TCOW Europe Meeting 2026:

For an Urban Forest without Frontiers

Malaga, Spain - September 23-25, 2026

Arbor Day Foundation, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Arbocity, Alberitalia and Trees4Cities , are pleased to announce the 1st Tree Cities of the World (TCOW) Europe Meeting.

Join urban forestry leaders and municipalities from across the continent in this event that will take place on September 23–24, 2026, at the Historic Botanical Garden of La Concepción (Wednesday 23rd) and the University of Malaga Campus (Thursday 24th).

The theme of this meeting, “For an Urban Forest without Frontiers,” underscores the need to build capacity between nations, ensuring that the goods and services of urban forests and trees are equally accessible to all city dwellers.

This gathering will provide a platform for cities to:

  • Showcase their urban forestry initiatives
  • Discuss green infrastructure policy
  • Share successful on-the-ground projects with peers.
  • Learn about the progress and next steps on the Tree Cities of the World Program.
The meeting is being held in conjunction with the 5th i-Tree European Conference (September 24th–25th) to bring together researchers, practitioners, and municipalities.
 
The events will be held in English but an AI translation service will be available for all attendees and presenters.
Registration
Venue, Travel & Accomodation

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: CITY PRESENTATIONS

We invite TCOW cities to share their experiences and on-the-ground successes. If your municipality would like to present a project during one of our thematic round tables, please complete the contribution form below, to be considered for the program.

  • Round Table 1: Urban Trees Management  (Tree Inventories, Tree risk assesment, New technologies)
  • Round Table 2: The Governance in Urban Forestry (Policy, Tree Strategies and Procurment)
  • Round Table 3: Urban Forests & Communication (Communication, Celebration, Citizen participation, Campaigns)
Submit your contribution here

SPEAKERS

Sophie Plitt (TCOW Global PRogram Manager, Arbor Day Foundation)

Sophie Plitt, based in New York, NY, US, is currently a Manager, Global Partnerships at Arbor Day Foundation. Sophie Plitt brings experience from previous roles at New York University, Natural Areas Conservancy and U.S. Forest Service. Sophie Plitt holds a 2017 - 2019 Masters of Science in Social Ecological Resilience for Sustainable Development Stockholm University. With a robust skill set that includes Environmental Education, Sustainability, Social Media, Non-profits, Public Speaking and more.

Jeet is currently Urban Forestry Officer and Green Cities at FAO with an expertise in climate change mitigation and adaptation, sub-national level climate financing issues, climate and environmental risk analysis for the financial sector, corporate climate change and environmental management, sustainable consumption and production, SDGs and Agenda 2030 issues. Also have strong experience with corporate consulting on the political economy of countries in South and South-east Asia (Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam) and with conducting advocacy and training on access to information and disclosure laws for governmental and non-governmental sectors.

Francesca Giannetti is a researcher in Forest Planning and Management at the University of Florence, with expertise in forest geomatics, remote sensing, GIS, forest monitoring and urban forestry. Her research focuses on the development and integration of geospatial technologies and innovative monitoring approaches to support sustainable forest, tree management and precision forestry appplication.She is currently involved in the coordination of the European TREESURE project, which develops smart tools for risk-informed management of urban forests, integrating Earth Observation, IoT sensors and decision-support systems to improve tree stability monitoring, risk assessment and urban resilience. Her work also focuses on translating scientific and technological advances into practical tools for municipalities, practitioners and other stakeholders involved in urban tree management.

John Parker has been Chief Executive Officer of the Arboricultural Association since July 2021, and previously held the role of Technical Director at the Association from August 2019. John is UK & Ireland President of the International Society of Arboriculture and between 2025-2026 was an Executive Committee member of the European Arboricultural Council. He has a degree in Arboriculture & Urban Forestry and is a Chartered Environmentalist and Chartered Forester. John is a Fellow of the Arboricultural Association, the Institute of Chartered Forestry, the Royal Society of Biology and the Linnaean Society. He frequently presents at national and international conferences and has delivered a TED Talk entitled Why trees are better than people (available on YouTube). Since spring 2020 John has chaired the Arboricultural Association webinar series, covering a wide range of topics to a global audience. In 2018 he was awarded the title of Young European Urban Forester of the Year, in 2022 he was named one of the 25 Most Influential People in Horticulture by Pro Landscaper Magazine and in 2024 he appeared on the ENDS Power List of the 100 most influential environmental professionals in the UK. From 2020 until 2022 he was a Trustee of the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum, the national UK tree collection. John is interested in public engagement, green equity and promoting the benefits of trees, with particular consideration for their social and cultural value. He is the founder of the Stonehouse Community Arboretum and a Trustee of the Doverow Hill Trust.

Maria Chiara Pastore (1980) is associate professor at the Politecnico di Milano. Her work include the research for the implementation of an improved green system in the Greater Milan 2030, Forestami (Milano 2030), the production of the Water Vision for the Masterplan of Tirana (Albania) 2030, the “Safer house construction guidelines” for the country of Malawi, Ministry of Housing (GFDRR); the “Master plan for the City of Dar es Salaam”, in Tanzania, Ministry of Lands Housing Human Settlements Development, the Master plan for EXPO 2015 in Milan (with Stefano Boeri Architetti). She has been consultant to the World Bank, member of the scientific committee of the World Forum on Urban Forests, and currently, visiting professor at TU Graz. In 2018 she published the book “Reinterpreting the relationship between water and Urban Planning. The case of Dar es Salaam”, with Routledge.

Senior Project Manager at Etifor | Valuing Nature, dealing with green spaces for health and wellbeing, local development and urban forestry. PhD at LERH Programme at Università degli Studi di Padova. My research focused on relationship between forests and human wellbeing, focusing the attention on the initiatives in place as opportunities for re-vitalizing the forest sector while supporting public health, identifying opportunities and challenges for their development.
Previously working at Economics Department at Università Roma Tre, Research Fellow at World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Philippines and trainee at FAO (Rome).

Simone Borelli is a prominent international expert in urban and peri-urban forestry. He currently serves as an urban forestry expert consultantfor the European Forest Institute (EFI) Biocities Facility. Previously, he spent over 20 years at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), where he served as the Urban Forestry Officer, leading global initiatives on green infrastructure, agroforestry, and urban resilience.

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

Please review our preliminary program for schedule details regarding the technical workshops, city presentations, and the Mayor’s Roundtable.

REGISTRATION

Registration is currently open.

Attendance is completely free for recognized TCOW teams. Additionally, as a TCOW city representative, your free registration grants you full access to the 5th European i-Tree and Ecosystem Services Conference, taking place at the same venue on September 24–25. CHECK THE i-Tree CONFERENCE PROGRAM HERE.

Other cities representatives, and attendees interested in TCOW will have a registration price of 150 €.

Registration fee includes:

  • Access to the meeting 23th and 24th of September
  • Coffee breaks and refreshments
  • Lunch on the 24th of September
  • All conference materials
  • Translation service
REGISTER

If you have any question regarding the conference, participation in the round tables or about registration you can contact us here info@arbocity.com 

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