We would like to invite you to the Conference

NAVIGATING CHANGE:
FORESTS, CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATIONS – A PHD STUDENT VIEW
(GEOFOREST2025)

VATRA DORNEI, SUCEAVA COUNTY, ROMANIA, 25-27 NOVEMBER 2025

Universitatea Ștefan cel Mare of Suceava invites you to participate in the international scientific event dedicated to PhD students that will take place in Vatra Dornei, Suceava county (Romania), organized by the University of Suceava, Geoconcept Association of Applied Geography and Societatea pentru Silvicultură și Mediu.

The event will take place in hybrid format on 26th of November at the Training and Continued Education Center in Vatra Dornei/ Centrul de Pregatire si Formare Continua Vatra Dornei (Suceava county, Romania).

The aim is to bring together PhD young researchers and give them the possibility to exchange ideas in an interdisciplinary environment to examines how forests and wider landscapes are reshaped by climate change, land-use dynamics, and spatial inequalities. By integrating geographic perspectives-such as spatial analysis, landscape connectivity, human-environment interactions, and place-based knowledge-with forestry science, we will investigate shifting ecosystem patterns, community impacts, and governance challenges across local to global scales.

Participants will also address broader climate-related consequences, including evolving climate risks and their dynamics, transformations in human environments, continued atmospheric pollution and its effects on communities and forests, as well as the ways tourism activities are adapting to new climate realities, including forest dieback in some strictly protected areas. Through shared methodological tools and collaborative exchange, the session aims to advance geographically informed research that supports sustainable forest management, climate adaptation, and resilient socio-ecological futures.

Some 30 PhD students from Romanian universities are expected in Vatra Dornei location, and we expect also some 20 participants online from our European research partners.

The participants have the possibility to submit their papers to Forest Monitor journal (English), to Bucovina Forestiera (Romanian), or to Georeview Journal (English).

The abstracts will be published in Geoconcept Journal.

Let’s rethink forests and landscapes in a changing climate — and discover what PhD students in geography and forestry can achieve together!

Format

Hybrid (on-site and online)

Registration and abstract submission

For registration

please send an email including the title, authors and abstract of your presentation at laura.bouriaud@usm.ro

For any questions and details

please contact us by email at laura.bouriaud@usm.ro

Registration dates:

Deadline registration23rd November 2025

Abstract instructions:

Abstracts will be submitted upon registration. Deadline:  23rd November 2025  .

Acceptance notifications will be sent to participants after submission by email.

Abstracts will range from 1 to 4 pages (extended abstracts) for both oral and poster submissions.

Authors are advised to use the following formatting settings:

Font: Times Roman, 12 point (text, figure and table captions, references etc.)
Line spacing: double-spaced
Page size: A4
Margins: 1 inch on all sides
Paragraph indentation: 0.5 inches (or press Tab once)
For extended abstracts, electronic artwork and tables will be embedded in text.
All accepted abstracts will be published in a book of abstracts as a special issue of Geoconcept Journal: https://geoconcept-journal.com/index.php/geo and will also be available online.

Registration fee

Registration fee is not required.

Special requests

Participants who have specific dietary restrictions or requirements are kindly asked to communicate this upon registration.

We would like to inform you that we provide accommodation in twin rooms. Participants who prefer to occupy a single room will pay a supplementary accommodation fee. However, we do not encourage this due to the limited number of rooms available at the venue.

If supplementary rooms are necessary, we will make arrangements with hotels located in the vicinity. However, these costs are not included in the registration fee and will be paid separately.

How to get there

Distance Education and Long-Life learning Office Vatra Dornei, University of Suceava

Centrul de Pregatire si Formare Continua Vatra Dornei, Universitatea Suceava 

Address:
Strada Parcului 2, Vatra Dornei 725700, Suceava county, Romania.
Coordinate: 47.3418816, 25.3574445
WEB

Preliminary program

25 November 2025Arrival and check-in. Registration.
26 November 2025Presentations
27 October 2025Check-out and departure

Forests Monitor Awards

The presenters will have the opportunity to win three Forests Monitor Awards for the best PhD presentations, each worth 100 EUR, along with a free publication opportunity in the Forests Monitor journal, if submitted by the end of 2026.

Organizers

Prof. Laura BOURIAUD, Forestry Department, University of Suceava, Romania.
laura.bouriaud@usm.ro

Conf. Marcel MINDRESCU, Department of Geography, University of Suceava and Geoconcept Association of Applied Geography, Romania
mindrescu@atlas.usv.ro

Conf. Ciprian PALAGHIANU, Forestry Department, University of Suceava, Romania,
cpalaghianu@usm.ro  

Conf. Dumitru MIHAILA, Department of Geography, University of Suceava, Romania,
dumitrum@atlas.usv.ro 

Supported by: