SAVE THE DATE! Slovenia, Kranjska Gora, 18 – 20 September 2023

Abstract submission: info@congress2023-isft.si

About conference

WELCOME MESSAGE

For obtaining valuable knowledge of how forest ecosystem services contribute to health and human well-being, the V. International Congress Forests and Its Potential for Health (ICFPH) will enable a unique interlinking exchange between scientists, researchers and professionals from all over the world in the field of  Forestry, Biomedicine, Climatology, Phyto-pharmacy and Tourism. We are pleased to welcome all participants in Kranjska Gora destination to V. ICFPH, the largest in Europe.

The congress is intended to disseminate scientific findings to a wider professional public in the field of Public Health and Forest Therapeutic Tourism on the one hand, and to stakeholders in the field of practical use and examples of good practice on the other. We will publish a collection of abstracts to all interested participants, among which selected authors will be invited to publish in a scientific journal.

Apart from the scientific findings, we would like to present expert tools to implement and integrate health – promoting elements and innovative sustainable approach in Tourism and Public Health practice under the slogan: “Health is a new wealth”.

We are at your convience for any further information.

Warmly welcome to register for the congress.

Register

Abstract submission

The Scientific Committee welcomes the submission of original abstracts according to the following submission guidelines the latest by 1 May 2023.

The abstracts submitted will be assessed, peer reviewed and grouped by section. Accepted abstracts will be presented as oral. All presented abstracts as oral will be published in the book of abstracts.

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Important dates

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEALINE: 1 MAY 2023.

ABSTRACT ACCEPTANCE NOTIFICATION: 1 JUNE 2023.

SUBMISSION: please submit your abstract  at info@congress2023-isft.si by 1 MAY 2023

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION: 30 JUNE 2023

conference agenda

Day 1

10:00AM

Kranjska Gora destination introduction Tour

10:00AM - 2:00PM

4:00PM

Registration for opening ceremony at Kompas Hotel reception

4:00PM - 6:00PM

6:00PM

Opening Ceremony

6:00PM - 8:00PM

Moderator: Assist. dr. Darija Cvikl, Deputy Secretary of ISFT Presidium

  • Guest of honor welcome speech – Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h. c. (mult.) Horst Klinkmann, president of international society for forest therapy
  • Presentation: Dominik S.Černjak owner of Jasna Chalet Resort and president of Tourist Association of Slovenia (Turistična zveza Slovenije)
8:00PM

Informal Gathering

8:00PM -

Day 2

8:30AM

Registration

8:30AM - 9:00AM

9:00AM

Paralel sessions

9:00AM - 9:30AM

Session: Section Forest and Public Health

Moderator: Andreja Košir

09:00 – 09:30

Keynote speaker : Prof. dr. Won Sop Shin, Professor of Forestry – Forest Therapy from Health to Good Life

09:30 – 10:45 

  • Oral presentations of accepted abstracts
  • Dr. Gisela Immich, M.Sc., Research Associate, Chair of Public Health and Health Services Research (IBE) – Forest bathing / Forest Therapy as an Innovative Contribution to Public Health and Planetary Health
  • Pharm D., PhD. Sepideh Arbabi Bidgoli, Prof. of Toxicology – Pharmacology-Pharmaceutical Ethics
  • Dr. Karin Lehman, deputy Resort Director, Eigenbetrieb Kaiserbäder Insel Usedom – Europe’s First Children’s Health and Healing Forest – Children’s Health in Transition

 

OR

 

Session: Section Forest and Tourism

Moderator: Cilka Demšar

09:00 – 09:30

Keynote speaker: Assist. Dr. Hena Konnu, an Assistant professor at University of Eastern Finland – Transformative tourist experiences – new business opportunities to enhance sustainability in tourism?

09:30 – 10:45

  • Oral presentations of accepted abstract
10:45AM

Coffee break with e-posters, publication promotion and Slovenia's green&safe story through local represantatives of sustainable offer

10:45AM - 11:30AM

11:30AM

Paralel sessions

11:30AM - 12:30PM

Session: Section Forest and Public Health

Oral presentations of accepted abstract

 

OR

 

Session: Section Forest and Tourism

Examples of Good Practices

  • Terme Olimia
  • conSequences = Fragments of a Possible Ecosystem
  • Revitalization of Lake Jasna and Jasna Chalet Resort
  • The Pure Power of Nature in the Logar Valley Landscape Park
12:30PM

Lunch break

12:30PM - 1:30PM

1:30pm

Paralel sessions

1:30pm - 2:00PM

Session: Section Multipurpose use of forests

Moderator: mag. Marjeta Keršič Svetel

Keynote speaker: Amos M. Clifford, Founder at the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs

 

OR

 

Session: Section Forest and Public Health

Moderator: Andreja Košir

Keynote speaker: Prof. dr. Qing Li, full professor at Nippon Medical School – The new concept of Forest Medicine

2:00PM

Paralel sessions

2:00PM - 3:00PM

Session: Section Multipurpose use of forests

  • Prof. dr. Uehara Iwao, professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture, the president of the Japan Forest Health Society – What is Forest Therapy? – Its Possibility in Slovenia and Europe
  • Mag. Dominik Mühlberger, Ausrtian Research Centre for Forests, Green Care Forest
  • Dr. Stefanie Frech – The Certification of Healing Forests – Elaboration of European Standards

 

OR

 

Session: Section Forest and Public Health

  • Miguel Vasco, Coordenador, EEC PROVERE iNature – One’s Connection with Nature as Tourism Experience in Centro Region of Portugal
  • Alex Gessé, Founder of The Forest Therapy Hub
  • dr.Aleksandar Racz, MD, Ph.D., University of Zagreb, Leadership & Management of Health Science – Shinrin Yoku from the AI Perspective: ChatGPT OpenAI’s Knowledge and Attitude about the Efficiency and Beneficience of Shinrin Yoku
3:00PM

Paralel sessions

3:00PM - 4:00PM

Oral presentations of accepted abstract

Day 3

9:00AM

Rotating Workshops (participants might attend to several workshops by rotation)

9:00AM - 2:00PM

  • Leading Workshop
    Forest Therapy with Amos M. Cliford, founder of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs
  • Culinary Workshop
    The Use of Medicinal Plants from the Forest in a Healthy Diet: Prof. Dr. Samo Kreft
  • Tourism Workshop
    Exploring Forest: Andreja Košir, certified Forest Bathing Guide and co-founder of Exploring Forest
2:00PM

The Market of local products and produce – Stands with local gastronomy

2:00PM - 3:00PM

8:00PM

Closing of the Conference: Farewell Dinner

8:00PM -

Scientific committee

Dr. Won Sop Shin, professor at Chungbuk National University in Korea and holding Chair of Korea Forest Therapy Forum.

Won Sop Shin obtained his Ph.D. in forestry in 1992 from University of Toronto, Canada.

Dr. Won Sop Shin is a professor at Chungbuk National University in Korea and holding Chair of Korea Forest Therapy Forum. He has lots of experience in research and conducting projects on forest and human health for about 30 years. His main research interest is psychological benefits from forest and nature experiences. During the years of 2013-2017, he also served as Minster of Korea Forest Service (KFS), and Chair of Committee on Forestry, FAO. During his term, KFS developed many new forest policies relating to using forest for human health and welfare. He is now a Head of Graduate Department of Forest Therapy at Chungbuk National University enrolling about 150 students in masters’ and Ph.D. programs. Won Sop Shin is also working actively with international organizations such as International Society of Nature and Forest Medicine

Darija Cvikl, PhD, received her doctorate on the topic of Factors of tourist attractiveness of forests at the Faculty of Tourism Studies, University of Primorska. At the International School for Social and Business Studies, Slovenia, she has been elected as an assistant professor in management. She is employed as a lecturer at the College of Hospitality and Tourism Management Bled. She is a member of the board of the International Society of Forest Therapy (https://www.healing-forest-certification.org/isft), where she actively participates in establishing quality standards for healing forests. She strives to highlight the potential and usefulness of the forest’s natural capital through the evaluation of the healing and attractiveness factors for tourism purposes and the institutionalization of new study programs in the field of forest therapy. Her primary starting point in researching forest is the ecosystem principle and a sustainable approach to preserve biodiversity while defining the business model from tourist activities. As a volunteer, she is an active member of the Council for Tourism in the Natural Environment and the Commission for the Evaluation of Slovenian Thematic Routes.

Henna Konu is working as an Associate Professor at University of Eastern Finland focusing on examining nature-based tourism business. Her current research interests are nature connectedness in nature-based tourism experiences, sustainability in tourism firms, designing experiential tourism services and tourism as a part of bioeconomy.

Specialties and interests in research: well-being tourism, nature-based tourism, wellbeing from nature, experience design, experiential services, customer involvement, qualitative methods, responsible tourism, sustainable tourism, eco-labels and schemes, carbon offsetting models in tourism, cultural ecosystem services.

Anže Japelj, PhD, is a research fellow in the Department of forest and landscape monitoring and planning at the Slovenian Forestry Institute. He has been mainly working in the field of environmental valuation, focusing primarily on economic valuation of non-market benefits that forest ecosystems provide to society. He is a deputy officer in the IUFRO research unit 4.05.05 Social innovation and entrepreneurship, and editor-in-chief of the national scientific journal in the field of forestry – Acta Silvae et Ligni. He is an active member of an informal Group for assessment of ecosystem services, where researchers from various fields are collaborating in terms of joint project proposals, exchanging know-how and communicating research with the public. Through his research, he strives to highlight the importance of sustainably managed forest ecosystems, which can offer not only materially tangible goods but other services as well. Positive effects of natural setting on quality of outdoor recreation are a key element of fostering wellbeing of future societies.

Professor in a tenure position at the University of Applied Health Sciences – Zagreb, Croatia and previous Dean during the mandate period (2013 – 2016); associate professor of Public and environmental health at the University of Rijeka. After graduating from the Faculty of Medicine (1983-1988), as a doctor of medicine he completed a specialization in environmental health and health ecology and obtained three master’s degrees: in the field of public health (School of Public Health “A. Štampar”, Zagreb; in the field of management of healthcare systems (Medical school, University of Zagreb), and in the field of management of non-profit organizations and social advocacy (Catholic Theological Faculty, University of Zagreb). Certified in LMHS – Leadership and management in helath systems (School of Public health Zagreb & Bocconi University & London School of Economics) He also successfully completed 4 post-graduate doctoral studies and obtained 4 doctorates, namely: PhD in Sociology – Faculty of Applied Social Studies, Republic of Slovenia; PhD in Economics – Faculty of Management in Tourism and Hospitality, University of Rijeka; PhD in Social sciences, – Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb; PhD in biomedical sciences, public health and health care – Faculty of Medicine, University of Mostar. Author and coauthor of 5 textbooks and manuals on sustainable development; environmental protection; circular economy and waste disposal and published over 50 scientific papers indexed in the WOS and Scopus databases, and over 100 additional papers in non-indexed scientific journals and Congress proceedings (https://www.bib.irb.hr/pregled/profil/14757 ). As an active participant, he presented at over 75 international conferences in the country and abroad, From China and Korea to Norway, Spain, Italy, Greece etc. Lover of nature, forests, sea, devoted activist in the field of promoting and ensuring the rights of Roma national minorities to all levels of education and a dignified life.

Prof. Emer. Zmago Turk, PhD, received his doctorate from the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb, Croatia, in the field of physical and rehabilitation medicine in 1998 and was appointed a counsellor at the Ministry of Health in the same year. In 1987, he was awarded the honorary title of “Senior doctor”, and in 2009 became a senior counsellor at the Ministry of Health. In 1985, he founded the new Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine of the General Hospital in Maribor, where he was head until 2009. His functional skills include manual medicine, acupuncture, pain-relieving infiltration therapy and integrative medicine. His research fields cover rheumatology rehabilitation, gerontology, integrative medicine, gerontology and geriatrics, and complementary medicine. In 2017, he became an Emeritus Professor of the University of Maribor and, a year later, an Emeritus Professor of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, and an honorary senator of Alma Mater Europaea.

Urša Vilhar, PhD a senior researcher in the Department of Forest Ecology at the Slovenian Forestry Institute, working on forest ecology and hydrology. She is also a Certified Interpretive Guide (Interpret Europe) and an educator with many years of experience conducting workshops for children and families, training courses, seminars and teaching materials on environmental education aimed at kindergarten and school teachers, guides and other outdoor educators.

Prof. Marjana Simonič, PhD has been employed at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of Maribor since 1991. She obtained her PhD from the same faculty in 1998 and has worked as a Full Professor of Chemical Engineering Since 2019. Her research field covers chemistry, analytics and treatment of water and possibilities for Environmental protection. She authored or co-authored 73 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and 83 scientific contributions at national and international conferences. The number of citations above 1500 could be signed as an extraordinary achievement. She shows indisputable merit in the transfer of knowledge in the field of educational work, as she was a mentor to 170 graduates of pre-Bologna and Bologna first- and second-cycle studies and four doctoral students. In 2020, she received the “Recognition of the University of Maribor for scientific-research, artistic and educational work” for her work.

Samo Kreft is a full professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, where he researches medicinal plants and other drugs of natural origin and lectures about them to students. For 15 years he held professional positions at the European Medicines Agency. He has published more than 100 articles in international scientific journals. In addition to scientific articles, he has written more than 100 popular and professional articles and is a regular guest on television and radio shows. He was the editor of several books, e.g. Modern Phytotherapy (in Slovene lanugage), which was sold in more than 3,000 copies; Food supplements, which was published by the reputable publishing house Elsevier; Quarkadabra in the kitchen; Ayurveda – a new way for healthy life in Europe… He is interested in medicinal plant research because this includes the fields of botany, chemistry, ecology, medicine, as well as ethnology and history. He is fascinated by the blurred border between the science and tradition, the official and the alternative. Samo Kreft is the editor of the website that educates on the healthy sustainable plant based food (www.hungry-pumpkin.com).

Professor of Silviculture laboratory of Forest Science Department of Tokyo University of Agriculture, he is an authorized counselor by The Japanese Association of Counseling Science, and President of The Society of Forest Amenity and Human Health Promotion in Japan.

He has worked as an Academic at Tokai Women’s University; as an Associate Professor at Hyogo University; and as an Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture.

He holds a Ph.D. from Gifu University Graduate School, a Master of Science from Shinshu University Graduate School, and a degree in Silviculture from Tokyo University of Agriculture. He was also an exchange student at Michigan State University from March 1986 to March 1987.

GREETINGS FROM OUR INVITED SPEAKERS

Prominent representatives of the international community in the field of Forestry, Biomedicine, Climatology, Phyto-pharmacy and Tourism from various aspects, such as: forest therapy, therapeutic and well-being tourism, balneology and climatology, forestry and phyto-pharmacy.

Dr. Won Sop Shin

dr. Uehara Iwao

Dr. Gisela Immich

Dr. Samo Kreft

Pharm D., PhD. Sepideh Arbabi Bidgoli

Dr. Aleksandar Racz

Dr, Qing LI (MD, PhD)

Dr. Zmago Turk

Dr. Maurizio Droli

Dr. Darija Cvikl

Dominik Mühlberger

Dr. Stefanie Frech

Alex Gessé

Amos M. Clifford

Dr. Anže Japelj

Dr. Henna Konu

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