After 3 days of insightful presentations, vivid discussions and interactive outdoor sessions, our Integrate Network workshop in Zurich, Switzerland, has come to an end.

More than 50 participants from diverse national and international networks and projects, including the SwissForestLab,  NFZ.forestnet, SUPERB, TRANSFORMIT, Wildcard and more, came together to discuss how Integrative Forest Management may respond to new challenges posed by climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as how to promote more resilient and species-rich forests in Switzerland and beyond. 

Organised by the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, ETH Zürich and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, the event kick-started with three keynote presentations on Integrative Forest Management, the economic benefits of ecologically driven decision-making, as well as measures of forest biodiversity.  Thereafter, participants dove into the following interactive topics:

🌳 Adaptive silviculture and the role of Close-to-Nature Forest Management in climate change adaptation 

🌱 Forest restoration in a climate-change context

🪵 Maintenance of forest ecosystem services when converting or transforming forest stands 

The second day was marked by diverse outdoor sessions at the Waldlabor Zürich – a “Forest Laboratory” that functions as a demonstration- and research site for Integrative Forest Management, connecting researchers, forest owners and the general public. 

The final day served to discuss both challenges and opportunities between urban forestry and close-to-nature forestry, merging networks with the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF).