The European Forest Institute’s Young Leadership Programme, Mediterranean 2023 (YLPMED 2023), organised in partnership with the Union for the Mediterranean, will provide an in-depth understanding of the complex interplay between land abandonment, Mediterranean forests, and cultural landscapes.
The programme will offer an overview of the key drivers and impacts of land abandonment on Mediterranean forest and cultural landscapes and explore the potential opportunities for sustainable entrepreneurship and biodiversity conservation. Participants will learn about the role of traditional ecological knowledge and the potential for innovation and entrepreneurship in promoting sustainable land use practices. The programme will also examine the relationship between fire risk in the Mediterranean region and discuss the role of forest management practices in mitigating the risk of wildfires.
Registration: For English register here. For French register here.
This webinar aims to enhance knowledge and understanding of the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), offering participants the opportunity to gain insights into the Glasgow-Sharm el-Sheikh Work Programme on the GGA, discuss regional priorities for adaptation, and explore the opportunities presented by the GGA. Additionally, you will have the chance to hear perspectives from civil society, youth groups, governments, development banks, and the private sector on local, national, and regional resources, frameworks, and indicators, which will help better incorporate African perspectives into the development of a global adaptation framework.
There will be a limited number of participants, so make sure to book your place in advance!
This webinar series will focus on ways to harness the potential of smallholder planted forests and trees to contribute to the provision of environmental services, including addressing climate change, and livelihoods. It will primarily focus on the following questions:
What are the key success factors in the establishment and management of planted forests and trees outside forests by smallholders?
Which management objectives do smallholders pursue and how are they implemented according to business best-practices?
What are the operational risks, financial risks, and vulnerabilities smallholders face related to quickly evolving markets and a changing climate?
Which models and practices are most promising?
Which opportunities and business models arise from the transition towards carbon-neutral economies and the global momentum for ecosystem restoration?
What can be done to support smallholders? (i.e., policy, producers’ organizations, etc.
The 2023 FLARE Annual Meeting will be held October 12-16 in Nairobi, Kenya in partnership with CIFOR-ICRAF.
October 12th will be the opening reception and October 16th will be the optional workshop day.
The event will be held at the beautiful CIFOR-ICRAF campus in Nairobi and represents the first FLARE annual meeting to take place in the Global South.
2023 Annual Meeting Theme
Linking Research and Action for Thriving Forests, Trees, and People
Research can play a key role in advocacy and action to address climate change, reduce vulnerability, conserve forests, and foster human development. For example, evidence accumulated over decades has demonstrated the critical role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in protecting and sustainably managing forests and, in turn, helped lead to government recognition of community land rights and new funding flows. More generally, impact assessments of different forest-related interventions have helped improve policy design.
Yet too often research has been ineffective in fostering change – or reforms benefitting communities and forests inspired and honed by research have been clawed back by forest services and other interested parties. Too often, even when research reveals options and abuses, key findings are hidden behind a paywall, suppressed by threatened parties, or are couched in specialist language that obscures their practical relevance, among other barriers. The result is that knowledge relevant to tackling the urgent challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty alleviation and other social ills often remains unused. What can we do to confront such obstacles? How can research—and researchers—make a difference?
FLARE 2023 will explore these questions and seeks to make concrete progress toward better harnessing research for action. Doing so will require dialogue and collaboration among scientists, government officials, concerned citizens, activists and advocates, business leaders, journalists, and others.
Therefore, proposals for FLARE 2023 are particularly welcome that:
Include collaboration between researchers and other actors mentioned above,
Involve early career scholars and practitioners, including in intergenerational partnerships,
Are led by scholars from low- and middle- income countries/the Global South.
And that:
Address barriers to effective use of research in policy and practice and means to overcome them,
Document and explain the exclusions of research from arenas where it could result in better forest management or improve lives and livelihoods,
Present cases of positive policy change that reflect good practice in research uptake,
Demonstrate collaborative approaches that have worked to bridge divides and/or show promise to do so,
Provide examples of collective action for systemic change that favors thriving human communities and forest landscapes, and/or
Highlight the voices, challenges, and successes of those who suffer most from forest loss and degradation, climate and environmental change, and restrictive policies.
As part of the second Symposium on Teaching & Curriculum Development in Sustainability Entrepreneurship, UNEP is hosting an online event to hear from global academic practitioners on how to integrate sustainability into programme designs and inspire eco-entrepreneurs and new business model innovators of tomorrow. Speakers will address their experience and strategy for integrating sustainability; what has been effective and where challenges remain.
Panelists will include:
Dr. Diana Trujillo, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
Majid Mirza, University of Waterloo, Canada
Dr. Booyuel Kim, Seoul National University, Korea
Dr. Dan LeClair, Global Business School Network, USA
The online event explores:
How do we introduce sustainability into entrepreneurship?
What are the key challenges faced? What is working?
How can we amplify effective integration of sustainability in (the private sector and) business schools?
What tools do students need? Are they available and/or do they need to be developed?
We are happy to announce this first TRED conference that will take place on June 12-14th, 2023 in Wageningen (the 12th is online).
In this interactive conference, we will not just discuss inter- and transdisciplinarity, we will also dig deeper into the fundamentals of inter- and transdisciplinary science, create a safe space for dialogue, make time for hands-on explorations of different approaches, and experiment with transdisciplinary processes through mini-hackathons.
Background
Climate change, the transition to a circular economy, and issues concerning human health, are examples of challenges we need to address in our society these days. These issues are both urgent and complex and require the integration of different (scientific) knowledge. However, for many challenges, scientific perspectives alone are not enough. Societal knowledge is needed to understand and define problems, identify alternatives, evaluate strategies, and design and implement processes.
But when, how, with whom, and even why we should integrate knowledge are not always clear. Moreover, although transdisciplinarity requires (new forms of) collaboration, many researchers and societal members feel alone in their endeavours.
The Transdisciplinary Research, Education and Dialogue initiative (TRED) seeks to further transdisciplinary science through creating a safe space for dialogue, unpacking theories, practices and essentials of knowledge integrations.
We look forward to co-creating space for collaborative research and learning with you.
Venue and travel information
The Dialogue Centre of Wageningen University & Research, Omnia, is the perfect venue for scientists, students, society and partners to meet. Here, there is room for a good conversation and the sharing of ideas in a relaxed atmosphere.
The Chair for Silviculture accepts applications from external participants for its integrated land use course.
Integrated Land Use Systems (Summer School, 26 June -14 July 2023, hybrid course):
The rapidly growing world population and changing consumption patterns are placing increasing pressure on agricultural and forestry production systems. However, the classic intensification approach to increase yield of food and biomass by genetic standardization, mechanization and application of pesticides and fertilizer, has led to ambivalent results. In many places, negative environmental and social consequences have been observed such as soil degradation, eutrophication, decline in fresh water resources, loss of biodiversity, as well as land-use conflicts, loss of employment, and rural-urban migration.
Integrated Land Use Systems (ILUS), which combine different types of land uses and integrate several management goals, are gaining attention. It is assumed that ILUS compared to classic production systems provide a higher level of ecosystem goods and services, are less vulnerable to the risks of global change and market volatilities, and are better suited to the livelihood strategies of rural populations. However, despite these promises, in practice, ILUS still play an only minor role in most agricultural landscapes. Against this backdrop, this module intends to carefully reflect about the economic, social and environmental features of important ILUS and possibilities for broader diffusion.
Course aim:
One goal is to familiarize participants with important ILUS (e.g., agroforestry systems) by gaining up to date expert knowledge. The second major goal is to train competencies in the analysis of ecological, social and economic foundations and effects of ILUS. The participants will be organized into small working groups to conduct in-depth analyses on selected ILUS issues, taking into account different geographical regions, socioeconomic settings and production objectives.
To prepare the groups for this task, experts introduce into key aspects of ILUS from technical, environmental and economic perspectives, and present relevant insights from South-America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Furthermore, excursions to the surroundings of Freiburg will provide practical insights about the relevance, potentials and challenges related to the application of ILUS. Based on this input, the participants will gradually develop their group work, which will be presented and discussed at the end of of the module.
After completing the course students are able to
describe and classify different types of ILUS,
explain the history of ILUS and particularly their recent emergence as possible and more sustainable alternatives to commercial tree and crop monocultures,
analyse the performance and potential of ILUS with respect to environmental, economic and sociocultural considerations,
relate ILUS to specific issues and processes including contribution to food security, economic growth, watershed protection and biodiversity conservation, and
critically reflect about the implications of ILUS in sustainable land use and rural livelihoods.
Target Group:
The module is designed for international graduate students,consultants and land use professionals, as well as for young scientists working in the field of forest, agricultural, and environmental sciences, geography, rural development, land use planning, landscape ecology and other related fields of natural resource management. The programme is open for applications from all countries.
Further information:
Scientific Coordinators
Prof. Dr. Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt, Dr. Sabine Reinecke
Type
Continuing Education Course
Organizer
Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Chair of Silviculture in cooperation with external experts
This course will be useful for
Graduates of forestry and land use programmes, researchers and PhD students, consultants and land use professionals
Prerequisites for participation
University degree related to agriculture or forestry (minimum 30 ECTS in specific modules), a minimum of two years working experience in a related sector, excellent English language skills
Format
Three week full time seminar (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm), hybrid (i.e. presence in Freiburg expected from 03-11 July, with excursions)
Dates
26 June – 14 July 2023
Certificate
Participants of the course will receive a Qualified Participation Certificate
Credit points
5 CP according to the ECTS (if the voluntary oral exam is passed)
Location
Tennenbacher Straße 4
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Application Deadline
25 May 2023 (first come first served if eligible)
Course Fee
450 Euro for hybrid option with excursions and lunch (an invoice will be sent after acceptance of the application), excluding costs for accommodation, food and travel
Scholarships
There are no scholarships available for the course and no logistical support for travel or accommodation. Interested participants are requested to look for their own sources of funding.
Freiburg:
Freiburg, “the green city” is a traditional but at the same time also a very young and dynamic university city. It is located close to the black forest, France and Switzerland and is considered to be one of the most attractive cities in Germany – especially in summer.
Many sustainability initiatives originated in Freiburg, and it is one of the European centres of renewable energy development and sustainability research.
The Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg was founded in 1457 and is one of the oldest universities in Germany. Students can choose from over 150 programmes at 11 faculties. At present, 25,000 students are enrolled.
Each year, CIFOR-ICRAF hosts a weeklong event that brings its staff worldwide together to sustain institution-wide engagement with the critical global problems the organization addresses.
For the first time, some sessions by prominent scientists and leaders from the organisation, including CIFOR-ICRAF’s new CEO Eliane Ubalijoro, are available to the public to attend virtually. This year’s theme is ‘Equity in Action’, providing a unique opportunity to learn about CIFOR-ICRAF’s commitment to equity and inclusion and how its work addresses the global challenge of inequity in all its work with and for communities, partners and governments.
The following sessions will be publicly available to stream on this page and YouTube. Don’t miss the chance to learn more about how CIFOR-ICRAF engages with equity as a moral imperative in its work, the impacts it expects and more.
We will host this virtual community gathering on the topic ‘Rewilding Gardens: Bringing nature home’ on Wednesday, May 17th at 5:00PM CET/4:00PM BST/8:00AM PDT. The duration of the event will be of 90 minutes.
The Rewilding Community of Practice aims to build a network of rewilding enthusiasts and professionals who can exchange ideas and information to help build a better world.
This is a fantastic opportunity for budding and more experienced rewilders to learn more about creating beautiful, resilient gardens – and how to attract bees and other insects – from four experienced practitioners who take different approaches to but all share a passion for creating wild gardens in which biodiversity is thriving .
We hope you will join us in our effort to scale our collective impact and rewild our planet!
The Speakers
Chris d’Agorne (How to Rewild), Brandy Williams (Garden Butterfly), Wankja Ferguson (Vlinder er Bij Natuurtuin), Eva Makandi (Light On A Hill)
Chris d’Agorne, Founder of How to Rewild
Chris is the Communications Lead at Ecosulis, which works to deliver nature-positive solutions for partners such as the Wildlife Trusts, Environment Agency, and Severn Trent Water. Chris comes from a family of ecologists and has a mosaic of experience across wildlife TV production, genetic research, teaching, photography and web design. They founded howtorewild.co.uk in 2021, a website that guides landowners through rewilding projects and has since applied this rewilding theory on a 3.5-acre field in Somerset. Chris continues to share insights from scientific articles and practical experience for Ecosulis and How to Rewild.
Brandy Williams, Founder of Garden Butterfly
Brandy Williams founded Garden Butterfly, a boutique landscape company focused on creating small-scale and highly-curated ecologically friendly gardens and pollinator habitats in the Los Angeleas area. Brandy’s creations include botanically diverse succulent, native and drought-tolerant mosaics for residential and commercial landscapes. Her work blends horticultural expertise with an artist’s eye to create permanent gardens and bespoke installations. Featured on LA Times, KCRW, KTLA and the Theodore Payne Foundation Native Plant Garden Tour, Garden Butterfly is on a mission to show Los Angeles that it can be a more beautiful, environmental and pollinator-friendly city.
Wankja Ferguson, Founder of Vlinder er Bij Natuurtuin
A landscape ecologist by training, Wankja has over 30 years of experience in ecological design, planting, and general nature conservation work. For the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) she worked on projects in nature conservation in her home country the Netherlands and places such as Kenya and Chili. She now heads Vlinder er Bij Natuurtuin, a design and ecological gardening firm focusing on animal-friendly gardens. Wankja focuses on creating garden environments honouring the relationships between plants and wildlife such as bee-friendly gardens lush with edible wild plants.
Eva Makandi, Founder of Light On A Hill
Eva Makandi is a community developer and peacebuilder and holds a BSC in community development. She is the founder of the Light On A Hill (LOAH), a community-based organization focusing on environmental conservation/restoration, as well as on education and talent development. She was named a 2022 Global Landscapes Forum Restoration Steward and is a 30 under 30 class of 2022 fellow of the North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE).
Wild Garden: Featured project of Katie van Munster – one of the Rewilding Community of Practice members – and presented by Wild Garden members Lori Eich and Kelsey Kaszas
Wild Garden is a tool that helps everyday people transform their gardens into something both wild and beautiful, full of native plants and wildlife. They aim to enhance the world’s biodiversity, one garden at a time.
Following the speakers’ conversation, there will be time for questions from the audience. The event will be a participatory event taking place on Zoom. The Zoom link to join the event will be shared with all ticket holders via email on the day of the event.
TerraFund for AFR100 is launching its new application cycle on April 5, 2023.
After working with the Top 100 restoration champions across 27 African countries since 2021, the team is ready to invest in additional locally led non-profit organizations and for-profit enterprises.
Champions that restore land in three landscapes are eligible for this opportunity:
Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Basin of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda
Ghana Cocoa Belt
Greater Rift Valley of Kenya
Expressions of interest for funding will be open on the TerraMatch platform from April 5, 2023 to May 5, 2023. Non-profit organizations can apply for grants and for-profit organizations for loans of $50,000 to $500,000 USD. A team of reviewers will select the top-scoring groups to submit more detailed applications.
We are pleased to invite you to a preview webinar in English to unpack the details of how to apply for this unique opportunity.
Please join World Resources Institute, One Tree Planted, and Realize Impact to learn which geographic areas are eligible for investment, how you can access the TerraMatch application platform, how the program monitors, reports, and verifies progress, and when you can expect final funding decisions. Attendees will be invited to ask written questions, which a team of experts will address in real time.
