The meeting, organized by the CTFC-Agrotecnio-CERCA Joint Research Unit, combined scientific presentations, a debate on professional career paths in research, and a field session on the socio-environmental dimension of forest fires.
The initiative aimed to enhance doctoral students' scientific communication skills, foster knowledge exchange, and promote collaboration among different research groups. The event brought together predoctoral, postdoctoral, and research staff to present and discuss scientific results, as well as reflect on professional and social challenges related to forestry research.
Doctoral students presented advances in forest health and dynamics, forest management and planning, fungi, and non-timber forest products. This included findings on forest pathologies, climate change effects, satellite observation of large fires, biodiversity, bioeconomy, truffle tourism, and innovation in forest ecosystem management.
A roundtable discussion on post-doctoral career opportunities, titled Beyond the PhD: What’s next? Different paths, unexpected turns and career choices, was also held, along with a workshop on embracing creativity, productivity, and well-being in research careers.
The second day featured a field trip in Solsonès under the theme The socio-environmental dimension of wildfire risk management. Participants visited an area affected by a major forest fire to analyze on-site how these phenomena transform the Mediterranean landscape, land use, and social perception of the territory, deepening the understanding of ecological and social factors in wildfire risk prevention and management.
This 7th edition highlighted, once again, the importance of interdisciplinary training and debate spaces for addressing current environmental challenges, strengthening the collaboration network among young researchers and expert staff in forestry and sustainability. The JRU between CTFC and Agrotecnio has been established since 2019 to conduct joint projects on Mediterranean forest management and the environmental threats they face.
