IUFRO: Agenda transForm in the spotlight at one of the world’s most prestigious forestry events

The IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organizations) World Congress, one of the most prestigious global forestry events, has been held every five years since 1893, from June 23 to 29, 2024, in Stockholm, Sweden. This year, the event was organized by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in close collaboration with Nordic and Baltic partners, under the theme “Forests and Society Towards 2050”. This congress provides a unique platform to bring together scientists and world leaders with the aim of contributing to and co-creating a sustainable future in the forestry, climate and social fields, in line with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Agenda transForm made its presence felt at the congress, featuring in various sessions and presentations that highlighted the innovative role of digital technologies in the sustainable management of forestry supply chains. Agenda transForm’s participation was even highlighted on IUFRO TV with the film “Transforming Portugal’s Forest-Based Value Chains”.

On the first day of the congress, Pedro Britto, senior researcher at CoLAB ForestWISE, presented a poster on the OPTIVEG project, one of the initiatives of the transForm Agenda, in session T5.10 entitled “Digitalization for sustainable forest management”.

The second day of the congress continued with sessions focused on digitalization and sustainability. Alexandra Marques, senior researcher at CoLAB ForestWISE, together with Dag Field, professor of Forest Technology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), moderated the session “Developing digital drivers for risk mitigation in forest supply chains”.

During this session, Alexandra Marques highlighted the implementation of advanced technologies and digital solutions to improve the efficiency, sustainability and resilience of forest supply chains. Pedro Britto once again presented the work carried out under the transForm Agenda, in this case with regard to improving the control of wood supply chains through digital applications for measuring wood piles.

On the fourth day of the congress, participants had the opportunity to go on several field trips. These visits provided first-hand knowledge of some of the best practices and innovations in forest management, offering a practical perspective on new technologies and methods for sustainable forest management.

On the penultimate day, CoLAB ForestWISE project manager Mariana Amaro took part in the session “Forest without borders: National Forest Inventory Networks and their potential for large scale monitoring and reporting”. In this session, the forest engineer presented a paper on the creation of a Network of Permanent Forest Parcels in Portugal. This project, developed under the transForm Agenda, aims to monitor the effects of climate change on the country’s different forest ecosystems.

Finally, Alexandra Marques attended the session “Simulation and automation in modern forest operations”, where she presented a case study from Portugal that highlights the use of digital technologies to improve the monitoring and planning of forest operations, demonstrating the potential of these technologies to transform modern forest management.

This year’s edition of IUFRO stood out as a collaborative platform that promotes knowledge sharing and access to the latest scientific research results. Looking to the future, the congress aims to define the research agenda and roadmap for the next generations, with a specific focus on the interactions between forests and society up to 2050.