed for a reorganised event in autumn 2020 and further details of this will be released in due course. If you have submitted a proposal for a conference oral presentation or poster presentation, these are now ‘on hold’ and will be subject to ‘further review’ when details of the reorganised event are known. You do not need to take any further action on these currently and will be informed in due course if your presentation is still possible at the reorganised Forum.
We thank you for your understanding which has been driven by exceptional circumstances beyond our control.
Please visit the EFUF 2020 website (http://efuf2020.org.uk) or EFUF main website (http://www.efuf.org) for further details of the reorganised event as these become available.
Happy Christmas from the EFUF team! Our Christmas present to our followers is the extended deadline for submitting abstracts for the upcoming EFUF2020 conference in Manchester.
Please see our original post on the topics and requirements.
A dressed fir tree in the woods near Langsett reservoir (close to Manchester).
The 2020 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.
In 2020 we are encouraging contributions that explore the urban forest through three 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, the water we drink 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.
We accept oral talks, posters and other non-commercial contributions. Abstracts (maximum 2500 characters including spaces) are only accepted in English language. They must not include figures, tables or attachment and should be related to one of the above themes. Deadline for submission is 1st of February 2020 (extended deadline).
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 2020.
At least one of the authors should register for the conference, and should have their fee settled by 30 April 2020.
Attendance at EFUF 2020 is also an opportunity to learn more about the new Sino-Europe CLEARING HOUSE project which is exploring the role of urban forestry as a nature based solution. Key team members will be present to answer your questions and explain more about the four year project.
