News

Register now for conference on Urban Forestry in Transition (13 August 2013)

Together with its partner the Estonian University of Life Sciences, CARe-FOR-US will organise an international conference under the title ‘Urban Forestry in Transition – Addressing the needs of changing societies’. This event will be held in Tartu, Estonia, during 9-11 October 2013. Keynote speakers include Ulrika Stigdsdotter on the topic of forests, trees and human health, Jakub Kronenberg on ecosystem services provided by urban forests, and Maria Jaakola on urban forest governance in Helsinki. Read more about the conference and register online here.

CARe-FOR-US co-hosts conference on Urban Tree Diversity in 2014 (13 August 2013)

Urban tree diversity in all its aspects, from tree selection and establishment to governance and people-tree relationships, will be the theme of this international conference. The event, hosted by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, will take place during June 16-18 of next year. The International Society of Arboriculture is one of the lead organisers, and so is CARe-FOR-US. Submit an abstract now and read more here.

TemaNord report on ‘Forestry serving urban societies in the North Atlantic Region now again available (27 June 2013)

In September of 2009, CARe-FOR-US was co-organiser of an international conference in Reykjavik, during which various aspects of forestry serving urban societies in countries of the North Atlantic Region were discussed. Selected papers from this event were compiled in an issue of the TemaNord series. A digital version of this report is now available here.

International conference on Urban Forestry in Transition to be hosted by CARe-FOR-US (23 February 2013)

Together with its partner the Estonian University of Life Sciences, CARe-FOR-US will organise an international conference under the provisional title ‘Urban Forestry in Transition – Addressing the needs of changing societies’. This event will be held in Tartu, Estonia, during 9-11 October 2013. Read more about the conference and the call for abstracts here.

EFINORD and CARe-FOR-US launch joint research agenda (15 February 2013)

A joint agenda for CARe-FOR-US II and North European Regional Office of European Forest Institute – EFINORD was elaborated during a Foresight workshop “Ecosystem services provided by forests serving urbanised societies in Northern Europe”, held 14–15 May 2012, in Alnarp, Sweden. The aim of the joint seminar was to enhance cooperation between the well-established Nordic research networking supported by the Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee-SNS and the newly established EFINORD Regional Office network. Both organisations promote regional synergy within forest research by networking, with focus on the topic of ecosystem services provided by forests. Introductory presentations setting the scene for the seminar are available at the EFINORD website. After several rounds of revision, the full research agenda is now ready and can be downloaded here.

4th project meeting held in Helsinki (15 October 2012)

The Finnish Forest Research Institute and the University of Helsinki hosted the 4th project meeting of CARe-FOR-US-II during 3-4 December 2012. At the meeting, further steps were taken in the thematic working groups, e.g. towards new publications and research activities. Also, planning of the project’s international conference to be held in Tartu, Estonia during October 2013 was in focus.

CARe-FOR-US II and EFINORD hold research scoping workshop (16 May 2012)

The North European Regional Office (EFINORD) and Forestry Serving Urbanised Society II (CARe-FOR-US) networks explored possibilities for future cooperation during foresight workshop “Ecosystem services provided by forests serving urban societies in Northern Europe”. The workshop took place in the premises of the Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences (SLU) in Alnarp, Sweden on 14-15 May, 2012 and a joined work plan for the next five years took a shape in an enthusiastic atmosphere.

Concrete joint actions were drafted under four tentative titles:

• Social and demographic trends and drivers for urban forestry in the Nordic-Baltic regional population
• Urban green infrastructure resources
• Role of health benefits and their economic value
• Integrated governance of forests serving urbanised societies

Read more about the workshop here.

NOVA and CARe-FOR-US II organise PhD course on governance in urban forestry and urban greening (27 April 2012)

The premises of the Danish Forestry College in Nødebo provided the setting for a NOVA and CARe-FOR-US II supported PhD course on issues of governance in green space management. Twelve PhD-student from Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, Sweden, the USA participated in the course. Among the course teachers were professor Bas Art from Wageningen University, Dr Daniela Kleinschmit of SLU in Uppsala, and Kine Thorén from UMB in Oslo. Course organiser was Professor Cecil Konijnendijk, who also heads the CAR. Read more about the course here.

CAR co-organises PhD course on communicating science in landscape architecture (8 December 2011)

CARe-FOR-US II was one of the organisers of a three-day PhD-course at the University of Copenhagen. The course, attended by 13 students from Denmark, Estonia, Sweden and the US, focused on how science can best be integrated into the practice of landscape architecture. Professor Roger Ulrich provided interesting cases from the field of health design and students were asked on the communication aspects of their own research. Course leaders were Cecil Konijnendijk and Ulrika Stigsdotter.

Stavanger hosted 2nd project meeting (26 August 2011)

The Bioforsk team under the leadership of Dr Arne Sæbø hosted the CAR’s 2nd project meeting. Apart from e.g. the development of workplans for the four thematic areas of the CAR, participants engaged in an interesting excursion. Among the visited sites was that of a future Landscape Laboratory. Read more in the Minutes from the meeting.

Start-up meeting of CARe-FOR-US II held (31 March 2011)

About 20 researchers from the 7 participating countries met at Forest & Landscape Denmark during March 24-25 to start-up the work in CARe-FOR-US II. Apart from discussing the overall programme of the project, participants drafted work plans for four research themes: Governance, Recreation & Tourism, Forests & Human Health, and Quality Urban Forest Management. The urban recreational areas of Vestamager and Amager Strandpark were paid a visit as well. Among the future milestones of the CAR will be its next project meeting in Stavanger (August 25-26), where draft state-of-art assessments for the four themes will be presented. Moreover, a PhD-course on urban forest governance is planned for spring 2012. Read more about the meeting here (pdf).

 

CARe-FOR-US II launched (5 January 2011)

During its meeting in November, The Nordic Forest Research Co-operation Committee (SNS) decided that CARe-FOR-US II would be one of the Nordic Centres of Advanced Research to be granted funding for the period 2011-2015. This means that the work of CARe-FOR-US can be continued and expanded over the coming years. Four central research themes will drive the work of CARe-FOR-US II, namely governance, recreation and tourism, nature and health, and quality woodland management. The CAR’s consortium has been strengthened and expanded to deal with these issues. More information about CARe-FOR-US will be published on this website in the near future.

CARe-FOR-US co-organises PhD course on Urban Dendrology (18 October 2010)

A PhD-course on various aspects of urban dendrology will be held at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp from January 24 through February 2, 2011. The course will involve various teachers from the CARe-FOR-US team and is coordinated by the network’s Henrik Sjöman. The Nordic university network NOVA provides financial support to the course. For a detailed programme and information on how to register, see the course website.

Project meeting held in Lillehammer (16 October 2010)

The CARe-FOR-US project team met in Lillehammer, Norway during October 7-8. The meeting was organised by Vegard Gundersen of NINA. The meeting was used, among other, to discuss 2010 activities as well as to prepare for a possible 2nd phase of CARe-FOR-US (2011-2015). Minutes are available here (pdf).

Application for CARe-FOR-US II submitted (4 August 2010)

During summer 2010, the CARe-FOR-US partnership submitted a proposal for the second phase of the Nordic Centre of Advanced Research (CARs). In the proposal, the scope and partnership of CARe-FOR-US have been widened, for example to include specific emphasis on forest recreation and tourism, and forests and human health. Seven CAR proposals are currently being evaluated by the Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee – with 4-5 to be granted funding for the period 2011-2015.

Evaluation of Interreg compactGREEN proposal known by September 22, 2010 (4 August 2010)

During Spring 2010, several members of CARe-FOR-US were involved in preparing an application under the Interreg Baltic Sea Programme. The proposal, focusing on the development of Landscape Laboratories for the promotion of knowledge sharing and urban development, is presently being evaluated. The Interreg Baltic Sea Secretariat announced that the outcome of the evaluation process will be published on September 22.

Minutes from the CARe-FOR-US meeting in Alnarp now available (4 April 2010)

A productive meeting in Alnarp (during March 24-25 of this year) discussed, among other, several research applications and the process to apply for a second term of CARe-FOR-US. Moreover, the updated research review was presented and current urban forestry research at SLU Alnarp was presented and discussed. Minutes of the meeting are available under ‘Meetings’.

Current status of urban forestry research in Nordic countries assessed (24 February 2010)

In a follow up to its research assessment of 2005, CARe-FOR-US has compiled information on urban forestry research projects started in 2006 or later. The research survey lists information about 67 projects in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Comparison of the new study with the findings from 2005 shows that there has been a shift in research themes, with focus increasingly on social and health perspectives within urban forestry, while less attention is given to more traditional management and silvicultural aspects. The full report can be downloaded here.

CARe-FOR-US project meeting to be held in Alnarp, 24-25 March 2010 (12 January 2010)

The project team will meet at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp to discuss e.g. the updated research review, various project applications, and planning of the second phase of CARe-FOR-US.

Conference ‘Forestry serving urban societies in the North Atlantic Region’ – presentations available (20 October 2009)

More than 100 people participated in the conference ‘Forestry serving urbanised societies in the North Atlantic Region’ held in Reyjavik (16-19 September), co-organised by CARe-FOR-US in collaboration with the Icelandic hosts. Presentations given at this successful event are now available here.

CARe-FOR-US issues policy brief (4 September 2009)

The Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee recently requested its Centres of Advance Research to provide a policy brief, with Nordic policy makers as target audience. The policy brief by CARe-FOR-US can be read here (pdf).

CARe-FOR-US obtains extension for 2010 (8 July 2009)

The Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee recently decided to grant all of its five Centres of Advanced Research (CARs), which were scheduled to expire as of December 2009, an automatic extension for 2010. Moreover, in autumn 2009 a new call for CARs will be launched. The topics of the present CARs will be part of the scope for this call and CARe-FOR-US will apply for another five-year period. The consortium feels that much remains to be done in coordinating, promoting and implementing urban forestry research in the Nordic and Baltic countries. In the new proposal, some new themes will be taken up, e.g. related to nature and health and forest recreation in an urbanised society.

Report from CARe-FOR-US project meeting in Arnhem, Netherlands, May 26, 2009 (8 July 2009)

Members of the CARe-FOR-US project team from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway and Sweden met at the Larenstein University of Applied Sciences in Velp, Netherlands on May 26 to discuss the status, activities and future plans of the CAR. The meeting was held prior to the 12th European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF), an annual event for practitioners and scientists involved in urban forestry. Several members of the CARe-FOR-US team had been involved in the organisation of the EFUF and/or spoke at the event. A brief report from the CARe-FOR-US project meeting is available here (MS Word).

Conference ‘Forestry serving urban societies in the North Atlantic Region’ – final programme available (7 July 2009)

As part of Iceland’s chairmanship of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Icelandic Forest Research will act as local host of a large international conference to be held in Reykjavik during 16-19 September of this year. CARe-FOR-US will be the main co-organiser of this event. Title of the conference will be ‘Forestry serving urbanised societies in the North Atlantic Region’. A range of experts will shine their light on issues such as how to promote the recreational and health benefits of forests in urban societies in the wider North Atlantic Region. Innovations in urban forest planning and management will also be presented. It is now possible to register online for the conference. Register and read more here. Click here (MS Word) for a detailed conference programme.

Application to Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 to be re-submitted (5 May 2009)

On March 31, the “compactGREEN” proposal was submitted under the 2nd call of the Interreg Programme for the Baltic Sea Programme. The proposal, which involves several CARe-FOR-US institutions, aims to develop Landscape Laboratories in Denmark, Finland and Sweden as testing and demonstration areas for urban and peri-urban green space. The project involves the implementation of new approaches and methods related to species selection, woodland management and public involvement. Research and development institutions support three Nordic municipalities (Herning, Mariestad and project coordinator Vantaa) in their work. As the application was not successful this time, it has been decided to resubmit it for the next call of the Interreg Baltic Sea Programme.