Call for Posters: 8th Mediterranean Forest Week

The 8th Mediterranean Forest Week (8MFW) will foster cooperation among the research community, policymakers, and other relevant stakeholders and takes place from 4 to 8 November in Barcelona. In this framework, a poster session will contribute to creating an environment for dialogue and knowledge sharing on various topics related to Mediterranean forestry.

The 8th Mediterranean Forest Week (8MFW) features six plenary sessions. Designed by the session chairs in an interactive and engaging format, they provide participants with the possibility to get involved, discuss, and explore the most relevant opportunities and pressing challenges for Mediterranean forests.

Preparatory webinars precede each session, offering an opportunity to delve deeply into specific areas related to each session’s topic. These webinars serve as a space to share challenges, innovations, and best practices, and interact with a wide audience, setting the stage for productive discussions during the 8MFW.

Throughout the week, the chairs open each session with a general introduction to the topic and the webinar outcomes. Each session features keynote speakers who elaborate on important elements for plenary consideration. Following their presentations, a diverse panel of stakeholders (including scientists, policy makers, youth representatives, practitioners, etc.) share their perspective and discuss with the audience. At the end of each session, participants get a sneak peek at related posters, providing additional insights and perspectives. The posters are available for viewing throughout the day in the designated gallery space.

Themes

• Posters should align with one of the 8MFW plenary sessions, which are structured around the following themes:
  • Building resilience: restoration strategies and policies for Mediterranean forest ecosystems
    • Mediterranean forest ecosystems face unprecedented challenges due to climate change, exacerbated by human-induced activities. This conference session delves into the crucial topic of building resilience in these ecosystems by implementing restoration strategies and policies.
    • Key themes presented in the session include forest and landscape restoration initiatives tailored to the unique ecological dynamics of the Mediterranean region, emphasizing the role of biodiversity conservation in enhancing ecosystem resilience. Additionally, the session examines the critical linkage between forest and landscape restoration and water resource management, highlighting integrated strategies to safeguard water security while restoring degraded landscapes.
    • Through a series of case studies and policy analyses, the session aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.
  • Wildfire prevention and post-fire restoration
    • In the Mediterranean region, fires are an integral part of ecosystem dynamics. However, wildfires in the past years have been particularly damaging both in terms of area burned by a single event and casualties caused.
    • The objective of this session is to showcase successful examples of the very important aspects of pre-fire fuel management (within forests and also in the interfaces wildland-urban areas and forest-agriculture) and postfire restoration; and also, to bring together various experts working on different fire issues, who will discuss and explore the challenges the region is facing nowadays, and how new and innovative approaches can help overcoming them.
  • Mediterranean forests biodiversity
    • From policy to implementation – Adapting the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to preserve and restoreMediterranean forests biodiversity.
    • In this session, one will explore the relevance of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), approved in December 2022 during the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) after a four-year consultation and negotiation process. This historic Framework, which supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050. Among the Framework´s key elements are 4 goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030, including the restoration of 30% of all degraded ecosystems, the conservation of 30% of land, waters and seas, and the reduction of biodiversity loss.
    • Here one will understand different initiatives that contribute to the GBF´s objectives, such as the Mediterranean Biodiversity Consortium, launched in March 2021 to respond to the environmental challenges affecting the different ecosystems in the Mediterranean region. The common goals of the Consortium are to preserve and restore Mediterranean biodiversity, to identify, implement and promote Nature-based Solutions, and to mobilize and support local communities to preserve natural resources and manage their impacts on health and quality of life.
  • Climate change mitigation and adaptation in Mediterranean forests
    • The rapid climate warming poses unprecedented threats to Mediterranean forest ecosystems. In response, urgent adaptive management strategies are needed to enhance the resilience of the region’s biodiversity-rich forest ecosystems to climate change and to mitigate its impacts.
    • These strategies aim to preserve forest ecosystems, promote sustainable management practices, and mitigate productivity losses, thereby contributing to the economic stability of the region. Moreover, they focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions while addressing vulnerabilities and promoting resilience.
  • Green cities for adaptation and resilience: co-benefits for human health and society
    • Mediterranean cities are struggling with complex and interconnected challenges related to the consequences of climate change, biodiversity loss, and degradation of natural resources.
    • In this context, it is intriguing that several of the strategies that are required to adapt to environmental challenges can also create co-benefits for human health and increase resilience if implemented well.
    • This session aims at motivating new ways of thinking about urban green spaces, incorporating evidence and practices from urban forestry, public health, ecology, landscape planning, education, urbanism and architecture, to further support innovate policies to boost urban transformation in the Mediterranean area.
  • Forest related development cooperation and available financial instruments for the Mediterranean
    • The Mediterranean region is currently facing many social, economic, and environmental threats, including climate change, increased wildfire risk, biodiversity loss, land abandonment, cultural heritage loss. While Mediterranean forests are menaced themselves by these challenges, they also offer opportunities for mitigating environmental pressures and fostering socioeconomic wellbeing.
    • This session aims to delve into the work of key development cooperation agencies operating in the region, shedding light on two specific aspects, namely 1) how they operate and 2) in which primary areas of activity, with a view to expand the current focus on forest management, restoration, environmental research to other aspects of interest and need. Additionally, it will serve the purpose of showcasing best practices in terms of financial tools and financial flows, as well as highlighting other financial instruments that can be targeted to support development cooperation programs and projects related to forests in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region.
    • The session will aim at gathering representatives of development cooperation agencies, international organizations, IFIs while also providing space to illustrate ‘champion’ development cooperation projects, which can be replicated/upscaled in other southern and eastern coasts of the basin.

Benefit

• Poster sessions at the MFW
  • Posters will be showcased in the hall where coffee breaks will occur. During each plenary session, dedicated time will be allocated to highlight the posters related to that session. Each presenter will be given one minute and one slide to provide a sneak peek of their poster.

Criteria for Poster Making

• Technical specifications 
  • All posters should be based on the submitted abstract.
  • The languages accepted for the poster submission are English and French.
  • Posters should be prepared in a size no larger than the A0 format. Design your poster so that it is easy to read and includes visuals. Allocate the top of the poster for the title and author’s names and affiliations. Attractive posters based on innovative graphical designs (e.g. infographics) are strongly encouraged. Posters may include a QR code linking to a 3-minute pre-recorded audio presentation. This will allow attendees to listen to the presentation at their convenience.
• A template for posters will be provided.

For more information, visit MFW.