Contact
Dimitris Athanassiadis
Associate professor
Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology,
SLU Urban Futures (Umeå Hub Coordinator)
E-mail: dimitris.athanassiadis@slu.se
Telephone: +46(0)90 786 83 04
Urban forestscapes
Last changed: 24 June 2024
The forestscape concept recognizes relationships between forests, people and cities. It refers to the diverse social, economic, cultural and environmental processes that shape interconnections between forest ecosystems and urban development contexts. Forestscapes, as a research topic, examines the diverse meanings and values of forests for different stakeholders, humans and non-human species and how these impact the formation of urban landscapes. Studying Urban Forestscapes allows perspectives on urban forests to be lifted in sustainable urban development issues.
On this page, SLU Urban Futures continuously shares the platform's work with urban forestscapes. While not exhaustive, it highlights our main initiatives and collaborations. If you would like more information or wish to join the conversation, please reach out to our hub coordinator. Contact details are available further down the page.
Status
SLU Urban Futures will be present at the IUFRO World Congress in Stockholm, 23-29 June 2024. Hub coordinator Dimitris Athanassiadis is present and available for meetings.
E-mail: dimitris.athanassiadis@slu.se
Telephone: +46(0)90 786 83 04
In 2023, discourse on forestscapes was the focus of two public forums, one seed funding and one publication. At the European Forum of Urban Forestry conference, the SLU Urban Futures Umeå hub presented 'Urban forestscapes in the city of Umeå and their significance in the city's sustainable growth and development'. The Getting our cities right #3 conference 'From Green Infrastructure to Urban Forestscapes' invited examination of plural understandings of the forestscape concept to detect the value of this lens as a frame for interdisciplinary approaches to urban landscapes and green infrastructures. The Spool journal invited UF Umeå hub to serve as reviewer for their Forestscapes issue. These engagements can deliver an idea of how researchers outside SLU Urban Futures perceive the concept / potentials of framing their work through Urban Forestscapes.
Progress
To further develop the conceptual understanding of Urban Forestscapes, as well as to discern how it differs from other concepts, Umeå hub will cooperate with and seek inputs from scholars interested in the idea of Biocities.
Next steps
In the forestry discipline, the most common terms are urban and peri-urban forests and forest landscapes. The term forestscape is not well known, or understood. More communication with researchers is needed, as well as scientific projects that focus on Forestscapes. To make local municipalities and regions aware of the concept, more dialogue in Swedish is needed.