The ForestValue2 (FV2) Project “Innovating the forest-based bioeconomy” is a research support initiative (Coordination Support Action – CSA) funded by the Horizon Europe Programme. It started in 2023 and will end in 2027. It involves 14 entities including ministries, agencies and research centres from 11 European countries, including Italy, which participates with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests (MASAF) and three centres of the Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of Agricultural Economics (CREA).
The aim of the project is to coordinate Research and Innovation programming, thus contributing to the alignment of research and innovation policies of the different countries.
To address strategic issues in the forestry sector, among the possible ways of discussion and communication between stakeholders in the sector, FV2 has identified, in addition to the usual workshops and webinars, the formula of the Scientific Café, informal in-person conversations, enlivened by coffee and pastries, between researchers, experts, institutions, citizens on current scientific issues, combining scientific communication and public involvement. The Scientific Cafés, held in the various FV2 partner countries contribute to circulating reliable information by increasing the awareness of participants and to collecting ideas and suggestions for future lines of research and management, representing an inclusive and participatory model.
The Scientific Café organized for Italy by the national partners (Masaf and CREA) on the theme “Urban forestry and ecosystem services: analysis of strategies and prospects” took place on 11 September 2024. In planning the Caffè to be held in Italy, it was deemed appropriate to place the event, thanks to the fortunate temporal coincidence for the timing of the FV2 project, within the XIV SISEF National Congress “Forests for the Future” held in Padua, which kindly agreed to host this initiative. This contributed to the optimal success for the high number of participants, who, between one session and another of the intense program of the Congress, were able to discuss lightly, but no less seriously, the important topic of urban forestry and its dense implications in terms of planning and public management. The Caffè was therefore held according to the methodology tested and tested in other FV2 partner countries, following some fundamental steps adapted to the specific needs of each country.
The Caffè hosted about 40 participants including academics, technicians of public administrations, freelancers and other figures operating in the sector of urban forests, whose conversation was facilitated by the staff of CREA and MASAF involved in the action, as the organizing committee.
After a brief introduction by MASAF on the FV2 project and the specificity of the discussion method, Prof. Giovanni Sanesi, as an expert, introduced the topic of ecosystem services management in urban forests. Afterwards, the participants, working individually or in small groups, between a coffee and a pastry, wrote down on post-its what they considered to be the main critical issues, which were then grouped with the facilitators by theme, also offering ideas for solutions and strategies to overcome the elements of weakness.
One of the important implications of this type of event is the sharing between people with different scientific and technical profiles and roles, who find enrichment in the spontaneous but no less effective comparison to identify improvement paths for the sector and its fundamental implications for common social, environmental and economic well-being.
The event therefore aims to be the starting point of a shared path and not a single event, as the participants themselves requested, with the possibility of subsequent moments.
All those interested in participating in the continuation of the work begun, even if they have not had the opportunity to be present at this first event in Padua, but intend to participate in other online or in-person events or to deepen the “Caffè Scientifico” method, can contact:
Photo by: Sofia Baldessari