20-10-2016 - Joint Forest Communicators Workshop attendees at Mount St. Helens, Washington State, USA. 2016. Photo: Matt Burks, U.S. Forest Service
Report from the Joint IUFRO and UNECE-FAO FCN Forest Communicators Workshop held in Portland, Oregon, USA, 30 August to 1 September 2016

By Cindy Miner and Yasmeen Sands, Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator for the IUFRO Communications and Public Relations Working Party 9.01.02, http://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-9/90000/90100/90102/activities/
As land managers and citizens around the world meet often daunting challenges in managing forests, professional communications plays an increasingly important role in science and land management organizations. People of varying interests need to understand one another, and communication strategies need to be developed to convey complex information. New technologies are making possible new means of transferring scientific information and involving publics - sometimes simultaneously. Communication professionals need to learn about and adopt such technologies.
Against this background, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and Food and Agriculture Organization's Forest Communicators Network (UNECE-FAO FCN - http://www.unece.org/forests/areas-of-work/forestsinformationfcn/tos-on-forest-communication.html) and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations' (IUFRO) Communications and Public Relations Working Party held a joint conference, which was generously hosted by the U.S. Forest Service, Pacific North-west Research Station. The workshop brought together 56 participants from 16 countries (Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, and the USA).
Here are some of the key topics of presentations:
Communications as a strategic tool for policymaking
Forest communications across continents
Communication campaigns
Working with the media in the 21st century
New technology-based approaches to communicating about forests
The goal of the workshop was to help participants address major challenges and opportunities for communications about forests. The meeting opened at the World Forestry Discovery Center, where participants observed world-class techniques in communicating with the public about forests. Then, participants shared case studies and best practices, identified collaborative opportunities, and engaged in training sessions for the following two days.
The workshop was rounded off by a spectacular tour to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington State, USA. During the field trip, the group met with professional communicators and scientists at Mount St. Helens, with stops at Johnson Ridge Observatory and the Weyerhaeuser Forest Learning Center.

Conclusions
The need for purposeful communications was emphasized in nearly all presentations. Trends in purpose included storytelling and engagement with the public. Methods were often multiple in case studies with use of social media becoming common place. The ability to communicate across regions and continents seems to be on the increase with sophistication in communication demonstrated through large-scope campaigns with focused outcomes including adoption of policy, practices, and new information.
Outlook
The group will continue exchanging information using social media for networking and developing a training package for use by professional communicators and scientists.
Workshop attendees are also being encouraged to submit oral and poster presentation abstracts for consideration as part of the Working Party-led session "Connecting People to Forest Science: Innovative Communication Approaches for Delivering Science" at the IUFRO Anniversary Congress in 2017 in Freiburg, Germany: http://iufro2017.com/