SLU news

Press release: Setting the Course for the IUFRO World Congress 2024 in Stockholm

Published: 05 October 2018

Vienna 10 October 2018. In 2024, the venue for the 26th World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) will be Stockholm, Sweden. After a highly competitive bidding process, the IUFRO International Council made this decision upon recommendation of the IUFRO Board.

An important milestone

“We are excited that the 26th IUFRO World Congress will be held in Sweden and know that it will become another important milestone in our history,” said IUFRO President Mike Wingfield.  “In Stockholm we will contemplate how global trends, including new demands and innovations, will affect the future forest research landscape- consistent with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the IUFRO Strategy.  We will enter into an open dialogue on the future of forests and forest research. And this dialogue will especially engage young scientists and students, who must have a central role in defining our future”, he remarked.

Enthusiasm to host the Congress

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and the City of Stockholm prepared the winning bid to host the IUFRO World Congress 2024 in close collaboration with partners from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway.  “The application process was characterized by a strong community spirit around the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, full of energy and enthusiasm to host the Congress“, explained Peter Högberg, Vice-Chancellor of SLU.  “With active support and leadership by the network of Nordic and Baltic agricultural universities, SLU Global, the Think Tank for International Forestry Issues (SIFI), and the African Forest Forum (AFF), the IUFRO World Congress will achieve its primary goal to connect with a broad global audience“, he added proudly.

Nordic forestry and global concepts

The 26th IUFRO World Congress in Stockholm will be a major global forest event where scientists and stakeholders from all parts of the world will address scientific and technical issues related to priority areas of forest research, policy and management.  It will also offer the perfect platform to highlight the importance and the beauty of boreal forests and their unique ecosystems, as well as to share the principles that underpin the Swedish and Nordic forestry concepts with the global scientific community.

Facts:

The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is the only world-wide organization dedicated to forest research and related sciences. Its members are research institutions, universities, and individual scientists as well as decision-making authorities and other stakeholders with a focus on forests and trees. https://www.iufro.org/


For more information, please contact:

Gerda Wolfrum at +43 1 877015117 or wolfrum(at)iufro.org

Fredrik Ingemarson at +46 18 673113 or fredrik.ingemarson(at)slu.se