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Category: education

What if the forest could look back at you?

What if the forest could look back at you?

Published July 2, 2026 by Rahel Könen

Thoughts on forest, attention and reconnection after the project relating forests – written by Marianne Cornil

It was dusk in a Norwegian forest. The group moved slowly along a path, leading further and further in, both into the forest and into the imagination. A poem first stimulated the intellect toward a different perspective. The whispering of the trees, sounds of the underground, poetic words and dancing lights, then underground sounds shifted attention. Each step was a response to the forest; the forest responded in turn.

A masked figure appeared between the trunks, silent and still and looked at us, unfolding the stories of the forest.

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Life in DeadwoodLIFESPAN still

Life in Deadwood

Published April 29, 2026 by Gesche Schifferdecker

Blogpost by Gesche Schifferdecker and Andrea Barzagli

“Today, there is no longer discussion about the general value of deadwood. Now the discussion is only about how, when, and where to preserve it.”

I heard that line like a door closing on an old argument. And then, just as quickly, another door opened onto the real question: what does “keeping deadwood” actually look like in a forest that is also being managed for people?

That’s the thread running through The Life in Deadwood, the final documentary of the LIFE SPAN project – filmed across two pilot sites, the Cansiglio Forest (Italy) and the Sailershausen University Forest (Germany). Guided by Jörg Müller, professor of conservation biology and forest ecology at the University of Würzburg, the ~20‑minute film follows a quiet, ongoing “competition between humans and saproxylic organisms”.

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SimInForest Project – building an innovative approach to link marteloscope exercises to simulation models

SimInForest Project – building an innovative approach to link marteloscope exercises to simulation models

Published February 18, 2026 by amschuck
SimInForest Project – building an innovative approach to link marteloscope exercises to simulation models
The marteloscope Sailershausen 2.

Written by Andreas Schuck, Senior Researcher at the European Forest Institute

For forest managers, it is quite challenging to integrate multiple forest management objectives and increase forest resilience considering our uncertain climatic and socioeconomic future. Marteloscopes, field plots in which every tree has been mapped and measured, are a great tool for silviculture training addressing these management challenges. With the help of a software that runs on mobile devices (“I+” software package) we can perform virtual silviculture interventions directly in Marteloscopes and retrieve the results immediately. This way, training participants can observe the impact of their interventions on various ecosystem services and discuss their results and applied silvicultural practices. This training approach has become very popular in the past ten years and a large network of marteloscope sites has emerged across Europe and beyond.

However, so far quantitative analyses of marteloscope exercise results are limited to comparisons of the forest stand before and immediately after a single silvicultural intervention. Currently, potential stand evolution after a virtual thinning and potential management prescriptions are mainly discussed based on the expertise of marteloscope trainers and the participants but lack quantitative support. Here, SimInForest “Combining field exercises and simulations on marteloscopes to develop integrative and sustainable silviculture approaches” comes into play.

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What does EFI do? A Visiting Student’s Perspective from Taiwan 

What does EFI do? A Visiting Student’s Perspective from Taiwan 

Published February 4, 2026 by Gabriela Rueda

Blogpost by Li Xin Yue

Quite often, there is a gap between forest policies developed on the national level, and the actual challenges practitioners face on the ground. This is an issue that we are also facing in Taiwan. To learn more about how other countries are dealing with the persistent disconnect between national forest policy and local realities, the Taiwanese Ministry of Education decided to fund me with an internship that allows me to travel across Europe and Asia to learn about different forest governance models.  And here I was, a master’s student at National Taiwan University, coming to Germany and visiting European Forest Institute.  

From EFI I wanted to learn how long-term scientific research can be effectively connected with policy processes and on-the-ground practice. And my exchange with the EFI researchers offered insights not only for my reporting, but also beyond the European context. 

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Forschungspreis für Citizen Science 2025: 1. Platz für das Projekt PlanBirke plus CBirke und Biodiversität

Forschungspreis für Citizen Science 2025: 1. Platz für das Projekt PlanBirke plus C

Published November 10, 2025 by Gesche Schifferdecker

Bürger*innen erforschen den Waldwandel – Klimawirksamkeit, Biodiversität & Wasserhaushalt Das Forschungsinstitut für Bergbaufolgelandschaften (FIB) wurde mit dem 1. Platz des „Wissen der Vielen – Forschungspreis…

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Forests Dialogues – Our guideline to genuine exchange and the path toward it

Forests Dialogues – Our guideline to genuine exchange and the path toward it

Published October 29, 2025 by Katharina Freund

How can genuine dialogue about forests succeed?

This question stood at the beginning of our project and became the starting point for our new guide “Forest Dialogues”, developed at the European Forest Institute (EFI) together with colleagues from the Forest Research Institute Baden-Württemberg (FVA).

The debate about the future of our forests is no longer purely technical. Climate change, nature conservation, timber production, and recreation – all play a part in forest management in Germany. Yet both citizens and forestry professionals often feel that their concerns are not fully understood. Foresters, as representatives of forest management, are also mediators between their profession and a society that increasingly demands participation and wants its views to be heard.

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Bringing science closer to forest professionals for better carbon capture and fire prevention

Bringing science closer to forest professionals for better carbon capture and fire prevention

Published May 30, 2025 by Teresa Baiges Zapater and Rina Tsubaki

Change doesn’t happen overnight. To facilitate the shift toward healthier forests that store more carbon and restore biodiversity, it is vital to work closely with the people who manage, use and work with forests.

To share scientific insights and knowledge with those who have the power to influence forest management in the field, a set of training sessions have been designed by the Forest Ownership Centre (CPF), a forest administration in Catalonia, to address “multipliers” such as forest professionals and other public forest workers who work hand in hand with small private forest owners in the region. The first session took place in El Montmell, a village in the Tarragona province, for a group of 26 forest rangers. The training took place in an Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) forest to show how sustainable forest management can help capture more carbon and reduce CO₂ emissions while preventing wildfires. The site is an area partly affected by a wildfire in 1976 that has since grown back naturally and now consists of a dense cover of Aleppo pine regeneration. These young forests are especially at risk of burning again, and repeated fires can cause permanent tree and soil loss. Forest management can lower this risk by reducing excess biomass and helping stronger trees grow faster and produce seeds in a shorter cycle. This approach prevents fires, enhances the chances of tree recovery in case of a new fire and helps capture more carbon from the atmosphere.

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It Starts with Us: Human-Centered Design to Tackle Barriers for Collaboration human-centered approach. Photo by AbdulRahmanUzair/AdobeStock.

It Starts with Us: Human-Centered Design to Tackle Barriers for Collaboration 

Published January 23, 2025 by Rina Tsubaki

Human: A Barrier to Transformative Change 

For biodiversity conservation to be effective, nature must be placed at the heart of decision-making. In recent years, concepts like nature-based solutions (NbS) have emerged as promising tools for fostering social empowerment and ecological transformation. Yet, studies reveal a significant limitation: these concepts are often applied within narrow, specific contexts, restricting their potential to drive transformative change. A troubling pattern emerges when we look closer at how “nature” is framed. Complex, top-down power dynamics often exclude marginalised communities and species from meaningful participation. This disconnect underscores the need to rethink how we approach biodiversity conservation. 

The challenges we face in creating a sustainable society are not just environmental — they’re deeply human. We often struggle to align on shared goals to protect the planet. Different languages, perspectives, and priorities can create barriers to collaboration. To develop solutions that effectively address biodiversity loss, we must first overcome the human problems that stand in the way. This calls for a shift toward designing communications and public engagement strategies with a human-centred approach. 

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