In Congress Tours

The excursions should provide scientifically grounded discussions about forestrelated issues of interest to decision makers and other groups in the society, including cross sectoral challenges. The IUFRO themes are represented in the examples of possible excursions below. The organizational committee will increase the number of excursions and adjust the focus following the IUFRO strategy from 2019 and onwards.

NATIONAL FOREST INVENTORIES CELEBRATE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY

At the beginning of the last century the fear of over-utiliza- tion of forest resources led to initiatives to implement National Forest Inventories (NFI) in the Nordic countries. This excursion will give an exposé of the successful work from the early NFIs up to the present and into the future when remote sensing is revolutionizing forestry. The development of field inventory will be demonstrated, mainly focusing on design of field work and measuring devices, but also on novel techniques in sampling and data capture by remote sensing such as Airborne and Terrestrial Laser Scanning. Output from the NFIs will be demonstrated using the Heureka system and computer drawn aerial videos through Virtual Reality (VR) technology.

Hosts: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) 

LIVE ACTION ROLE-PLAYING ON FUTURE FOREST POLICY

Forest management in the Nordic countries differs from forest management in South Europe, West Africa or Southeast Asia. This excursion will touch on the future issues of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in the Nordic countries compared to other parts of the world. Examples will be given on how social and natural science influence policy implementation and public administration.

Live action roleplaying is a rapidly growing social use of forests. In this excursion you will act out your character’s actions in a role play with only other players as an audience, all facilitated by experienced game masters and social forest scientists in order to explore the forestryrelated subject selected to be important as we head towards 2050.

Hosts: Swedish Forestry Association and Swedish Forest Agency

THE VALUE OF URBAN FORESTS FOR CHILDREN’S EDUCATION AND HEALTH

This excursion to the Royal National City Park takes you through a unique urban park area, while certified guides present the work of the Swedish Outdoor Association. The aim is to describe how wellproven outdoor pedagogy encourages children to be physically active. It improves their cognitive development, environmental awareness and understanding of flora and fauna – and the sheer joy of being in the nature! Through a clear link between outdoor pedagogy and the school curriculum, outdoor pedagogy can be utilized in all school subjects. This excursion will form a basis for discussions on the value and need of easy access and proximity to nature and forests from urban areas and schools.

Hosts: Swedish Outdoor Association and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)

MULTI-PURPOSE USE OF FOREST LAND FROM A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE

The Sigtuna region is densely populated due to its proximity to Stockholm and the international airport, which leads to substantial land use conflicts as well as environmental threats, such as a loss of biodiversity.

Infrastructure development is a continuing threat to forests and the demand for recreational areas has increased. Much of the present forest land has previously been used for semi natural grazing and agricultural purposes. You will study grazing and silvicultural practices at different site conditions and be able to compare traditional evenaged forestry to continuous cover forestry. We will discuss the conflicts between recreational and yield objectives. Forest owners and representatives of the municipality will present their views on multipurpose use of forest land. (On Sigtuna, see more in Appendix 10.)

Host: Sigtuna branch of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation

DISRUPTIVE INNOVATIONS AND HIGHLY AUTO- MATED INDUSTRIES MOVING TOWARDS 2050

North Europe is leading the development of renewable solu- tions in packaging, biomaterials, paper and building systems for industrial wood construction. By 2024 cellulose fibre will be used in a variety of products due to e.g. its lightweight structure along with innovations in biocomposites. By 2050 disruptive innovations will have opened up new markets for sustainable materials. This excursion will let you look into the future of cellulose products by visiting pilot plants and fibre exploratory laboratories, including a highly automated production facility for wood construction elements where the processing of wood into crosslaminated timber is integrated with design tools and a complete building system. Even the glue used in the component production is forestbased.

Hosts: Stora Enso AB and Wallenberg Wood Science Center at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

 Photos: Gabby Orcutt/Unsplash, Ylva Nordin/KSLA, Niklas Palmklint/Stora Enso.

FOREST-INDUSTRY INTEGRATION AND LOGISTICAL SYSTEMS FOR SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY

This field trip focuses on tomorrow’s technology for planning, logging, transportation and forest industry production; low impact and efficient machine concepts, big data, new fuels, automation, remote sensing and market analysis are a few examples. Forest industry production starts in the forest as the tree is harvested and shaped into products fitting industrial processes. You will visit a harvester in the forest and look at the flexibility of the harvesting process where everything is controlled in realtime and can be adjusted momentarily on demand. Follow the logs from the forest to the mill, where you can explore the demands of the industry and how forest and mill people work together to streamline production.

Hosts: Skogforsk and SCA Skog AB

ROLE OF TREES IN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

Trees provide benefits like cleaner water and air, carbon sequestration, reduced noise pollution, retention and detention of storm- water runoff and cooler cars in shaded parking lots. The Stockholm Biochar Project uses park and garden waste to produce renewable energy and biochar, a soil conditioner retaining water, air and nutrients in the soil. The City of Stockholm uses biochar in tree pits and other planting beds to increase growth. In soil, biochar is a carbon sink that contributes to a greener city and decreases the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for hundreds to thousands of years. The energy provides heat for the city and stormwater is used for tree irrigation.

Hosts: City of Stockholm and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)

FOREST RESIDUES FOR COMBINED EDIBLE MUSH- ROOM AND BIOFUEL PRODUCTION

A core issue of bioeconomy strategy is to develop climatesmart holistic solutions and to increase resource efficiency. A process-integrated food and energy production using indigenous resources is a promising future area of bioeconomic development and innovation. Here you will study an inte- grated industrial chain which uses residues from forest industry for combined mushroom and biofuel production. Edible mushrooms can grow well on forest residues. They require small land areas and need no fertilizers or pesticides. Forest residues are used as growing substrates for edible mushroom production and recycled Spent Mushroom Substrates (SMS) as feedstock for biofuel production, either solid or liquid fuels such as ethanol via a sugar platform.

Host: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)

FUTURE ENERGY FROM FOREST AND TREES

The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is essential in order to achieve environmental goals. Constant improvements and novel thinking are important in this process. In the midsized city of Enköping in south Sweden, this process has comea long way. The key to success has been a conscious effort to include more bioenergy in the central heating plant operated by Ena Energi. For example, Salix is also used for developing new methods to achieve a more stable production of biomass which avoids pest attacks. Ena Energi has grown its own Salix plantations fertilized with leach water from the purifier plant.

Hosts: Ena Energi AB and the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AT ECOPARK FÄRNA

Sveaskog, the stateowned forest company of Sweden, manages more than a million hectares of commercial forest land. The company has developed 36 ecoparks throughout Sweden, with a focus on promoting biodiversity and different ecosystem services. You will visit one of these areas in south Sweden, Ecopark Färna, close to Västerås. The excursion will demonstrate the importance of a landscape approach, where nature conservation and forestry activities are integrated at both stand and landscape levels. Special attention will be given to biodiversity and the impact of forestry on surrounding soil and water in the future. Discussions will centre on the development of ecosystem services such as climate mitigation, recreational opportunities and biodiversity offsets.

Hosts: Sveaskog and Skogforsk 

Photos: Ylva Nordin/KSLA, Viktor Wrange/SLU, Markus Samuelsson/Sveaskog.

FOREST MANAGEMENT AND FUTURE FIRE REGIMES

In 2014, a large forest fire occurred only 120 km from Stockholm in a region with intense forestry, including peatland drainage. Let us go back to the site of the fire ten years later to look at the consequences of pre- and postfire management practices. Nearly half of the burnt area became a nature re- serve and the rest was salvage logged and reforested. Various research projects follow the development post fire; including reforestation, wildlife, biodiversity and water quality. You will visit several sites in the burnt area and discuss how forest management can adapt to future fire regimes.

Hosts: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and County of Västmanland

FUTURE TREE BREEDING AND FOREST GROWTH TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE

Forests and the renewable wood raw material play a key role in the ongoing transition to a biobased economy but also as an important tool to mitigate climate change, for which healthy and productive forests today and tomorrow are a key to success. Increasing domestic and global demands for wood products are expected to be met by increased forest growth and a higher degree of utilisation. This excursion will present silvicultural practices and measures, developed for Nordic forestry to significantly increase forest growth integrated with other ecosystem services, and you will gain an insight into the importance of forest tree breeding to Swedish forestry and how the Swedish forest tree breeding programme can develop trees for the society of the future.

Hosts: Skogforsk and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)

THE FAMILY FOREST OWNERS – KEY ACTORS IN NORDIC FORESTRY

The Nordic model, with stable institutions, markets and clear rules for the actors based on a democratic system, creates a solid ground for the development of a successful tenure system. It is clear that private ownership of forest is a contributing factor to the success of the Nordic forestry model. A closer look reveals a partly dramatic transition, and today the ownership model is once again being contested. Once secure in their tenure, the family forest owners started exploiting the now valuable timber resources, and later, more reluctantly, began to employ modern management methods in spite of the extremely long investment horizon in northern silviculture. The description of the developments in relation to other parts of the world will open up for a discussion with delegates and forest owners on future developments.

Hosts: Think Tank for International Forestry Issues (SIFI) and Federation of Swedish Family Forest Owners

IN LINNAEUS’S FOOT- STEPS – A HISTORICAL WALKING TOUR IN ANCIENT UPPSALA

The worldfamous botanist Carl Linnaeus, born in Råshult 1707, was a professor of medicine at Uppsala University (see Appendix 10). It was however his works in botany, such as the Systema Naturae, that became world famous. In the still used Systema Naturae he presented the systematics for the description and classification of biological species. Visit historical sites (World Heritage) such as the Linnaeus Garden, the Baroque Garden/Linneanum and Linnaeus’ Hammarby. You will learn how Carl Linnaeus lived and worked, have the opportunity to walk in his footsteps and share some of his thoughts about nature and the forest.

Hosts: Linnaeus University and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)

THE ROYAL NATIONAL CITY PARK WITH HISTORIC WOODEN BUILDINGS AND CULTURAL WALKS

In 1995 the Royal National City Park became the world’s first national city park. The many ancient oak trees are a distinguishing feature of the park. Visit the Vasa, the mighty warship made from oak trees, which capsized and sank in Stockholm in 1628, today the only preserved 17th century ship in the world. Take a walk through the park to Skansen, Sweden’s first open-air museum and zoo, with examples of historic buildings from Sweden and Norway. At Skansen you will be guided through a landscape of old wooden buildings and cultural traditions, ranging from the Sami camp to farmsteads and manors with old 14th century buildings. Finally, you will be able to take a closer look at bears, wolves and other wild Nordic animals.

Hosts: Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry and the City of Stockholm

 Photos: Ylva Nordin/KSLA, Holmen, Paulina Bengtsson/Destination Uppsala, Ylva Nordin/KSLA.