A new interdisciplinary research project titled “Demokratisk bæredygtighed i skovrejsning: Kan madskove øge deltagelse, handlekraft og biodiversitet?”, led by Professor Heather Anne Swanson, director of CEH, will explore how food forests can strengthen civic participation, empowerment and biodiversity in Danish forest initiatives.

In the project, researchers from Aarhus University, in collaboration with Klimatorium – Denmark’s International Center for Climate, Himmelbjerggaarden and Lemvig Vand, will test new models for democratic participation in afforestation initiatives through the establishment of two food forests in Lemvig Kommune and Silkeborgskovene by Himmelbjerget. CEH research assistant Mika Thorsgaard was instrumental in project development, and will be a PhD student on the project.

The project is funded by Velux – Demokratisk Bæredygtighed and will engage researchers across the humanities, DPU and Ecoscience. Please read more about the project here. Velux in total rewarded 8 projects which you can follow here.