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!
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.
Photo: Manchester City of Trees
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 hereor 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.
Cannot wait for the Urban Forestry Days (March 23-24, 2021) to be out in the forest? Our 1-minute conference trailer invites you on a journey through urban forests and green spaces from Beijing to Bonn.
The two-day collaborative event of integrated activities on Urban Forestry, hosted by the European Forest Institute (EFI), the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) and the Horizon 2020 CLEARING HOUSE project, brings together advanced practitioners, researchers, sector-leading policymakers, and everyone eager to learn about urban forestry’s latest developments in and beyond Europe. The online conference will be split into two main themes. While Day 1 addresses integrated forest management, Day 2 is themed on urban forests and health infrastructure. Further, there will be a specific focus on Sino-European collaboration. The conference will thus be run in English with Mandarin translations. Join us for lively and interactive talks and register here to secure a virtual seat.
Out in the woods at the Marteloscope Site
A particular highlight of the event will be the virtual excursion to Kottenforst, a 4.000 hectares peri-urban forest area in the southwest of Bonn in North Rhine-Westphalia. Join us from any place around the globe to explore the site that serves as a green escape for many of the residents around the Bonn region. Kottenforst, which forms part of the LIFE+ project Villewälder, welcomes its visitors with a tree composition mostly dominated by pedunculate oak, hornbeam and other broadleaved species such as European beech and small-leaved lime. During the virtual field trip, we will look at forests as critical infrastructure, the importance of Integrated Forest Management and recreation for forests and people. There will be the unique opportunity to ask your questions during a “live stream Q&A” with people that manage and research the forest. What drives people to come here, and what are the recreational and social functions of Kottenforst? And of increasing interest: In what way did the COVID-19 lockdown affect urban forestry and attitudes towards urban green spaces?
If you cannot make it to the virtual field trip on 24th March, we’ve got you covered – for all those not able to join, we will be preparing an interactive and digital alternative that will allow you to explore Kottenforst from your smartphone at any time.
Gathering video material for the virtual excursion
Register here to join and connect with experts from a broad network across different disciplines to discuss ongoing research and perspectives on sustainable cities, health and trees. We are looking forward to walking and working together towards greener cities!
-The CLEARING HOUSE project has received funding from the European H2020 Research and Innovation programme under the Grant Agreement n° 821242.-
Join in Europe – Monday, March 22, 2021 | 1:00 AM Brussels (CET)
This international conference, with a focal point on China and the US, will discuss the science, policies and practices enabling urban environments to meet local, national and global goals to create cleaner, greener, healthier and more beautiful cities. Innovators from a wide range of disciplines in the public and private sectors will present on this crucial topic. The conference will be planned by Trella Urban Forestry Technology, a naturebased solutions company based in Shanghai and New York City, growing and providing tree-based solutions to Chinese cities，and Nature Based Solutions Institute, a global urban forestry consulting firm based in Malmo, Sweden. Please mark your calendars and join us to explore tomorrow’s green urban solutions, today.
Adrian Benepe: Brooklyn Botanic Garden President, 14th Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks & RecreationProfessor Alan Simson: Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture and Urban Forestry at Leeds Beckett University
Alex Lin: Chairman, Les Enphants Co. Ltd., a Taiwan-based global retailer of children’s apparel and accessories
Dr. Baohua Yan: Secretary General of Mangrove Foundation
Dr. Cecil Konijnendijk: Founder, Nature Based Solutions Institute, Program Director of University of British Columbia’s Masters in Urban Forestry Leadership, Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Arboriculture & Urban Forestry”
Dr. Cheng Wang: Director of the Urban Forest Research Center of State Forestry Administration, China and the Chinese Academy of Forestry
Dr. Fan Dai: Director, California – China Climate Institute
Dr. Guangyu Wang: Associate Dean and Director of Asian Forest Research Centre at the University of British Columbia
Dr. Jessica Gordon: Climate Policy Fellow, California-China Climate Institute
Jonathan Krane: CEO of KraneShares and Trella, a China-focused investment manager
Ken Alex: Director of Project Climate at Berkeley Law and former Senior Policy Advisor to California Governor Jerry Brown
Michael McComb: Vice President, Communications and Sustainability, SAP Greater China
Raymond Fang: Director of Sustainability at Asia Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd
Dr. Stefano Boeri: Architect and urban planner, Founding Partner of Stefano Boeri Architetti, Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Chairman of Fondazione La Triennale di Milano, former Councillor for Culture in Milan
Terry Townshend: Member of the Beijing Urban Forestry Network, Beijing conservationist, founder of Birding Beijing, consultant on wildlife conservation and environmental law, and an advisor to the Paulson Institute and to the Beijing government on a project to protect and restore the capital’s biodiversity
Willy Gallia: Chief Sustainability Officer at the Schneider Group
The Urban Forestry Days are a unique opportunity to connect with onging research and local implementation of urban forestry in China, Europe and worldwide. The pandemic has illustrated the importance of urban green areas for the population, so let us continue to work towards greener cities.
Prof Dr Rik De Vreese, CLEARING HOUSE project coordinator and member of the EFUF International Steering Group
This on-line event is targeted at advanced practitioners, established researchers, sector leading policymakers and those wishing to learn of the latest developments in Europe and beyond. A special focus for this conference is Sino-Europe collaboration. The conference will be run in English with Mandarin translation.
Day one is themed on integrated urban forest management with a focus on the ‘sustainable transition of cities’ and ‘urban forestry and the pillars of sustainability’. Participants will also be able to attend a ‘virtual fieldtrip’ with ‘live stream Q&A’ from the Kottenforst, a peri-urban forest near Bonn in Germany.
Day two is themed on urban forests and health infrastructure. Keynote speakers will outline what medical science is telling us about forests as health infrastructure followed by a thematic workshop on ‘forests and urban greenspaces in pandemic times’.
The second day will also see the launch of EFUF 2021; a decentralised networking programme running from March to May 2021 with many diverse events. The new EFUF App will also be unveiled at the conference.
We created an opportunity for young (and less young) practitioners and young researchers to show their work in the form of a small video. The video posters should be related to the two themes of the conference “integrated urban forest management” and/or “urban forest as health infrastructure”.
The call for abstracts is now open. Accepted video posters should not be longer than 3 minutes, and should be submitted on the 12th of March the latest (in mp4-format).
During the webinar, you’ll hear from the US Forest Service Resident Social Scientist in LA, Dr. Francisco Escobedo, get an update from LA’s Urban Forest Equity Visiting Scholar, Dr. Vivek Shandas, a presentation on StreetsLA’s racial equity plan, and a green jobs panel featuring Starr, Lesley, Robert, Ana, and Diego from North East Trees, KYCC, LACC, moderated by Deputy Mayor of Economic Opportunity and Chief Equity Officer of LA, Dr. Brenda Shockley. You can check out the full agenda here, and you can RSVP here:
The European Forest Institute (EFI), the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) and the Horizon 2020 CLEARING HOUSE project invite you to two days of integrated activities on urban forestry (March 23-24 2021). This on-line event is targeted at advanced practitioners, established researchers, sector leading policymakers and those wishing to learn of the latest developments in Europe and beyond. A special focus for this conference is Sino-Europe collaboration. The conference will be run in English with Mandarin translation.
Day one is themed on integrated urban forest management with a focus on the ‘sustainable transition of cities’ and ‘urban forestry and the pillars of sustainability’. In addition to keynote speakers, ‘a tour of management models’ with leading practitioners will cover different European bioregions and beyond. You can also attend a ‘virtual fieldtrip’ with ‘live stream Q&A’ from a peri-urban forest near Bonn in Germany.
Day two is themed on urban forests and health infrastructure. Keynote speakers will outline what medical science is telling us about forests as health infrastructure followed by a thematic workshop on ‘forests and urban greenspaces in pandemic times’. The second day will also see the launch of EFUF 2021; a decentralised networking programme running from March to May 2021 with many diverse events. The new EFUF App will also be unveiled at the conference.
Further details and details of the registration process will be issued in January 2021. Check the EFI and EFUF websites for further announcements.
This CLEARING HOUSE project has received funding from the European H2020 Research and Innovation programme under the Grant Agreement n° 821242
England’s Community Forests have been early adoptors and frontrunners regarding community and #urbanforestry in Europe. Great to see they are continuing their wonderful work with a new 12 million GBP grant.
There is increasing recognition of the important contribution of trees, parks, gardens, and other natural settings to public health and community welfare. By improving air quality, promoting physical activity, reducing mental stress and enhancing the immune system, trees and green space have the potential to help address problems ‘upstream’, through prevention – a more efficient approach than simply dealing with the ‘downstream’ consequences of ill health.
In this event we will discuss the role that urban forests and trees can play in improving health outcomes, reduce the harmful impact of the current COVID19 pandemic, and make urban dwellers more resilient and better prepared for future events of this nature.
Keynote speaker: Prof Pedro Calaza (Dean of the College of Agriculture Engineers, Galicia, Spain)
The European Forum on Urban Forestry would have convened in Manchester within 2 weeks. A small virus decided otherwise. But to get a flavour of the great work people at the City of Trees are doing, you can join the Launching Webinar of the Greater Manchester’s Tree and Woodland Strategy. This document will collectively guide the involved actors to improve the way in which they plant and manage trees and direct them to where new tree planting will provide the most benefits for generations to come.
