Conference
Transforming Forests : Conference presentations on 16 and 17 November 2023
What role do forests globally play in sustainability transformations - and what does it mean for the Dutch forests?
Conference and interactive sessions at Wageningen University Campus – 16th and 17th November 2023 on the occasion of the inaugural addresses of Prof. Dr. Georg Winkel (Chairholder Forest and Nature Conservation Policy) and Prof. Dr. Maria Tengö (NatuurCollege Chair Human-Nature Relationships in the Anthropocene).
Speakers well-known in their fields of research gave their vision on the role forests globally play in sustainability transformations - and what this means for the Dutch forests.
The first day (Thursday 16 November) focussed on cutting edge scientific insights in the possibilities and trade-offs of sustainability transformations relating to forests and forestry from an international perspective. A number of renowned researchers presented their inputs for the debate, culminating in the inaugural addresses of Georg Winkel and Maria Tengö.
Playbacks of live presentations:
- 'The role of forests in transitioning to a circular bioeconomy' by Dr. Marc Palahi (Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and Lombard Odier Investment Managers)
Download pdf-version
- Forests, Biodiversity and Water' by Prof. dr. Douglas Sheil (Fores Ecology & Management Group, Wageningen University)
- 'European forests under climate change: A forest adaptation vision' by Prof. dr. Gert-Jan Nabuurs (Professor of European Forest Resources, Wageningen University)Download pdf-version
- 'Forests and local people - A community-based transition vision' by Dr. Carol Colfer (CIFOR; Cornell University) Download pdf-version
- 'Sustainability transformations in a complex world: Shifting perspectives' by Dr. Belinda Reyers (University of Pretoria, South Africa; Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) Download pdf-version
- 'Knowledge and ethics in sustainability transformations: Capacities for navigating pluralism' by Dr. Guido Caniglia (KLI Conrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Austria) Download pdf-version
- 'Co-producing sustainability transformations: Fostering collective imagination' by Dr. Josie Chambers (Urban Futures Studio, Utrecht University) Download pdf-version
- Panel discussion 1 with Marc Palahi, Gert-Jan Nabuurs and Carol Coiffer
- Panel discussion 2 with Belinda Reyers, Guido Caniglia and Josephine Chambers
- Discussion with Jeroen Sleijffers and Rianne Kat
- Playback interview with Princess Irene of NatuurCollege, co-sponsor and organiser of the conference
Playback inauguration ceremonies:
- Cortege enters the Auditorium in Omnia, Wageningen Campus; Speech by prof. dr. Arthur Mol, then Rector Magnificus of Wageningen University
- Lecture by Prof. dr. Maria Tengö
- Lecture by Prof. dr. Georg Winkel
The second day (Friday 17 November) focussed on the topical issues in the societal debate about transformational changes in forests in The Netherlands under three themes:
- Baselines – what types of nature or agriculture correspond with forests in The Netherlands? Is there any space left for the forest? As a socio-ecological system, what do forests need in order to function properly?
- Imagination – what do we need from the forest? Can forests respond? How do we imagine us as people of the forest?
- Stewardship – how does what we know and have always known affect how we co-exist with forests? And what does that mean for the future development of forests?
Photo impressions of the presentations and workshops:
This conference was organised by Forest & Nature Conservation Policy Chair Group of Wageningen University and NatuurCollege, with financial support from the Province of Utrecht and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.
Archived: