4:51 a.m.
Dear IUFRO Meliaceae E-list:
IUFRO Spotlight #47 may be of interest. Other Spotlights can be found at:
http://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
Regards,
Sheila Ward
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: IUFRO Headquarters <office(a)iufro.org>
Date: Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 2:46 AM
Subject: IUFRO Anniversary Congress Spotlight #47: Remote forest-dependent
communities can benefit through social innovation
To: Dear IUFRO Officeholder <mahoganyforthefuture(a)gmail.com>
[image: IUFRO Spotlight]
IUFRO Anniversary Congress Spotlight #47: Remote forest-dependent
communities can benefit through social innovation
*The 125th Anniversary Congress on 18-22 September 2017 in Freiburg,
Germany, will offer a wide selection of scientific sessions highlighting
innovative research and interdisciplinary research approaches of relevance
to forests, and focus on the transfer of scientific knowledge on critical
global forest-related challenges to national and international political
agendas. In a series of "Congress Spotlight" articles individual sessions
shall be showcased to give a foretaste of the richness and scope of
research findings that will be presented at the Congress. Keep updated at:
http://iufro2017.com/ <http://iufro2017.com/>*
*Remote forest-dependent communities can benefit through social innovation*
PDF for download
<http://www.iufro.org/download/file/26902/5157/anniversary-congress-spotlight47-social-innovation-d4_pdf/>
*The village of Iza in Transcarpathian Ukraine is famous far beyond the
region's borders for its wicker products. Most villagers are involved in
the business.
ukurier.gov.ua/uk/articles/selo-iza-na-zakarpatti-postachaye-virobi-z-verbi-d/
<http://ukurier.gov.ua/uk/articles/selo-iza-na-zakarpatti-postachaye-virobi-z-verbi-d/>*
Many rural forest-dependent communities face similar challenges – lack of
infrastructure, housing, and transport as well as aging populations.
When global issues such as climate change, sustainability, and energy and
food security are added to the mix, the need for solutions to the
challenges becomes much more pressing.
Prof. Maria Nijnik, coordinator of a session to be held at the IUFRO 125th
Anniversary Congress in Freiburg in September, sees social innovation that
enhances the sustainable use of forest ecosystem services as one way to
address those challenges.
Social innovation entails new practices targeting new products, services,
models and social relationships and collaborations, as well as new fields
of activity. It is usually described as focusing attention on ideas and
solutions that create social value, as well as the processes through which
they are generated.
Ms Mariana Melnykovych is co-chair of the session, and a PhD student at the
Ukrainian National Forestry University and at the James Hutton Institute in
Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. She gave an example from the Ukrainian Carpathians,
where local farmers have created an association for local sheep cheese
production, along with ecotourism and the promotion of local culture.
Other examples of social innovation identified by the session organizers
include community-owned renewable energy initiatives, social care farming,
local food production, agroforestry, arts and crafts cooperatives, as well
as emissions trading, fair trade, broadband and microfinance.
*Photo source: www.simra-h2020.eu/index.php/2017/05/
<http://www.simra-h2020.eu/index.php/2017/05/>*
"The ecosystem services of forests are especially important to
forest-dependent communities in marginalized rural areas where local
wellbeing can be lower than elsewhere," said Prof. Nijnik, principal
scientist of the James Hutton Institute. Prof. Nijnik is also an IUFRO
officeholder (Working Party on Managerial Economics
<http://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-4/40000/40500/40502/>) and
coordinator of the Social Innovation in Marginalized Rural Areas (
http://www.simra-h2020.eu) project, funded by the European Union Horizon
2020 Research and Innovation Program.
"Forests provide a long list of benefits to people and are vital to
communities. Sustainable use of forest ecosystem services can provide a
substantial contribution to the wellbeing of those communities," she said.
The IUFRO Congress session being organized by Prof. Nijnik and Ms
Melnykovych is entitled "*Ecosystem services and the wellbeing of forest
dependent communities: enhancing social innovation and building resilience
to global changes in remote rural areas*".
"Attention to social innovation and its role in attaining a more
sustainable use of ecosystem services has been rising," said Prof. Nijnik.
"Social innovation is expected to respond to social demands that are
traditionally not addressed by markets or existing institutions."
She noted that social innovations can include the creation of new
institutions, networks and governance arrangements and, while these
practices may be closely associated with rural policy reforms, they
necessarily rely on the voluntary engagement of civil society.
Expansion of novel local businesses (e.g. bioenergy) and activities (e.g.
mountain biking) in some localities can be seen as a means of economic
advance. However, these can also entail environmental and social
challenges.
To effectively address these challenges at a local level, participatory
governance and implementation of ecosystem based management practices are
becoming increasingly important. A cohesive policy combining top-down and
bottom-up approaches that include local initiatives and social innovations
can be a solution, she added.
The IUFRO session in September will address questions of how to integrate
local and indigenous knowledge in forestry-related decision-making
processes; what are green energy options for forest-dependent communities;
how to assess forest policy options through an improved understanding of
the attitudes prevailing in forest-dependent communities, building
resilience and capacities for sustainability, and how to integrate forest
ecosystem services into climate change adaptation plans.
Underlining the importance of the topic, Prof. Nijnik noted that she had
been pleasantly surprised to receive 21 abstracts on the subject from all
around the world.
*________________________________*
*The September 18-22 Congress in Freiburg will celebrate IUFRO's 125th
anniversary. Founded in 1892 in Eberswalde Germany, IUFRO has grown to
unite more than 15,000 scientists (who cooperate in IUFRO on a voluntary
basis) in almost 700 member organizations in more than 120 countries.IUFRO
promotes global cooperation in forest-related research and enhances the
understanding of the ecological, economic and social aspects of forests and
trees. It disseminates scientific knowledge to stakeholders and
decision-makers and contributes to forest policy and on-the-ground forest
management.About 2000 scientists from 89 countries are expected to attend
the Congress. The Forest Landowner Research session in Freiburg will be one
of 172 scientific sessions that will cover a wide array of topics dealing
with various aspects of forest research.See you at the IUFRO 125th
Anniversary Congress in Freiburg, Germany!Look out for #IUFRO2017
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/iufro2017?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=hash>
on Twitter and @iufro2017 <https://www.facebook.com/iufro2017> on Facebook!*
*________________________________*
The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is the
only worldwide organization devoted 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.
Visit: http://www.iufro.org/
*________________________________*
*IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress Spotlight #47, published in July 2017by
IUFRO Headquarters, Vienna, Austria.Available for download at:
**http://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
<http://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/>*
*Contact the editor at office(at)iufro.org <office(a)iufro.org> or visit
http://www.iufro.org/ <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=104>*
If you do not wish to receive *IUFRO Spotlight* publications, please email
us at: office(at)iufro.org <office(a)iufro.org>
*Imprint: http://www.iufro.org/legal/#c18944
<http://www.iufro.org/legal/#c18944>*
