Background

AGORA Project: Advancing Forest Research Capacities

The AGORA project is funded by the European Commission, FP7 Capacities and will last from 2010 to 2012.
The aim of AGORA is to improve existing and to create new forest Research, Technology and Development (RTD) capacities in key forest scientific areas in Morocco and Tunisia. These scientific capacities will support policymaking and forest management in the face of rapidly changing climatic and land-use conditions in the Mediterranean area. The improvement of the capacities will be achieved through grants, workshops, new equipment and the development of a new research strategy for North Africa.

It covers three key thematic areas:
- (G) Response to drought and genetic diversity and their role regarding adaptation to environmental changes
- (E) Economic tools and policies for sustainable forest goods and services
- (M) Participatory and adaptive forest management decision models

As part of the activities of the project, a scientific workshop will be organised addressing independently three thematic areas. In order to promote the excellence of the event and to incorporate the experience from other countries, this workshop also open to participants from other Moroccan or Tunisian institutions and other Mediterranean countries.

Further information: website and brochure

Objectives

The aim of the workshop is to transfer to the young generation of Mediterranean scientists the latest knowledge, methods and tools regarding the following three topics:
- (G) The adaptive diversity of Mediterranean forest genetic resources facing climate change
- (E) Economic evaluation of forest goods and services
- (M) Forest inventory and modeling

Structure

The workshop is structured in:
- two plenary half-day sessions on the 30th September and 2nd October to provide an integrated vision on emerging challenges and scientific needs of Mediterranean forestry;
- parallel lectures, dealing with the specific topic selected (above mentioned); and
- a field trip, common for all the participants, encouraging integrated discussions.