A successful and fruitful XXIV UEF Governing Council Meeting in Tuusula, near Helsinki, Finland.

Thursday, June 16 , 2022 685

The Finish members of the Union of European Foresters, METO and LOIMU organized a successful and fruitful XXIV UEF Governing Council Meeting in Tuusula, near Helsinki, Finland.

On Thursday 9 of June, participants from 10 countries arrived and were accommodated in Tuusula, a picturesque region that have attracted some of the most famous finish artists like the composer Jean Sibelius, the most beloved finish artists Pekka Halonen and a lot more.

On Friday 10 June, an International seminar dedicated to „The Four Pillars of Sustainability, Economic and Social Pillars in the Focus” was held. The conference was moderated by Pasi Puttonen, Profesor ot the University of Helsinki.

Presentations were made by some of the finish leaders in the field of forestry – Petri Sarvamaa, MEP; Erno Järvinen, Chief of the Unit, Bioenergy and Forests, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; Kristiina Vuopala - Mnanger, Corporate Relations Metsähallitus and Karoliina Niemi, Director, Forest Affairs, The Finnish Forest Industries Federation. Contribution to the discussion were also made by the representatives of Poland, France and Turkey.

More information about the conference and the presentations made is available at: https://european-foresters.eu/news/372

After the seminar, the delegates were able to visit Haltia, the Finnish Nature Center at Nuuksio National Park, where they learned more about Finish nature.

The XXIV UEF Governing Council Meeting took place in the late afternoon of the same day.

The President of UEF Michael Diemer opened the meeting and presented the main activities done during the period since the Congress in Chartres, France. Then Marten Gustafsson, Tomasz Markiewicz, Ilpo Puputti, and Thomas Baschny presented in details the activities of the Presidency on EU level. Anna Petrakieva presented information about communication matters and the UEF web site.

The delegated of the GCM unanimously adopted a UEF Motion proposed by EFA-CGC by which UEF supports the Ukrainian foresters. The document is available at: https://european-foresters.eu/docs/meetings/gcm/D%C3%A9claration%20Ukraine%202.doc.

The financial situation including budget 2021 and 2022 was presented by François-Xavier Nicot the new UEF treasurer and adopted by the GCM. Lars Delfs Mortensen – UEF auditor, verified the UEF accounts and presented his report as well.

The presentations made by the members of the Presidency are available at: https://european-foresters.eu/meetings/gcm/95,6

All UEF members were invited to participate in the following UEF Governing Council Meeting that will take place in Farna, Sweden. Thomas Esbjörnsson, the new president of our Swedish member - Sveriges Skogstjänstmannaförening presented detailed information about the forthcoming meeting in 2023.

At the end of the meeting the Union of Bulgarian Foresters officially invited the UEF members to have the next Statutory Congress 2025 in Bulgaria.

For the last day of the GCM programme our Finish hosts were prepared in professional way a diverse field trip, that enabled the participants to discover a lot more about the finish forestry practices and the way of communication with different stakeholder groups. In the very end of the day delegates were able to feel also the artistic spirit of the picturesque region by visiting the house of the most famous Finish painter Pekka Halonen.

At the farewell dinner in the evening each delegation had the chance to thank warmly the Finish organizing team, including Ilpo Puputty, Jukka Sippola, Jani Akkanen, Stefan Borgman and Mikko Salo.

The UEF Presidency