EFUF 2026 – Programme

Session 1. Trees Under Pressure: Physiology, Stress and Survival in the City – Moderator: Cecil Konijnendijk

• 10.30 – 10.45 – Right Tree, Right Place – How Spatial Data Can Strengthen Urban Living Environments – Tørres Rasmussen (Norway)
• 10.48 – 11.03 – Fifteen Years on the Footpath: What Dublin’s Street Trees Reveal About Growth, Space and Urban Futures – Tine Ningal (Ireland)
• 11.06 –  11.21 – Lessons learnt from a tenyear-long study of how a solitary tree interacts with the wind – Ebba Dellwik (Denmark)
• 11.24 – 11.39 – Pruning increases invertebrate populations across growing zones dependent upon average temperatures, tree size, and degree of built environment – Stella Dee (USA)
• 11.42 – 11.57 – After the Malmö Tree Vandalism: What Can We Learn About Helping Damaged Trees Recover? – Johan Östberg (Sweden)
• 12.00 – 12.15 – Exploring Spatial and Seasonal Diversity of TreeAssociated Communities in Urban Forests Using Environmental DNA – Zoe Petridis (Germany)
• 12.18 – 12.33 – Urban trees tap deep: How urban density affects water uptake in Zurich’s trees – Sophie Emberger (Switzerland)

Session 2. Future-Proofing Urban Trees: Diversity, Data and Decisions – Moderator: Rene Van der Velde

• 10.30 – 10.45 – Communicating the benefits of trees – Gustav Nässlander (Sweden)
• 10.48 – 11.03 – Accumulation of particulate matter and metals in six species in the urban environment – a case study from Gothenburg – Jenny Lindén (Sweden)
• 11.06 –  11.21 – Species Diversity and Growth Responses of Urban Trees under Climate Stress – Leila Parhizgar (Germany)
• 11.24 – 11.39 – New methods and tools to increase urban forest diversity and resilience – Annick St-Denis (Canada)
• 11.42 – 11.57 – From Global Assessment to Urban Action: Safeguarding Tree Diversity in Urban Environments – Malin Rivers (UK)
• 12.00 – 12.15 – Guardians of Urban Trees: A European Network for Urban Tree Biosecurity (UB3Guard) – Johanna Witzell (Sweden)
• 12.18 – 12.33 – Tree Crown Detection on Historical Orthophoto Images: A Comprehensive Review – Blaz Klobucar (Sweden)

Session 3. Urban Nature for All: Equity, Health and Inclusion – Moderator: Chris Baines

• 10.30 – 10.45 – Tree Equity for Hartlepool – Leah Johnstone (UK)
• 10.48 – 11.03 – Barriers and systemic gaps hindering fair distribution of urban nature benefits among vulnerable populations – Rik De Vreese (Belgium)
• 11.06 –  11.21 – A Socio-Economic Perspective on Access to Urban Greenspace (UGS) – Kjell Nilsson (Sweden)
• 11.24 – 11.39 – Co-creating indicators for Assessing the SocioPolitical and Socio-Cultural Aspects of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) – Gerd Lupp (Germany)
• 11.42 – 11.57 – From Pixels to Planning: A Multi-Scale Data Framework for Urban Forest Resilience and Climate Adaptation – Aleksandra Zienkiewicz (Poland)
• 12.00 – 12.15 – Birmingham, a superdiverse city for both people and trees. How are Birmingham’s newest urban trees settling in? – Deanne Brettle (UK)

Keynote 3 – Björn Wiström – Urban Forestry Researcher at SLU Alnarp Landscape Laboratory

Young minds and old references in the search for creative management

Poster Speed-dating – Moderator: Stefan Stevanovic

• Cyclic Performance Trees – Cooling and Biomass Production through Cyclic Tree Management – Carlos Arrufat Grümer. Independent researcher. Germany
• Data-Driven Urban Forestry in Complex Public Spaces: Evidence from Gdańsk, Poland – Joanna Badach. Gdańsk University of Technology. Poland
• EFIBioCities: Translating Urban Forest Research into Actionable Solutions for Resilient Cities – Simone Borelli. European Forest Institute. Italy
• AirBiD – The biological diversity of air shaped by urban green elements – Antonella Cristofori. Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach. Italy
• Reducing Light Pollution through Citizen Science and Policy-Oriented Urban Forestry Planning in National Park Forests of Brabant (Flanders, Belgium) – Bert De Somviele. National Park Forests of Brabant. Belgium
• A CO2 footprint of urban trees in Germany – Vera J. Hörmann. Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institute of Geoecology, Braunschweig, Germany; Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI) – Federal Research Center for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Plant Protection in Horticulture and Urban Green, Braunschweig, Germany
• Simulation of wind loading on urban trees to support planning and scenario-based design – Gustav Kettil. Fraunhofer-Chalmers Research Centre. Sweden
• Tree health matters! – the European public awareness and urban tree biosecurity behaviour survey – Silvija Krajter Ostoić. Croatian Forest Research Institute. Croatia
• Quantifying morphological complexity of urban tree crowns using 3D LiDAR data – Johanna Krischke. Institute of Landscape Planning and Ecology (ILPÖ), University of Stuttgart. Germany
• QUERCON project: Participatory management of the Fagarè forest for the renewal of oaks – Mariateresa Montisci. Freelance Professional Forester. Italy
• Regional Diversity in Forest Perceptions: Insights from Slovenia – Mojca Nastran. University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty. Slovenia
• Urban tree assessment: exploring the potential of LiDAR data with field measurements in the city of Coimbra, Portugal – Leónia Nunes. Centre for Applied Ecology “Professor Baeta Neves” (CEABN), InBIO, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon. Portugal
• Improved Woodlands and Mental Health: A Longitudinal Scottish Study – Scott Ogletree. The University of Edinburgh. United Kingdom
• From open landscapes to urban green: a long-term perspective on green space transformation in Kraków – Krzysztof Ostafin. Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Poland
• Sustaining the urban natural capital development: an integrated digital platform in the Milan Metropolitan Area – Maria Chiara Pastore. Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani – Fondazione Forestami. Italy
• Urban forest management and social cohesion: Case Study Čačalica Memorial Park – Marija Perkunic. Academy of Applied Studies Polytechnic, Belgrade. Serbia
• A supply-demand framework for evaluating health-relevant urban green space equity – Eline Rega. KU Leuven. Belgium
• Planting the future: simulating Miyawaki forest growth to quantify potential benefits – Tes Siarnacki. University of Massachusetts Amherst. USA
• Linking Perceived Sensory Dimensions and Spatial Metrics in Urban Parks: Integrating User Perceptions and UAV-Based Landscape Analysis – Isidora Simović. BioSense Institute, University of Novi Sad. Serbia
• Optimising tree planting to achieve 2050 targets – Eleanor Smith. School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds. UK
• Nature commons matter: valuing the social impact of bottom-up forestry – Serena Sofia. Dream Italia & Federico Tonegatti. University of Bologna – Ama Mater Studiorum. Italy
• Watering Smart, Not Hard: Evidence-Based Irrigation Strategies for Four Urban Tree Species – Jan Niklas Totzki. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Germany
• èVRgreen: Nature-Based Solutions and ecosystem services as urban planning tools for climate resilience for the city of Verona – Giulia Vallone. University of Padua. Italy
• Landscapes of encounter: practical approaches to manage zoonotic risks in urban nature – Eline van Remortel. Wageningen Environmental Research. Netherlands
• Building capacity for Urban Nature Plans – Ian Whitehead. European Forest Institute. Germany
• The Urban Forest as a ‘Third Forest Type’ – Eva Willemsen. Amsterdamse Bos, municipality of Amsterdam. Netherlands

Session 4. Counting What Counts: Turning Urban Tree Data into Impact – Moderator: Rik De Vreese

• 10.30 – 10.45 – An Open-Source Digital Street Tree Inventory for Neighborhood-Scale Assessment in Rome – Lorenzo Rotello (Italy)
• 10.47 – 11.02 – From parking spaces to micro-forests: A GIS-Based Suitability Analysis for HeatResilient and BiodiversityPositive Urban Development– A Swiss example – Jean-Laurent Pfund (Switzerland)
• 11.04 – 11.19 – Turning Remote Sensing into Targeted Urban Tree Care: Evidence from 587,026 Trees in Copenhagen and Lisbon – Miloslav Kaláb (Czechia)
• 11.21 – 11.36 – Mapping Communication and Participation Tools in urban forestry across Europe – Philip Chambers (Finland)
• 11.38 – 11.53 – Building cross-sectoral and inclusive urban forest management partnerships – Dimitri Athanassiadis (Sweden)
• 11.55 – 12.10 – Missing the Forest for the Trees: A New Way to Think about Urban Forests – Josh Behounek (USA)
• 12.12 – 12.27 – Linking Urban Form, Population and Green Infrastructure for ClimateResilient Cities – Luisa Di Lucchio (Denmark)

Session 5. Building Resilient Urban Forests Through Governance and Collaboration – Moderator: Jerylee Wilkes Allemann

• 10.30 – 10.45 – 1–2–3: Oslo’s New Tree Strategy – Three Core Goals — with Preservation as Goal Number One – Siril Stenerud (Norway)
• 10.47 – 11.02 – Resilience and Adaptation in Urban Forest Governance: Thirty Years of the Mersey Forest – Anna Lawrence (UK)
• 11.04 – 11.19 – Urban Forest Metrics & the UNECE Urban Forest Compass: A European Standard for Greener, Healthier Cities – Kenton Rogers (UK)
• 11.21 – 11.36 –Business ecosystems around urban forest related nature-based solutions: case of the three Finnish cities – Anne Toppinen (Finland)
• 11.38 – 11.53 – How do specific site and soil characteristics impact urban tree growth? – Yasha Magarik (Germany
• 11.55 – 12.10 – From Urban Tree Removal to Circular Materials. Technical and Policy Pathways for European Cities – Paul Hickman (USA)
• 12.12 – 12.27 – Integrating participatory mapping and ecological data to understand socioecological resilience in urban forests – Angela Beckmann-Wübbelt (Germany)

Session 6. Urban Tree Access in Numbers: Equity, Cooling and Health – Moderator: Simone Borelli

• 10.30 – 10.45 – Five years of the 3+30+300 principle: lessons learnt and future perspective – Cecil Konijnendijk (Netherlands)
• 10.47 – 11.02 – Bridging the Gap Between Science and Practice in Urban and Community Forestry: Assessment of the 3+30+300 rule in Washington, DC – Kasey Yturralde (USA)
• 11.04 – 11.19 – Quantifying street-level visible tree exposure: Implications for health and equity – Melissa Kelley Lee (Belgium)
• 11.21 – 11.36 – From Recognition to Transformation: The Role of Growth Awards in Urban Forestry Leadership and Governance – Ana Macias (Spain)
• 11.38 – 11.53 – Cooling efficiency of urban green spaces affected by heat, humidity and solar radiation – Eva Beele (Belgium)
• 11.55 – 12.10 – Neighborhood Greening Agenda in Arnhem – Ali Saad (Netherlands)
• 12.12 – 12.27 – To be confirmed – Global perspectives on tree equity – Livia Shamir (Italy)

Excursion 3 – Alnarp and the landscape laboratory Route – Excursion leaves from Meeting point 1,

The end-time for the excursions are preliminary. Therefor, please allow some extra time for delays.

Session 7. Rethinking Urban Forest Forms: From Tiny Forests to Living Labs – Moderator: Dirk Voets

• 10.30 – 10.45 – Urban Tiny Forests in a Hyper-dense City: Planning and Governance Insights from Long-term MiyawakiMethod Projects in Tokyo – Tomoko Takeuchi (Japan)
• 10.47 – 11.02 – Urban Mini Forests in Austria – Living Laboratories – Erik Szamosvári (Austria)
• 11.04 – 11.19 – Microforest, a new tree planting design in the city: how is it influencing the activity of vertebrates? – Lucas Roger (France)
• 11.21 – 11.36 – Worlding trees: Reflecting on placemaking, reciprocal care and multi-species commons in the ‘Bos op Poten’ Living Lab, Handelsplein Rotterdam – Rene Van der Velde (Netherlands) & Sanne Keizer (Kornova, The Netherlands)

Session 8. Beyond Shade: Measuring the Environmental Performance of Urban Green – Moderator: Nerys Jones

• 10.30 – 10.45 – Urban Forestry and Air Quality: When Trees Help and When They Don’t – Hai-Ying Liu (Norway)
• 10.47 – 11.02 – Quantifying air pollution removal by tree species in a periurban temperate forest through FlorTree Model: The case study of Parco Burcina natural reserve, Italy – Alessio Santosuosso (Italy)
• 11.04 – 11.19 – Can benefits from bushes, plant beds and green walls equal that from urban trees? – Jenny Lindén (Sweden)
• 11.21 – 11.36 – Social preferences for retrofitting shoreline armouring into green-blue infrastructure – Wendy Chen (China)
• 11.38 – 11.53 – The Canopy Plan of the City of Liège, Belgium : a tree-based innovative climate adaptation strategy for citizens and a powerfull tool to improve the functional diversity of a public urban forest – Thomas Halford (Belgium)

Session 9. Culture, Community and Climate: Putting Urban Forestry into Practice – Moderator: Alan Simson

• 10.30 – 10.45 – Between Belief and Biodiversity: Rethinking Danish Churchyards in Urban Forestry – Fanny Møller (Denmark)
• 10.47 – 11.02 – Diverse Governance Pathways for Urban Green Spaces: Insights from Korea and Germany – Jaewon Son (Germany)
• 11.04 – 11.19 – Exploring meaning of urban rewilding within transdisciplinary literature – Georgina Mitchell (UK)
• 11.21 – 11.36 – Citizens’ willingness to participate in the management of urban green spaces: The case of Umeå, Sweden – Pedro Obregon Santander (Sweden)
• 11.38 – 11.53 – Evolving Priorities in European Urban Forest Management Plans: A Thematic Analysis of Policy Aims and Objectives – Eugene McGee (UK)

Closing session 

• European Young Urban Forester of the Year Award 2026
• EFUF 2027 presentation and invitation by City of Leipzig (Germany)

Excursion 4 – Östra kyrkogården and Millenieskogen Route – The excursion leaves from Meeting point 1,

Millennieskogen Guides: Patrick Bellan & Charlotta Gard

The end-time for the excursions are preliminary. Therefor, please allow some extra time for delays.