Field trip for IURFO World Congress Participants to the SITES/eLTER Sweden

As a side event of the IUFRO World Congress in Stockholm which took place in June 2024, the Erken Laboratory, which is part of the eLTER network, hosted an excursion, where around 150 IUFRO participants visited the station to learn about environmental monitoring and field-based research infrastructure.

The excursion consisted of several excursion points, where representatives from the Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Science (SITES) as well as researchers from SLU and Uppsala University informed participants about results from long-term ecosystem research and national environmental monitoring in Sweden. There were four excursion points; 1) A walking tour of Erken Laboratory field station, 2) Swedish Research Infrastructure presentations connected to the Unit for Field-based Forest Research at SLU, SITES, Krycklan Catchment Study and Swedish Aquatic Tracking Network, 3) SLU National Forest Inventory and Swedish Forest Soil Inventory and 4) Forest walking tour lead by the National Inventories of Landscapes in Sweden (NILS).

Overall the day was a nice demonstration of collaborations between SITES stations, namely Erken and Svartberget, both of which are part of the eLTER network, as well as between Swedish Universities and departments. Further, it also showed the importance of international networks such as eLTER fostering a European perspective and understanding towards landscape management, alteration and sustainability with links to the industry.

A big thanks to all those that presented and volunteered their time to help organize a successful event!