EFUF 2025 – Programme

Keynotes for conference theme 1 “Resilient and healthy environments: Challenges and opportunities between urban forestry and close-to-nature forestry” – Chair: Clive Davies (EFUF & MD2 Consulting)

• Keynote 1 “EU scale, long term effects of integrated and adaptive forest management on Europe’s forests and its forest industry” – Gert-Jan Nabuurs (Wageningen University and Research)
• Keynote 2 “To re-wild or not – is this the question?” – Harald Bugmann (ETH Zurich)
• Break (10.10 – 10.40) – Room: HG E 4
• Keynote 3 “Professional Credentials for Those Working in our Urban Forests” – Caitlyn Pollihan (International Society of Arboriculture)
• Keynote 4 “Effects of urban greenspaces on public health: serial mediation model of objective and subjective measures” – Wendy Chen (Editor in Chief of Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, Hong Kong University)

Optional activities during Apero Riche

• EFUF General Assembly and open meeting – Room: HG G3
• Workshop 1. 35-minute movie about the “Grünes Gallustal” initiative with Florim Sabani (Verein Grünes Gallustal) – Room: HG G26.1
• Workshop 2. Informed Decisions, Effective Action: Credible Outcome Metrics for Urban Forestry with Daniel Griswold (UNECE) – Room: HG G26.3
• Workshop 3. Launch SPOOL journal Special Issue ‘Urban Forest-scapes’ with Rene van der Velde (TU Delft) – Room: HG G26.5

Study visit to Waldlabor Zurich (Google Maps) – https://efuf.org/efuf-2025-excursions/

Guide: Martin Brülhardt (Waldlabor Zurich)

Keynotes for conference theme 2 “Creating healthy, resilient, save and equitable urban environments: the potential of urban forests and participation” – Chair: Cecil Konijnendijk (Nature Based Solutions Institute)

• Keynote 5 “Radical Community Engagement: A practical approach to intersectional environmental justice in urban forestry” – Lotte Dijkstra (Newcastle University)
• Keynote 6 “Green Inequality and the Critical Role of Urban Forests in Advancing Social Integration in African Cities” – Ayanda Roji (Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo)
• Keynote 7 “Gender, fear and danger in dense and open urban forests” – Anna Bornioli (Barcelona Institute of Global Health)

Session 1 – Urban Forests for Resilient Cities – Chair: Daniel Griswold (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) – Room: HG G 26.1

• Eugenia Vidal-Casanovas “Greening the urban edge towards climate neutrality and resilience. The metropolitan area of Barcelona participation in the Horizon Commit2Green project.”
• Saskia de Wit “A tree language for Rotterdam. Guiding principles for a creative management culture”’
• Glenn Fischer “Aesculus – quo vadis?”
• Apurva Malik “Unravelling Adaptive Resilience, Tolerance Mechanisms, and Mitigation Potential of Roadside Tree Species to Vehicular Emissions across Urban Habitats”
• Martin Tušer “Bigger Roots, Stronger Cities: Rethinking Tree Watering for Climate Resilience”
• Federica di Cagno & Cecil Konijnendijk “Strengthening the business case for urban forests”
• Isaac Lievevrouw “Greening Cities, Growing Value: How PEFC Trees Outside Forests Certification Transforms Urban Forestry in the Netherlands”

Session 2 – Urban Forests for Healthy Cities – Chair: Jean-Laurent Pfund (Pfund Consulting) – Room: HG G 26.3

• Kelly Wittemans “LiDAR-based Assessment of Urban Tree Benefits from a OneHealth perspective”
• Christoph Bachofen “High transpiration cooling by urban trees despite extreme summer heatwaves”
• Leónia Nunes “The perception of public green spaces in Portugal with the focus on Lisbon”
• Arne Arnberger “Effects of school indoor environments and green spaces on mental health of adolescent pupils: A crossover experiment”
• Nayanesh Pattnaik “Tree Performance and Cooling Benefits in Multi-layered Urban Forests”
• Giorgia Burbui “Green areas and mortality: a health impact assessment in the Florentine plain”
• Leandra Keusch “Differential Immune Modulation Following Short-Term Exposure to Two Forest Types Compared to an Urban Environment”

Session 3 – Urban Forests for Inclusive Cities – Chair: Eva Lieberherr (ETH Zurich) – Room: HG G 26.5

• Stijn Bruggen “A Methodology to Identify and Prioritize Tree Planting Locations in Urban Areas according to the 3-30-300 rule.”
• Jiawei Zhao “Rethinking Urban Green Space Accessibility Through Route Environment Quality”
• Jennifer Schulz “Urban Forest Gardens as a new form of co-created and co-managed urban forests”
• Eric Kramer “Data Driven Design: Systematic Approaches to Urban Forest Planning”
• Deanne Brettle “Urban forestry citizen science and community-based stewardship in Birmingham – the UK’s second largest city.”
• Alanis Camichel “Challenges and enabling factors of participation in the transition process towards a Biocity: learnings from Switzerland”
• Valentine Opanga “From Community to Commodity: Contestations over Space in the Making of Somali Enclaves in Nairobi’s Pumwani-Majengo”

Session 4 – Urban Forests for Sustainable Urban Planning – Chair: Barbara Darr (Hochschule Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences) – Room: HG F 33.5

• Stefan Stevanovic & Michael Richter “Challenges and Solutions in Measuring Urban Trees in the City Environment”
• Ana Paula Ramos “Management Strategies for Urban Trees in Lisbon: Addressing Decay Fungi and Enhancing Urban Tree Health”
• Philip Chambers “Transforming Urban Forest Monitoring through Gamified Augmented Reality”
• Sophie Emberger “Investigating the Water Sources of Urban Trees”
• Eric Amponsah “Greening Ejisu: Urban Forests for Sustainable Cities”
• Yakir Preisler “First results from the Urban Trees Ecophysiology Network (UTEN)”
• John Jose “Rewilding cities for climate and ecological resilience: a comparative study of Delhi and Milan”

Flash posters presentation – Chair: Rik De Vreese European Forest Institute) – Room: HG G30.006

• Benno Augustinus et al. – “A comparison of priorities and interests of practitioners and researchers”
• Hamza Briki et al. – “Green governance innovation in the city of Soria: How the application of smart technologies and citizen participation tools improve urban governance for the management of green spaces in Soria”
• Diler Çiftçi et al. – “Enhancing Resilience through Agroforestry: A green corridor along the Northern Marmara Highway”
• Guido de Bonfioli Cavalcabo’ et al. – “Radiation modelling as a first step into a numerical simulation of energy and CO2 exchanges between plants and the urban atmosphere”
• Amelia De Marco et al. – “Assessing the role of herbaceous plant species in particulate matter capture and accumulation: a case study from Small Nature-Based Solutions in the Metropolitan area of Milan (Italy)
• Tatjana Dimitrijevic et al. – “Strategy for Addressing the Impact of Climate Change on Ecosystem Service Interactions in the Management of Forest Resources in Belgrade”
• Cecilie Birgitte Foldal et al. – “Monitoring climate-fit, low-cost urban mini forests in Eastern Austria”
• Katrin Fröhlich et al. – “Long-term ecological monitoring of city trees as tool in urban transformation towards Blue-Green infrastructure”
• Maria Garcia-Martin – “Exploring Constraints to Psychological Restoration in Green Spaces: An Inductive Approach”
• Yasong Guo & Wendy Y. Chen – “Inequity in human green exposure along with urban expansion”
• Helena Horber et al. – “Extended Root Space for Urban Trees: Importance and Monitoring”
• Christoph Kueffer, Sascha Ismail & Mark Krieger – “Promoting genetic and species tree diversity in landscape architecture”
• Ana Macias et al. – “Urban Forestry Network: Harmonizing urban forest management across Europe by bringing science to stakeholders”
• Yasha Magarik et al. – “The Urban Tree Growth Response to Climate Change”
• Eugene McGee et al. – “Urban Forest Strategies (UFS) through the lens of climate resilience: a systematic policy review.”
• Joanne Morris et al. – “Urban Labor-a-Tree: a treescape board game for facilitating participatory visioning”
• Anne Nyffeler – “Building the foundations – Information Champain sensitizing for services and needs of Urban Forestry”
• Maria Chiara Pastore, Claudia Ida Maria Parenti et al. – “Addressing equity in the Forestami project: accessibility, distribution, and engagement in urban green spaces”
• Lasse Peters & Finn Peters – “Praxis Example: Biodiversity Park Bornkamp – Revitalizing a Cemetery as a Community-Driven Model for Urban Biodiversity Enhancement”
• Zoe Petridis et al. – “Assessing tree-associated biodiversity: Insights from eDNA analysis on trees growing near streets, urban parks and peri-urban forests”
• Thomas Rötzer, Nayanesh Pattnaik et al. – “CityTree – An Interactive Tool for Calculating Growth and Ecosystem Services of the Most Common Tree Species in Central European Cities”
• Alessio Santosuosso et al. – “The importance of tree species richness in urban green spaces: a case study of two Italian cities.”
• Ronja L. Schmoll et al. – “Root Cause of Resilience: Effects of Forested and Urban Environments on Cognition and Emotional Response”
• Roddy Shaw – “Tree Cities of the World – next steps in a national context”
• Ian Whitehead et al. – “European-wide surveys on skills, capacity and training needs for Urban Nature Plans”
• Aleksandra Zienkiewicz et al. – “Sustaining and expanding Wrocław’s urban forest”

Session 1 Continued – Urban Forests for Resilient Cities – Chair: Estelle Noyer (Bern University of Applied Sciences) – Room: HG G 26.1

• Haris Piplas – “Urban Governance Toolbox for Climate Adaptation”
• René van der Velde & Lea Hartmeyer “Cool Tree Architecture; a tree architecture typology to temper urban microclimates”
• Karlien Moeys “Cooling potential of large solitary trees: insights for urban green management”
• Sophie Arzberger “Health co-benefits of differently sized and structured public parks in Munich, Germany, as nature-based solutions for climate adaptation”
• Jenny Linden “The potential of using small scale greenery to improve urban resilience and attractiveness”
• Michelle Leishman “Building the resilience of the urban forest: the Australian story”

Session 2 Continued – Urban Forests for Healthy Cities – Chair: Reto Mohr (Grün Stadt Zürich) – Room: HG G 26.3

• Zora van der Bie “Forest Exposure Lowers Physiological Stress Markers: Exploring the Role of Forest Type and Environmental Factors”
• Johanna Trummer “Balancing Functionality and Well-Being in Urban Forest Planning”
• Vincenzo Giannico “Urban Greenness, Environmental Indicators, and Major Depressive Disorder Severity: Insights from the FREEDOM Study”
• Somidh Saha “Tree Species Diversity in Urban and Peri-urban Forests Significantly Improved Human Wellbeing in Karlsruhe, southwest Germany”
• Hamza Briki Kotbani “BRERA – Wellbeing, Restoration, Resilience, and Adaptation”
• Saeed Hassabelrasoul “The Effects of Visits and Types of Activities in Forests close to urban areas on the Subjective Well-being of Visitors during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic”

Session 3 Continued – Urban Forests for Inclusive Cities – Chair: Clémence Dirac (Federal Office for the Environment) – Room: HG G 26.5

• Eleanor Smith “UK urban forests and the 3-30-300 rule”
• Anna Kajosaari “Differences in perceived health benefits and travel distances to green space across population groups: Insights from a Public Participation GIS study”
• Thomas Mattijssen “From the inactive to the multi-tasker: insights from a large Dutch survey into individual and collective efforts in green volunteering”
• Giovanni Trentanovi “Multifaceted green areas and forests in changing cities: insights for a socio-ecological evaluation improvement”
• Barbara Darr “CommuniTree – Tea under trees: promoting urban green spaces through community engagement”
• Edyta Laszkiewicz “Would you walk here? Urban wildscapes as visual settings for utility and recreational walks”

Session 4 Continued – Urban Forests for Sustainable Urban Planning – Chair: Stefan Stevanovic (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) – Room: HG F 33.5

• Paul Haverkamp “The potential of biodiversity effects of native and non-native species in urban ecosystems under climate warming”
• Nicola Menon “Urban and peri-urban monumental trees as biodiversity hubs: an international study across Grenoble (France), Helsinki -Espoo (Finland), and he Veneto region (Italy)”
• Silvija Krajter Ostoić “Professionals’ perceptions of and attitudes towards public participation in planning and management of urban trees, forests and green space”
• Florim Sabani “Initiative “Grünes Gallustal” St.Gallen”
• Laura Helmin “Bridging Technology and Citizen Engagement in Urban Forestry”
• Alyssa Smolensky & Samniqueka Halsey “A Spatially Explicit Approach for Optimizing Urban Afforestation to Achieve Project Goals

Keynotes for conference theme 3 “Creating the future” – Chair: Jerylee Wilkes-Allemann (Bern University of Applied Sciences) – Room: HG G 3

• Keynote 8 “From regional support to local implementation: tailoring tree policies for municipal needs” – Ward De Witte (PXL BIO-Research, PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts)
• Keynote 9 “Building Tomorrow’s Urban Landscapes: The Promise of Urban Forestry” – Simone Borelli (retired from FAO)
• Keynote 10 “Resilient Tree Populations in Urban Landscapes: Insights from the City of Malmö” – Patrick Bellan (City of Malmö)

Closing session – Chair: Andrea Gion Saluz – Room: HG G 3

• EFUF 2025 Summary of Findings – Eugènia Vidal-Casanovas (Barcelona Metropolitan Area)
• European Young Urban Forester of the Year Award 2025 – Clive Davies (MD2 Consullting)
• EFUF 2026 presentation and invitation – Patrick Bellan (City of Malmö)

9.00 – 15.00

Half day post-conference field trip organised by the Canton of Zurich (City of Wallisellen)

See also https://efuf.org/efuf-2025-excursions/

15.00

Departure (nearby Zurich airport)