Autumn School on Forests for Health: Nordic Irish Pathways to Policy

GoGreenRoutes, a Horizon 2020 project is coordinated by Maynooth University and is based at the All Institute and Dept. of Psychology. As part of our innovations to promote nature and health we are hosting an Autumn School event in collaboration with the Embassy of Finland, in Dublin, the Environmental Protection Agency, Maynooth University All Institute and Dept. of Psychology, with contributions from aligned research projects Clearing House and ContinuFor.

We hope to create a learning ecosystem to develop a policy brief which can inform best practice in the future in Nordic-Irish approaches to Forestry. We have invited experts from over 14 organisations to participate in think-in's on novel approaches to promoting sustainable forestry including forests for health.

About Finnish Irish Relations

This year marks 60 years since diplomatic relations were established between Ireland and Finland in 1962. This collaboration has been marked by celebratory events in February this year with Prof. Eeva Leinonen, President of Maynooth University, among the invited guests.

Finland has a special affiliation with forests and nature. Forests cover more than 75 per cent of the land area of Finland. Measured by the proportional share of forest land, Finland is the most forested country in Europe. A total of 20.3 million hectares is available for wood production, of which 61 per cent is privately owned. The Irish experience is markedly different with only 11% afforestation.

About Coillte

Coillte have been creating unique ways to support access to these green spaces for health and tourism. Coillte is Ireland's largest provider of outdoor recreation with 260 recreational forests nationwide, including 3,000km of way marked walking trails, 12 forest parks and six mountain bike centres. The Dublin Mountains Makeover plan will see an area of over 900 hectares across nine Coillte forests will transition away from the clearfell and replanting cycle towards a different mode to primarily support recreation and a more sustainable ecosystem management. The popularity of the forests is huge with over 1,000 visitors daily to many of the local forests. A new soft tourism feature 'Beyond the Trees Avondale', is a new world class visitor destination in Wicklow which includes tree-top canopy walks among the 300 year old treescape. Opened in July it shows huge promise in transforming how forests can be central to soft tourism initiatives.

Provisional Schedule

Monday October 10th.

12:00 hrs. Walk N' Talk  Tour of Award Winning Maynooth Green Campus with Stephen, Seaman, Maynooth Green Campus Committee and researcher Rachel Freeman (TU Dublin)

13:00 hrs. Lunch at Glenroyal Hotel

14:00 hrs. Introductions  by Prof. Tadhg MacIntyre (Dept. of Psychology)

Welcome Address by Prof. Eeva Leinonen (President of Maynooth University)

Opening Address by H.E. Ambassador Raili Lahnalampi (Embassy of Finland)


Ministerial Address by TD Pippa Hackett (Minister of DAFM)

14:45 - 15:30 hrs Research Showcase:

Dr. John Devaney (Dept. of Biology, NUIM) 'ContinuFor' project sustainable forestry management in Ireland,

Prof. Tadhg MacIntyre (Dept. of Psychology) GroGreenRoutes and GETinNature projects,

Dr Rik de Vreeese, ClearingHouse Project.

15:30 - 15:50 hrs  Tea/Coffee Break

15:50 - 17:20 hrs   Finnish and Irish Perspectives: Showcase of Best Practice in Forestry Management and Opportunities to Support Recreation and Health (Speakers TBC) 

17:20 - 17:30 hrs Summary and Reflections

18:00-19:00 hrs Walk and Cycle on the Royal Canal Greenway

19:30-21:00 hrs      Dinner at Glenroyal Hotel

Day 2: Tuesday 11th October (Final speaker list TBC)

0845 hrs. Breakfast at Donadea Forest Park (then return to Glenroyal Hotel)

10:30-11:15 hrs. Optimising Opportunities for Ownership in Forestry 

11:15-12:30 hrs. Future of Forestry for Health and Well-Being

12:30-1300 hrs Digital Narratives: Apps and VR demonstration

13:00 - 14:00 hrs Lunch at Glenroyal Hotel

14:00 - 14:30 hrs  Policy Framework Overview

14:30 - 15:30 hrs  Policy Possibilities in Finland and Ireland

15:30 - 15:50 hrs Coffee/Tea Break

15:50-17:00 hrs Policy Roundtable Discussions

17:00-17:30 hrs  Final Thoughts: Seeing the Woods for the Trees 

18:00-20:00 hrs    Dinner at Glenroyal Hotel

(If you wish to participate or send representatives to Day 3 Training Day for Early Career Researchers and Entrepreneurs please email info@gogreenroutes.eu )

Day 3 Wednesday 12th October

09:00 - 09:30        Welcome coffee     

09:30 - 10:30        Seeing the forest, not the trees: Leveraging Open Science to Improve Research (Dr Dermot Lynott)

10:30 - 11:00        Participatory Methods and Inclusion

11:00 - 11:30        Novel Methods for Citizens

11:30 - 13:00      Field Trip (Maynooth Campus and Environs)

13:00 - 14:00      Lunch

15:00 - 16:30    Presentations on Well-Being Campus  

Speakers (More TBC)

John Devaney joined the Department of Biology at Maynooth University in 2020 as a Lecturer in Plant Ecology. Having graduated with a BSc in Environmental Science, John received a PhD in Forest Ecology from University College Cork in 2012. From 2011 – 2014 John was an EPA Ireland research fellow, using Earth Observation approaches to assess contemporary deforestation in Ireland. In 2015, John was awarded a Smithsonian Institution Postdoctoral Fellowship and was based at the Terrestrial Ecology Lab at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre in Maryland, USA. Following this, John was a Marie Curie/Irish Research Council COFUND postdoctoral fellow from 2018 – 2020. During this time, John was based at the Botany Department in Trinity College Dublin where his research focused on the impact of elevated atmospheric CO2 on mangrove forests in semi-arid regions. John is currently the Principal Investigator of the Forest Ecology and Global Change Lab at the Department of Biology, Maynooth University. John also currently serves as the coordinator of the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) working party on Forest Biodiversity and Resilience.

Prof Dr Rik De Vreese is Team Leader of the Urban Forestry Team at the Resilience Programme. He has a master of Applied Biological Sciences - Forest and Land Management at Ghent University and a PhD in Human Ecology (VUBrussels, 2018). Prof De Vreese is teaching Landscape Ecology at the Geography Department (Ghent University). He has been active in the urban forestry science-policy-practice interface since 2000 and was awarded Young European Urban Forester of the Year in 2015. He is member of the International Steering Group of the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) and webmaster/social media manager for EFUF. His research focusses on the relations between humans and trees, in the urban and peri-urban sphere. More specifically, Dr De Vreese has been involved in research on integrating ecosystem services in decision-making and urban planning, mainly with a transdisciplinary lens. He has (co-)authored over 15 peer-reviewed scientific publications.s Team Leader of the Urban Forestry Team at the Resilience Programme. He has a master of Applied Biological Sciences - Forest and Land Management at Ghent University and a PhD in Human Ecology (VUBrussels, 2018). Prof De Vreese is teaching Landscape Ecology at the Geography Department (Ghent University). He has been active in the urban forestry science-policy-practice interface since 2000 and was awarded Young European Urban Forester of the Year in 2015. He is member of the International Steering Group of the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) and webmaster/social media manager for EFUF. His research focusses on the relations between humans and trees, in the urban and peri-urban sphere. More specifically, Dr De Vreese has been involved in research on integrating ecosystem services in decision-making and urban planning, mainly with a transdisciplinary lens. He has (co-)authored over 15 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Dr Tadhg MacIntyre, an Associate Professor at Maynooth University, is an environmental psychologist investigating fundamental theoretical questions about motor cognition, well-being and human-nature interactions. Since, 1993, he has been conducting research on mental imagery, embodied cognition and action related processes, in the field of motor cognition. He studied psychology in University College Dublin where he graduated with a BA, a first class honours research Masters (1996) and subsequently a PhD in 2007. His research was supervised by the late Professor of Cognitive Psychology at UCD, Aidan Moran. He has published widely on topics including mental imagery and embodied cognition, mental health and well-being and most recently on nature based interventions including green exercise. In 2019, he co-edited Physical Activity in Natural Settings (Routledge) with Aoife Donnelly. He is an Associate Editor of the leading journal in sport psychology, International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. He has recently edited a special issue of Frontiers in Psychology on methodological challenges in assessing human-nature interactions and also co-editor of a special issue in IJERPH on the topic of advances in green exercise and health promotion. In recent years, his research activity has focused upon nature based solutions for urban health and sustainability. He is a member of the advisory board of H2020 NBS project RE-Nature, the INTERREG Project CCAT on coastal citizenship and is a visiting lecturer at the Technical University of Munich. He is the coordinator of GOGREEN ROUTES a 10.5 m. euro four-year project on urban health which targets six European cities and has global outreach with its 40 partners.

Dr Evi Petersen recently completed her doctorate at USN (enrolled in the PhD program: Culture Studies). In my research project, she was working empirically on participants’ emotional and embodied experience that result from engaging in friluftsliv (outdoor activities). Her theoretical approach draws from perspective related to Sport Science, Psychology and Culture Studies. She is generally interested in collaborative projects at the interface between physical activity, quality of life & nature environment.

Dr Ellie Ratcliffe gained BSc and MSc degrees in Psychology from Goldsmiths, University of London, before completing her PhD in Environmental Psychology at University of Surrey in 2015. She then undertook two postdoctoral research positions: first in the Department of Psychology, University of Tampere (Finland), funded by the Leverhulme Trust, and second at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London (UK). In 2019 she returned to University of Surrey as Lecturer in Environmental Psychology. As an environmental psychologist her focus is mainly on restorative environments, place experience, and links between environment and wellbeing. She also conducts research on consumer and user experience, especially with regard to improving perceptions and behaviours around goods and services. Before becoming a psychologist she trained in art and design, and she combines aspects of her work in environmental psychology with design thinking and research.    

Dr Dermot Lynott, Maynooth University, has has a background is in Cognitive Science, having studied at Dublin City University and University of Edinburgh before completing his PhD at University College Dublin. Prior to arriving in Maynooth in 2021, he worked in Northumbria University, University of Manchester, and Lancaster University. His research falls broadly within the areas of cognitive science and embodied cognition. He is interested in how people's linguistic, bodily and environmental experience shapes their mental representations and how this affects the way they process the world around them. This research includes investigations of the grounded and situated nature of concepts, the ability of language, body and environment to shape representations and behaviour, and the interplay of linguistic and simulation systems in human cognition. He strongly supports an open science approach to research, and strive to make my work as transparent and reproducible as possible.

Professor Eeva Leinonen joined Maynooth University as President in October 2021, after five years of service as Vice Chancellor and President at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. Eeva was born and raised in Finland, where she completed her schooling. She and her two brothers were the first in their family to attend university. Her own experience has cemented her belief in the role of education as a social equaliser, with the power to transform for the better the lives of individuals, families and whole communities. As part of her education in Finland Professor Leinonen spent a year as an exchange student in Michigan, USA, prior to entering university in England, where she studied linguistics and psychology. She obtained a BSc (Hons) in Linguistics and Psychology (First Class) from Aston University, UK; MPhil in Text Linguistics from Exeter University, UK: PhD in Clinical Linguistics from De Montfort University, UK; Docent (Higher Doctorate) from her hometown university, University of Oulu, Finland; and DSc (Honoris Causa) from Aston University, UK. Professor Leinonen’s academic research focuses on pragmatic language processing deficits in children and young adults with autistic spectrum disorders. She collaborates with colleagues in Finland and Italy, including recent work on cross-cultural comparison of pragmatic development in typically developing children in these two cultural contexts. She also speaks and writes about higher education topics, including institutional leadership, curriculum and technology enhanced learning. Professor Leinonen has extensive experience in higher education in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and internationally. Prior to joining Maynooth University, she spent over eight years in Australia, where she first held the position of Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education) at the University of Wollongong and then Vice Chancellor of Murdoch University. Prior to moving to Australia in 2012, Professor Leinonen held the position of Vice-Principal (Education) and Professor of Clinical Linguistics at King’s College London. She has been Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Hertfordshire, UK, in addition to holding a number of other academic leadership positions there, including Dean of Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Head of School of Psychology, Head of School of Humanities and Director of Health and Human Sciences Research Institute. Professor Leinonen has been actively involved in national and international higher education policy discourse and implementation through her roles on numerous boards and advisory bodies, including: Universities UK; Universities Australia; Trustee of IntoUni Charitable Trust; Trustee of Schools Competition Settlement Trust; Chair of the UK Higher Education Funding Council/ Quality Assurance Agency advisory group into Employer Engagement in Learning; Chair of Innovative Research Universities Network in Australia; President of Australian Higher Education Industrial Association; Director and Board Member of Future Directions International; WA Health Translation Network Board Member; Governor of Forrest Research Foundation; Member of Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group Australia; Member of National Priorities Industry Linkages Board, advising Australian Federal Minister for Education. Professor Leinonen’s most important role in life is as mother to her daughter Niina, an anthropology graduate who is based in London. In her leisure time she enjoys being with family and friends, reading, walking, camping, playing golf and sailing.

About the Research Projects

GoGreenRoutes is a €10.5m EU-funded project sowing the seeds for increased nature-connectedness across Europe, Latin America and China. The four year project will conclude in Sept. 2024 and has award winning cities among its partners including Lahti (Finland), European Green Capital 2021.

Its multidisciplinary consortium of 40 organisations is pairing participatory approaches and citizen science with Big Data analyses and digital innovation to co-create "Urban Well-being Labs" in six “Cultivating Cities”: Burgas (Bulgaria), Lahti (Finland), Limerick (Ireland), Tallinn (Estonia), Umeå (Sweden) and Versailles (France). These pioneering cities are implementing “nature-based solutions” such as green corridors, linear parks, pocket parks, urban forests and shared walkways to enhance the physical and mental health of their urban residents.

Information about the project: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/869764

Please email info@gogreenroutes for further info.

GoGreenRoutes website - Twitter - Youtube - Linkedin - Latest Publications - Newsletter

ContinuFOR: Most forests in Ireland are even-aged plantations managed under the clearfell silvicultural system. Interest in alternative approaches to forest management such as Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) is increasing. CCF is expected to increase structural diversity in forests and has the potential to enhance forest-related ecosystem services. The ContinuFOR project (four-year collaboration between UCD, Teagasc, Maynooth University, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine) is investigating the impact of CCF transformation on forest multifunctionality. Using a combination of existing national forest datasets and new data from ongoing CCF transformation trials, ContinuFOR research will investigate economic, societal, and environmental value of CCF forests in Ireland.”

CLEARING HOUSE - Collaborative Learning in Research, Information-sharing and Governance on How Urban tree-based solutions support Sino-European urban futures: Trees bring shade, mitigate temperature, rainfall and wind, and provide food and fodder for animals. Planting trees in cities is key to resilient cities but many areas lack adequate green infrastructure. The EU-funded CLEARING HOUSE project, with partners from China and Europe, will investigate the role of urban forests as nature-based solutions (UF-NBS), which refers to all measures a city can take to address urban sustainable development challenges by planting and managing trees. It will provide evidence and tools to achieve the full potential of UF-NBS. Its aim is to assist city planners, business and civil society in implementing UF-NBS.