On 9 and 10 May 2019, the 25th biannual conference on landscape and infrastructure organised by the FGSV was held in Koblenz, an important event in Germany, bringing together more than 400 participants, road operators, landscape architects and biodiversity specialists. Among them were two French participants, representing our association and the French ITTECOP programme respectively.

Nearly two and a half hours were devoted to tree avenues. Unfortunately, we heard what we hear everywhere in Europe: local farmers are not always kind to trees. Above all, it is hardly possible to acquire land if you want to plant further away from the edge of the road. One positive point in the workshop's conclusion was that artificial intelligence and changes in vehicle traffic on the road must be included in road safety considerations.

In front of Koblenz Castle, these rows of plane trees provided a beautiful backdrop.

L'association ARNIKA organisait sa 6ème conférence internationale sur les allées à Liberec, non loin des frontières polonaise et allemande. L'assistance était variée, mêlant administrations des routes et de l'environnement, spécialistes des arbres et du paysage, défenseurs de l'environnement. Plusieurs membres du groupe d'échanges européen,  venus d'Allemagne, de Pologne, de Russie, de Suède et de France  étaient rejoints pour la première fois par le président de l'association des arboristes lithuaniens. Au menu, une journée de présentations et une journée de visites. On notera entre autres un inventaire exhaustif des allées privées et publiques effectué par un service de l'administration régionale: 546 km parcourus à pied sur un territoire de 500 km², ou la nécessaire connaissance pour bien agir dans un pays qui protège ses allées depuis plus longtemps que la France. Des routes quelquefois très étroites, des plantations, et une stèle en mémoire d'une ancienne allée, victime de l'accroissement du trafic

The symposium ‘Tree-lined avenues – from war to peace’ has come to an end. Over two days, it brought together 110 participants from four continents in Liffol-le-Grand, in the Vosges. The programme was packed, with 31 speakers of 10 nationalities, but everything ran smoothly, with four different formats – presentations, ‘key witnesses’, awards ceremony, round table/workshop – not to mention interludes – breaks, concert, visits, films.

In the end, the event was highly praised by participants for its rich content, the quality of the discussions and the perfect organisation:‘Congratulations again on the organisation. It was the richest conference I have attended during the centenary.’ "We are very happy to have shared so many emotions, powerful, humorous and realistic testimonies, and plans for the future. We hope to continue exchanging ideas with each of you, as we had the opportunity to do in Liffol-Le-Grand around these “Allées de Paix”.‘ ’First of all, congratulations from the bottom of my heart for organising the Liffol-le-Grand conference, which was remarkable in every way."

Let's do it again!

Some pleasant comments about the programme of the symposium on 12 and 13 november 2018

• - "I am impressed by the richness of the program and the quality of the speakers at this symposium! I will ensure the widest possible dissemination within the networks in which I participate. (Jean-Pierre THIBAULT, Inspector General, General Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition);
  - "I would like to express my strongest congratulations for your wonderful work in favor of the tree avenues theme! I wish you a very successful symposium on November 12 - 13, 2018; it addresses a very interesting aspect of this theme and certainly one which remains quite unknown even to specialists! (Enrico Buergi, Honorary President of the Conference of the European Landscape Convention, Council of Europe, former Head of the Landscape Division - Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape - Switzerland).