Ahead of International Forest Day, the Academy presents scheduled meetings featuring international experts

Milan, 20^th March 2024 – The Forestami Academy is back for a second year. The joint initiative between the Prada Group and Forestami – the reforestation project for the metropolitan city of Milan – aims to educate and involve citizens on the subject of urban forestry through a three-year program of meetings, seminars and workshops coordinated by Maria Chiara Pastore, Associate Professor at the Politecnico University in Milan and involving leading national and international experts on greenery and forestry.

Following the launch of the Forestami Academy in 2023 with the theme “Knowing forests and where they grow”, the second year of the initiative will focus on the correlation between nature and physical and mental health and well-being.

Lorenzo Bertelli, , said: Prada Group Head of Corporate Social Responsibility“The importance of greenery and its benefits to people’s well-being is a subject dear to the Prada Group as demonstrated by our ‘garden-factory’ architectural projects, in which nature is the key element. The cultural challenge of the second year will be to understand the impact – supported by scientific evidence – that trees have on quality of life for all of us, both from an emotional and physical perspective. People's health also depends on knowing what can benefit their well-being. The Group will work alongside the Academy on this journey of discovery.”

Stefano Boeri, President of the Forestami Scientific Committee, stated: “Only citizens who are well informed can make an active contribution to safeguarding and improving the area in which they live. I would like to thank the Prada Group for its active support of the Forestami Academy initiative: a true Urban Forestry School, designed to offer citizens, free of charge, the know-how developed over the years by Forestami, its operators and researchers, to expand wooded and tree-covered areas in our metropolis.”

Three meetings are scheduled under the wide umbrella of “Urban forestry: well-being and health”:

• two classroom meetings at Triennale Milano, broken down into an introduction to the topic with interactive tools, a face-to-face learning component with experts on the subject and working group discussions. 
  • “Well-being in our cities” - Event on Friday 10^th May with Matilda van den Bosch, Senior Researcher at the Biocities Facility of the European Forest Institute and scientist at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain, a pioneer in the field of research into nature and public health and a leader on the subject of interaction between urban green spaces and people; and Ilaria Doimo, researcher at ETIFOR, a spin-off of the University of Padua which offers consulting services to public and private organizations to help them value nature services and products. 
  • “Why are urban forests so important for us? Talking about trees to talk about health” - The second event is scheduled for Friday 21^st June and will involve Francesco Ferrini, Professor of Arboriculture and Tree Cultivation at the University of Florence. He is a former President of the Italian Society of Arboriculture who received the L.C. Chadwick Award for Arboricultural Research in 2010 and the ISA Award of Merit in 2019 from the International Society of Arboriculture. He is a member of the Academy of Georgofili, the Academy of Colombaria and the Italian Academy of Forest Science. 

• an outdoor lesson, a genuine field experiment to put into practice, expand and verify the knowledge acquired.
  • This fall, a “Forest Bathing” experience is scheduled for October, curated by Francesco Becheri, Founding Psychotherapist and Psychological Scientific Director of the Pian dei Termini Forest Therapy Station.

The Forestami Academy is an opportunity to meet, exchange and educate with the goal of promoting the principles, values and scientific nature of urban forestry. It is aimed at citizens who wish to increase their knowledge in this area. Curiosity, the desire for knowledge and active participation are the drivers that motivate these enthusiasts, that can find in the Forestami Academy a stimulating initiative full of content.

University students, professionals and citizens who care about environmental issues are invited to follow the dedicated websites - www.forestami.org and www.pradragroup.com - to sign up for the newsletter for more information and to be notified when registration opens for the meetings.

Each event is expected to last around three hours, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. A maximum of 100 participants per meeting can attend the classes.