International Summer School- FUTURE FORESTRY: Reconciling Competing Demands and Meeting the Challenges of Global Changes



Date and Venue: 21 September – 2 October 2009, Göttingen, Germany

Download the abstracts of the GAForN Summer School as "PDF")

The German Forestry Alumni Network (GAForN) is going to organize an International Summer School entitled "FUTURE FORESTRY: Reconciling Competing Demands and Meeting the Challenges of Global Changes" from 21 September to 2 October 2009 in Göttingen, Germany. This international summer school is being jointly organized by the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Forestry (CeTSAF), Georg-August University Göttingen and University of Dresden, Tharandt, Germany with the financial support from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Background

International networking and sharing of experiences are among the most efficient instruments of spreading and advancing the idea of sustainable forest management. The German Alumni Forest Network (GAForN) has the objective to foster this type of networking on international level.

This International Summer School complements the on-going series of GAForN Symposia in Asia in that it brings together alumni with a forestry-related professional background from all continents who graduated at German universities. By that, GAForN opens for a global audience of experts.

The summer school will offer a platform for established and for young professionals; for academicians and practitioners to share their experiences and insights into forestry issues. In particular, recent research project developments shall be highlighted by lectures, seminars, discussions and field trips. The summer school is also planned to be a starting point for joint research and teaching initiatives and to define future directions of GAForN.



Thematic Background

Global changes trigger multiple challenges for forest management and for ecosystem conservation. Modern forestry must develop strategies to cope with these multiple challenges by fostering the establishment of forest structures that optimally withstand these challenges and do also satisfy the demands of those who depend on forests and forest products.

Forests contribute in various manners to human well-being. These contributions can be enhanced by smartly managing the forest resource. Sustainable management of forests is an art that requires, among other factors, scientific knowledge, practical experience, and a way of economic thinking that balances short- and long-term expectations.

Papers on all contemporary topics in modern forestry will be accepted, including the following which are formulated here as questions:

• Where is carbon forestry heading to?
• Is forest a promising source of energy?
• Can tree plantations be beneficial for small-holders?
• Are biodiversity conservation and production forestry natural enemies?
• Agroforestry and tree resources outside of forests (TROF): can they be managed?
• Regional forest history: Is there something to be learned from?