From 17 to 18 March 2021, the 3rd International Forest Policy meeting was held online through an interactive program – gather town where participants get to talk and meet virtually. The International Forest Policy Meeting is a biannual event addressing forest and forest-related issues from a social science perspective. This year’s meeting facilitated the exchange of the latest research in the field and provided a unique opportunity to present, discuss and interact in a welcoming online environment.
In the 3rd IFPM, not only was forest policy discussed, but broader and critical issues were tackled, such as climate change, urban forestry, agroforestry, water, bioeconomy, forest landscape restoration, sustainability, and gender. A three-minute thesis presentation was one of the highlights of the event and the keynote speech by Aarti Gupta on radical transparency in global environmental governance.
Our colleagues chaired a few sessions and presented their respective related studies during the event. It was a success as scientists, researchers, and students joined the sessions and contributed to the discussion of current research and issues. Alice Ludvig chaired the sessions on rethinking forest entrepreneurship and policy as a newly emerging cross-sectoral field: insights from theory and empirics, which asked how to find and design more adjusted policies for a sector that becomes more and more “cross-sectoral?” Alice also chaired another session on gender and inclusivity in forest sciences: theoretical and empirical insights, which aims to trigger debates among forest scholars and collectively reflect on how to make the field and the knowledge it generates more inclusive.
Our Head of Office, Gerhard Weiss, also chaired a session on social innovation in forestry which aims to highlight the role of social innovation for securing multiple economic, ecological and social benefits of forests for society and rural development and to give insights into social innovation processes. The presented papers use practical examples from across Europe and either analyze the mechanisms behind those innovations or assess their contribution to sustainability-related policy goals.
Lastly, a session on European Forest Coalitions – past, present, and future was hosted by Helga Pülzl, which aims to generate an understanding of how advocacy coalitions form and matter across policy areas within the European Union, including in the past. In addition, it aims to find answers as to what role perceptions, coalitions, and frames have in European forest governance now and in the future. During the session, she also presented the initial results of their study regarding EU Forest Governance post-2020: Perceptions, coalitions, and policy frame.
The event was organized by the University of Freiburg and Nordic Forest Research. For more information about the event, please visit their website: https://ifpm3.info/.