From the Harz to Coyhaique and back: Linking global forest research with local co-creation

At the recent International Union of Forest Research Organizations Division 8 conference in Coyhaique, one focal point was the eco2adapt session “Conflicts, Debates, Visions and Solutions: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Stakeholder Engagement in Co-Creation for Improving Forest Adaptability.” The session, chaired by Sophie Ehrhardt, Henrik Hartmann and Blas Mola, addressed a central challenge in contemporary forest research: how to systematically link stakeholder engagement with ecological modelling in ways that produce actionable knowledge. In addition, the conference provided space for constructive exchange with other eco2adapt project partners, further strengthening alignment across the consortium.

Discussions focused on the practical and methodological tensions inherent in transdisciplinary work—how to structure dialogue across heterogeneous actor groups, how to deal with conflicting objectives, and how to ensure that participation meaningfully informs modelling rather than remaining a parallel exercise. The session highlighted that co-creation is not a linear process but requires iterative integration of social and ecological knowledge.

These questions are directly taken up within the eco2adapt project, which develops and tests such approaches across a network of Living Labs in Europe and China. A key objective is to embed ecological modelling within participatory processes to support the development of climate-resilient forest strategies.

One example is the Living Lab in the Harz. Here, stakeholders from forestry, conservation, civil society, and research collaboratively develop visions for the forest of the future. Across multiple workshops involving around 50 participants, central themes have emerged: tree species selection, biodiversity objectives, governance constraints, and pathways for forest transformation.

These stakeholder-derived visions are translated into model parameters and implemented in ecological simulations using LandClim. This allows the exploration of future forest trajectories under different assumptions, linking ecological dynamics with socially articulated goals.

The process is currently entering its next phase. A third stakeholder workshop focuses on participatory modelling and the integration of existing visions into the modelling framework. This is followed by a co-evaluation step, in which simulation results are assessed with stakeholders in terms of plausibility, relevance, and feasibility within existing governance structures.

What emerges is a recursive process: stakeholder input informs modelling, modelling generates scenarios, and these scenarios are critically reflected upon in light of implementation constraints. This iterative loop is essential to ensure that research outputs remain aligned with real-world decision contexts.

The discussions in Coyhaique underscored that such integrative approaches are gaining importance across regions. As climate change accelerates, linking participatory processes with ecological modelling provides a robust basis for developing context-sensitive and implementable forest adaptation strategies.