Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape (FNL)

From #biodiversity monitoring to practical #forest restoration and #climatechange adaptation actions in our demo sites, from governance challenges to upscaling and building broad restoration communities – in our amazing #SUPERB meeting at Czech University of Life Sciences Prague we’re busy preparing for our final year. Both challenging and exciting…Stay tuned! 🌳 🌲

Happy to share that the third chapter of my PhD was published last week! In this study, we collected data from 584 citizens in Leuven through health questionnaires to assess perceived heat stress and sleep quality. Next, we investigated the associations between human stress and green space, while controlling for risk and vulnerability indicators 🌳 🏘 🌡 https://lnkd.in/eEik24Hf (link available until December 7th) Our key findings: 1. Control events: Stress levels are mostly associated with socio-demographic and socio-economic factors, with minimal influence from surrounding green spaces 2. Heat events: Stress levels are mainly associated with the surrounding green space. Tree cover helped reduce perceived heat stress, while grasses and shrubs not only reduced heat stress but also improved sleep quality Ben Somers, Raf Aerts, Maarten Reyniers, Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape (FNL), KU Leuven Plant Institute, LUSI - KU Leuven Urban Studies Institute

Geo.Informed in the spotlight! Geo.Iformed is a tool developed by INBO, VITO, Digitaal Vlaanderen and our FNL Division, monitoring vegetation through remote sensing. The tool has a variety of uses, such as the identification of where and when wintercrops grow on our fields, which is important for crop monitoring and subsidizing. In addition, Geo.Informed can detect areas of wildfire risks based on the presence of certain species. Stien Heremans contributed to a nice blog post and a video, explaining the Geo.Informed tool in more detail. Check it out in the post below!

🌲🍃 Week van het Bos - Week of the Forest 🍃🌲 It’s that time of the year again – the Week of the Forest is here! 🥾🎒 Put on your hiking boots, take a deep breath, and enjoy the beauty of nature all around you. Whether you love a peaceful hike through the woods or are ready to spot some fauna and flora, the forest has something for everyone! We celebrate this week by sharing forest fun facts, and pictures of our colleagues enjoying the power and beauty of our forests. 💚 🗓️ When? October 6-13, 2024 📍 Where? Anywhere the trees grow! ❗ More information? Check out Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos and https://lnkd.in/eK7VG-vc #weekvanhetbos #forestweek Photography credits: 1,6 - Heike Van der Geest 2 – Astrid Sneyders 3 – Sanne Verdonck 4 – joachim lopez 5 – Jonas Simons

#INTERCEDE aims to advance critical knowledge on Market-Based Instruments (MBI) that incentivise #forest owners’ supply of valuable Forest #EcosystemServices (#FES)! This will be done by: 🔄 Targeting accelerated uptake and impact through close interaction with end-users, 👍 Providing decision support on supply and demand of FES to guide #ForestManagement and policy, 🔎 Assessing the performance of current and emerging market-based approaches, 🔋 Accelerating the uptake of guidelines on new MBI, policies and business models. Delve into all the details about this project in its newly launched website 👇 https://lnkd.in/d3VF4k8y Københavns Universitet - University of Copenhagen | European Forest Institute | Wageningen University & Research | KU Leuven | Centre de Ciència i Tecnologia Forestal de Catalunya | Università degli Studi di Padova | Prospex Institute vzw | Etifor | Valuing Nature | Fachhochschule Eberswalde | Universitatea „Ștefan cel Mare” din Suceava | Land Life | WWF Bulgaria | European Landowners' Organization

In dit filmpje leggen regiobeheerder Klaar en boswachter Bart uit hoe we werken aan biodiverse bossen waar iedereen van kan blijven genieten! 🌳Zo ontdek je waarom variatie in boomsoorten, structuur, gelaagdheid, open plekken, dood hout, poelen… essentieel zijn om bossen in topvorm te houden. 💪 💡 Meer #bosweetjes? Hou onze sociale media tijdens de Week Van Het Bos in de gaten, of surf naar https://lnkd.in/eumheUQR > #weekvanhetbos #biodiversiteit #samenvoormeerbiodiversiteit #deboswachters #doodhoutdoetleven #boomsoorten #bosbeheer Inverde

Each month, we shine a spotlight on one or multiple colleagues in our FNL division 🌳 and share their interesting research topics! 🔍 Today, we present the topic of Robrecht V.: Rock dust as a restoration measure for acidified forests: from mineral to helicopter 🚁 🍃 Forest #soils in Europe have been suffering from #acidification and #nitrogen deposition for decades, threatening forest health and productivity. #Rockdust could be the key to healing acidified forests, offering a slow-release ‘medicine’ that outperforms traditional fast-release #liming and #fertilisers. Robrecht compares rock dust with these conventional treatments in the lab and in the field to explore the restoration of the soil nutrient balance and whether they promote #sustainable forest growth. Revisiting long-term field trials (30+years) also reveals the return-on-investment perspectives needed for forestry. #FNL #KUL #Researchinthespotlight #Researcherofthemonth #PhD #KULeuven

Firewood serves as an essential cooking energy source for households in Rwanda. However, the supply of firewood is hindered by various challenges, such as escalating scarcity, long distances traveled to collect firewood, and reliance on low-quality biomass during shortages. For more details ->

Our Arenberg Science Park welcomes a new building! 🏗👩🔬 Today, KU Leuven Research & Development, PMV, Flanders Make and Stad Leuven incorporated “Community Building Arenberg”: the legal grounds for a new building on the Arenberg Science Park in Heverlee that will house community facilities (a restaurant, a commercial offer, coworking spaces and meeting rooms) for the diverse businesses and research groups in the park. The building of 21,000 square meters is scheduled to open its doors at the end of 2027. It will not only provide an answer to the growing demand for infrastructure, but also create an ecosystem with a strong interaction between researchers and entrepreneurs which can lead to more innovation. See our press release for extra information 👉 https://lnkd.in/echhdwVr ❗ Important: the development of the site also includes a parking building with room for about 850 vehicles. Also a better connection with public transport and a new cycle highway are on the drawing board to promote multimodality when commuting to and from the Science Park. 🚌 🚴♀️ 🚶♂️ #innovation #techtransfer #LRD

Really excited to coach the TDI group on "Hacking Consumerism" together with Ponnapat Watjanatepin Saltanat Namazbekova! 🤩 Looking forward to co-creating innovative solutions with my team to tackle the wicked problem of food waste 🥕 Apply for the course below ⬇️ #Innovation #Coaching #Consumerism #TDI #Teamwork #transdisciplinary #transdisciplinarylearning #futureminds #kuleuven