The European ALTER-Net and PEER networks will jointly organise a session at the upcoming Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF 2012) conference in Dublin. The session, entitled Sustainable green infrastructure: in seas and forests, from fields to cities, is scheduled to take place on Sunday 15 July during the 13.15 sessions.

The description of the session is as follows:

Green infrastructure links natural, semi-natural and urban features, areas and spaces together. It provides both ecological as well as societal well being, and resilience against dramatic changes. It provides us with cultural ecosystem services such as possibilities for recreation, inspiration, learning and spiritual gains. But where can we find green infrastructure that supports sustainability and maintains its cultural ecosystem services? Can energy production from forests be sustainable and support recreational purposes? Which green infrastructure tolerates climate change and helps to forward positive transformations to cultural ecosystem services?

Through contributions debate from different disciplinary angles, this session will introduce novel ways of conceptualising the nature-human relationship by linking ecological theories of sustainability into everyday life of human societies. The session elucidates the future´s orientation of conservation and sustainability research and provides food for thought to the policy forum on the governance of European green infrastructure.

The speakers will be:

• Eeva Furman, Director of the Centre for Environmental Policy at the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
• Ilkka Hanski, Professor at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Helsinki
• Isabel Sousa Pinto, Head of the Coastal Biodiversity Laboratory at the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR)
• Lawrence Jones-Walters, Senior Programme Manager - Green Infrastructure / Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity Assessment at the European Centre for Nature Conservation (ECNC)
• Maria-Luisa Paracchini, Senior researcher at the Rural, Water and Ecosystem Resources Unit at the European Commission - Joint Research Centre - Institute for Environment and Sustainability
• Shane Colgan, Environmental Research Centre Coordinator at the Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland
• Sirpa Pietikäinen, Member of the European Parliament

More information about ESOF 2012, which takes place from 11-15 July, can be found here: http://esof2012.org/