Already 87 dialogues taking place across the country on the Great Forest Dialogue Day – registration open until 2 April

The Great Forest Dialogue Day invites everyone to discuss the many meanings and future of forests on 2 April. Participants from NGOs to forestry companies and kindergarteners to grandparents are already involved. Anyone can pre-register to organise a dialogue until 2 April 2025.

There are already 82 different debates from a wide range of actors from all over the country. Representatives of the forestry sector (Metsä Group, Finnish Forest Industries Association, The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners MTK), cultural operators (Stoa Cultural Centre, Titanik Gallery) and researchers (History of Finnish Migrations network, Finnish Forest Museum Lusto and Human-Forest Relationship Research Club) will take part. Local actors such as forest owners and non-owners, education professionals and forestry teachers have also been involved.

As the number of participants has grown, the range of topics has become even wider. Discussions include the importance of forests for reindeer husbandry in natural resource planning in Lapland (Reindeer Herders’ Association), the importance of forests for village activities (The Association for Rural Culture and Education) and emotions related to forests (MIELI ry, Nyyti ry and Tunne ry in cooperation with Viikki Library). During the day, locals will discuss the meaning of forests to Pieksämäki residents, and in Rovaniemi, the Rovaniemi parish will discuss the theme of ecotheology. All the dialogues announced so far are available on the event website and the list will be continuously updated.

In a final spurt, we want to encourage at least 100 dialogue organisers to participate, so that as a diverse array of perspectives as possible can be included. Therefore, we have extended the registration period: you can pre-register as a dialogue organiser or participant in an open discussion until the day of the event on 2 April 2025 on the Great Forest Dialogue Day website.

Who can participate?

The Forest Dialogues should reflect the diverse perspectives of the whole population: we hope to see more dialogues from all different linguistic, cultural and ethnic communities, as well as religious groups, churches and congregations. We want to hear from researchers, artists, conservation organisations, local communities, nature and tourism entrepreneurs, forest owners, city dwellers and people from local and indigenous communities.

For many people, forests are an important place for outdoor recreation and exercise, but different people have different needs. We therefore need input from people such as neighbourhoods, disabled people, different age groups, students and sports clubs.

Forestry companies have been actively involved in the Great Forest Dialogue Day: for example, Metsä Group is organising several debates under the title “Renewable Forestry”.

Forests are also closely linked to many other commercial sectors whose work involves forests and whom we want to hear from: reindeer herders, nature tourism entrepreneurs, small farmers and organic producers; as well as the energy industry and wind and solar power producers.

See this page to see who has already signed up to organise a discussion. You can also browse and register for an open dialogue.

What is it about and how to get involved?

The aim of the Great Forest Dialogue Day is to make visible as many meanings and values related to forests as possible, to diversify the debate on them and to support the renewal of forest-related activities. The aim is not unanimity, but to build towards a multi-voiced understanding.

On the basis of the dialogues, an anonymised public summary of all discussions and alternative scenarios for the future of forests in Finland will be compiled. The summary and future scenarios will be published on the Kone Foundation website for everyone to use freely.

Participation is easy and does not require a large contribution from the organiser. A comprehensive package of materials and, if desired, an introduction is available for the organisers. The discussion can be held in any language, and records can be submitted in Finnish, Swedish, English or in Northern, Inari or Skolt Sami. Material to support the dialogue are available in Finnish and English.

The Great Forest Dialogue Day is organised by the Kone Foundation’s Metsän puolella (“For the Woods”) initiative and Dialogue Academy.

You can sign up to be an organiser or participant in the open debate until 2 April on this page.