The Horizon Project OBSGESSION took part in the 26th edition of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations World Congress. The congress was organised by IUFRO,  and held at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Stockholm, in days 23 - 29th June.  

This year’s edition of the congress was the largest so far, with over 4 000 delegates from 110 countries worldwide. The attendees included invited guests, honorary members, stakeholders from international organisations and the business sector, and political representatives. 

The Congress Organising Committee consisted of institutions in the Nordic and Baltic countries, which have been engaged for 15 years. The programme of the event was centered around this year’s theme "Forests and Society Towards 2050".

Lori Giagnacovo, VITO, took part as a representative for the OBSGESSION project, showcasing her Master's thesis on forest degradation by frequent fires, and effects on ecosystem services and biodiversity in a specific forest reserve. In her research, she analyses shifts and early warning signals by a combination of field work and satellite images and her work can be used as a preliminary case study for building the DAM (detection and attribution model) framework. The DAM framework eventually has the goal to detect and predict ecological transitions and tipping points and create a standardised method on how to detect changes and potential drivers for those changes. 

Lori explains that this standardized method is important and very valuable for restoration organizations, as it allows them to fine-tune their interventions to specific areas and increase efforts where changes in state may occur. For her thesis, she worked closely with the WeForest organization, and they are currently collaborating on a joint publication.