September 2022 promises to be an exciting month for HOMED. Project partners will gather in Lisbon, Portugal, in order to attend not one, but two important forest health events.

From 6 to 9 September 2022, the IUFRO all Division 7 (Forest Health, Pathology and Entomology) 2022 conference will take place. It will be hosted by the Forest Research Centre (CEF) of the School of Agriculture (ISA), University of Lisbon, in collaboration with Abreu Events. The conference will provide an opportunity to strengthen knowledge exchange and research collaboration. Among the conference’s organising team are several HOMED members – Manuela Branco (ISA), José Carlos Franco (ISA), and Ecki Brockerhoff (SCION). Additionally, other project partners will organise sessions on topics ranging from a "General session on forest pathology and entomology" to "Gender issues in forest entomology and pathology". Among the HOMED partners organising sessions will be Hervé Jactel (INRAE), Simone Prospero (WSL), Christelle Robinet (WSL), Eckehard Brockerhoff (SCION), Maartje Klapwijk (WSL), Lukas Seehausen (CABI), Manuela Branco (ISA), Marc Kenis (CABI), Bernard Slippers (UP), Martin Gossner (WSL), Alberto Santini (CNR) and Andrea Battisti (UNIPD).

You can consult IUFRO’s full session list here. HOMED will also have its own boot at the IUFRO all Division 7 2022 conference where stakeholders can learn more about the project’s results and take home useful project materials, such as our policy briefs and our legacy brochure.

After IUFRO, from 12 to 14 September 2022, all HOMED partners will gather to mark the successful ending of what proved to be a very fruitful research collaboration. Since 2018, over 50 scientists, experts and stakeholders from 22 partner organisations have been working tirelessly in the HOMED project to improve the existing strategies for the management of emerging native and non-native pests and pathogens threatening European forests. During the project’s Final Meeting this September, they will have the chance to take a look back and appreciate all their results, as well as finalise the plan for how their results can be further exploited by the research community.

Stay tuned for more updates!