Six newly funded projects are launched at Future Treescapes 22, the first conference from the Future of UK Treescapes Programme.
Future Treescapes 22, held in September 2022, ignited conversations around our woods, forests and treescapes between some of the brightest minds working in this field.
Starting the day on a high, the conference opened with a British tree-themed folk tale – One Tree Hill, from Patrick Ryan, a Storyteller working with the Branching Out project team who are exploring our values and attitudes to our treescapes.
This was followed by the keynote address, by Sir Harry Studholme, Former Chair of the Forestry Commission, Forester and Honorary Professor at the University of Exeter, who highlighted:
“The more we learn about trees the more there is to learn. Sound [research] is critical to solving the plethora of new problems thrown up by a changing climate. We need [it] to question conventional wisdom and be unafraid to come to unpopular conclusions.”
The conference was hosted by the Co-Ambassadors of the Future of UK Treescapes Programme. It provided a platform for the six phase one projects, which have been running since August 2021, to highlight their latest achievements. In addition, the conference launched six new major research projects that have just been awarded a share of £3 million in funding from UK Research and Innovation (more details here).
Spotlighting the bright young minds in the UK, the conference heard an emotive plea from Mahmud and Hamid, two youth leaders working with the Voices of the Future Project who arrived in this country as refugees:
“We have one planet and we need to think beyond the UK, we need to think about the whole world if we are to make a difference.”
Bringing the conversations back home, the day concluded with discussions about what we can learn from our history with trees, forests and woodlands, and how we can work together to build a greener, wilder future for our society.
Gallery
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- Lynn Frewer presents on the newly launched Agroforestry Futures
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- Dr Estrella Luna Diez presents on behalf of MEMBRA
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- Newly launch iDeer project presented by Rebecca Spake
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- Youth leaders Mahmud and Hamid address conference attendees
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- Sir Harry Studholme gives the keynote address
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- Patrick Ryan sharing a tree related story with the conference
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- Panelists look to the future of our treescapes
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- Panelists discuss what we can learn from our history
