AUA Acopian Center and WSL FORACCA Collaboration on Forests, Biodiversity, and Climate Change
The American University of Armenia (AUA) Acopian Center for the Environment and the Forest Restoration and Climate Change in Armenia (FORACCA) project will collaborate from 2025 to 2028.
The FORACCA project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), is implemented by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research (WSL) in collaboration with Zoï Environment Network and the Forest Alliance of Armenia.
The activities in the AUA Acopian Center and FORACCA Collaboration include:
- Launch event and inaugural talk
- A talk series
- Summer schools
- Bachelor’s or master’s theses support
- Networking for joint research, societal impact, and student mobility opportunities
For additional information, contact [email protected].
On October 24, 2025 at 10:30 AM, the American University of Armenia (AUA) hosted the Launch Event of the commencement of the three-year collaboration between the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment and the Forest Restoration and Climate Change in Armenia (FORACCA) project.
The Launch Event will showcase the activities planned for the collaboration, including a talk series, support for bachelor’s capstones and master’s theses, summer schools, and steps to secure joint research, engagement, and student mobility opportunities.
The Event also held the inaugural talk of the FORACCA Talk Series. The topic of the talk was Remote Sensing Analysis of Vegetation Height and Land Cover in Armenia, delivered by Dr. Dominik Braunschweiger. The talk will focus on FORACCA’s comparison of recent high-resolution global land cover products and a vegetation height model calculated by WSL to obtain an understanding of the development of Armenia’s vegetation cover in the past 30 years.
The recording of the event is available below.
Preliminary list of topics for the Fall 2025-Summer 2026 talks is:
- Planning for urban biodiversity: Lessons from Swiss municipal land-use plan revisions (February 26, 2026)
- Biodiversity in the city
- Nature-based solutions for a nature-positive economy
- Swiss common garden network of future tree species
The first-year topics are selected to align with the Road to COP17 Initiative, a year-long series of activities to boost national awareness and capacities ahead of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to take place in Yerevan in October 2026.
Check back with us to learn more about the details of each talk.
For additional information, contact [email protected].
Check back with us to learn more about the details of each summer school.
For additional information, contact [email protected].
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Summer 2026
TBD
Summer 2027
TBD
Summer 2028
TBD
The FORACCA project has generated and will generate large amounts of remote sensing and downscaled climate scenario information that can be used for analysis through bachelor’s or master’s theses. The WSL and AUA teams will identify research questions. The AUA Acopian Center will work with AUA colleges to identify qualifying students and organize for co-supervision of the theses by AUA faculty and WSL experts.
AUA students interested in research projects using FORACCA data, identify a supervising faculty member at AUA, and then contact [email protected].
Preliminary list of activities:
- Joint session at Swiss Landscape Congress, September 2026 (planned)
- Joint session at COP17, October 2026 (planned)
- Joint Session — World Biodiversity Forum, Fall 2028 (planned)
Check back with us to learn more about the details of each summer school.
For additional information, contact [email protected].
