SmartForest 2026

SmartForest 2026

SmartForest 2026 took place on Thursday, 12 and Friday, 13 March 2026 at the Technical University of Munich in Freising.

We thank all of our workers and attendees for their engagement in this successful event!

Below, you’ll find a selection of pictures from the conference.

Learn more about the thematic blocks of SmartForest 2026 here.

You can find the full conference programme here.

Further information about our speakers can be found here.

Dr. Werner Rammer of the TU Munich welcomes the crowd to SmartForest 2026. There is a large projection screen behind him, on which "ZENTRUM WALD FORST HOLZ" and the wetransform logo re visible, alongside an aerial picture of the conference area, with an arrow indicating the building.
A crowd of attendees fills the foyer at SmartForest 2026, chatting over coffee. To the right is a long table bearing coffee urns, cartons of milk, crates of croissants and other baked goods.
A crowd, dressed primarily in hues of green and grey, fills the seats of a lecture hall during SmartForest 2026.
Participants of a SmartForest 2026 outdoor session have a chat in the woods as tree scanning technology is being demonstrated.
People examine their programme booklets in an auditorium at the SmartForest 2026 conference
A SmartForest 2026 In-Depth Session. Part of a circle of people is visible, seated on wooden chairs in a classroom, engaged in discussion.
A full auditorium at SmartForest 2026.
A crowd of people listens attentively as they sit on wood-and-metal auditorium seating at SmartForest 2026
Shot from the back of the room at SmartForest 2026 as Dr. Werner Rammer introduces keynote speaker Stefano Puliti.
Thomas Breunig, Nina Meyer, and Stephan Philipp exchange ideas on communication in front of a crowd at SmartForest 2026. In the background, their respective presentations are listed on a projected slide.
Stefano Puliti of NIBIO smiles as he addresses the crowd at SmartForest 2026
wetransform CEO Thorsten Reitz sits with a laptop on his knees, engaged in discussion with a circle of other participants at SmartForest 2026.
A crowd dressed primarily in green, seen from the back, seated in a full lecturing hall during a presentation at SmartForest 2026. Several people have their laptops open in front of them and one person is taking a picture with a smartphone.
A few groups of people stand about chatting, eating, and drinking during the forestry conference SmartForest 2026, at the TU Munich's campus in Freising.
wetransform CEO Thorsten Reitz, a bearded man in a blue suit, addresses the crowd during his keynote at SmartForest 2026
People sit on picnic benches and steps outside the TU Munich's building in Freising, engaged in various discussions during SmartForest 2026.
The crowd listens as wetransform CEO Thorsten Reitz presents his keynote at SmartForest 2026
A varied crowd of people fills the auditorium's benches at SmartForest 2026.
A crowd of people listens diligently as Stefano Puliti of NIBIO presents his keynote
Prof. Dr. Thomas Purfürst presents “Operational Digital Twins for Smart Forestry: From LiDAR to Data Spaces” at SmartForest 2026
A SmartForest 2026 speaker reaches up towards the screen as he explains something.
Richard Georgi of OGF GmbH gestures as he presents to the crowd at SmartForest 2026
Simone Massaro of Q-ForestLab at Ghent University stands in front of a blackboard, gesturing as he addresses the seated crowd in the auditorium at SmartForest 2026
Tanja Kempen of HAWK smiles at the crowd gathered for her presentation “TrailScan: QGIS-Plugin zur Kartierung von Rückegassen in Laserscanning Daten”, the final slide of which is projected on the wall. To the right of the projection stands session moderator Nancy Lazecky.
A panel of forestry experts from various backgrounds addresses questions from the crowd at SmartForest 2026
Sweet treats, such as muffins, cake, and fruit platters, are ready to be served at SmartForest 2026.
The entrance to SmartForest 2026. A SmartForest-branded roll-up banner stands beside large double doors to welcome guests to the conference on a sunny day.
Various participants take advantage of the sun to have chats outside the building during SmartForest 2026
Conference participants engage in discussions outdoors during SmartForest 2026.
Dr. Werner Rammer of the TU Munich talks to other attendees in the pleasantly crowded foyer during SmartForest 2026. Many people have cups of tea or coffee in hand and people are picking out pastries from a long table off to the right.
SmartForest 2026 participants chat in the foyer during the conference.
A speaker at SmartForest 2026 stands behind the lectern, hand on hip, addressing the crowd
The door to the SmartForest 2026 In-Depth sessions is beside a large mounted cross-section of a tree.
Martin Roth, forest manager in the Lake Constance district, smiles at the camera as he stands outdoors between a WOOD.IN.VISION banner and large television screen.
A group of SmartForest 2026 attendees out in the forest. They are standing in a circle among the fallen leafs as they listen to Stephan Philipp of the Vorarlberg Provincial Government during an outdoor conference session.
Stephan Philipp of the Vorarlberg Provincial Government addresses the crowd during a SmartForest 2026 Outdoor Session
Kilian Hochholzer presents "The two approaches: assessing resilience of post-disturbance forests across Central Europe using computer-vision foundation models and visual language models" during SmartForest 2026
A green, horizontal SmartForest banner hangs outside during the conference. Behind it, various attendees are walking back towards the entrance after a sunny outdoor session in the nearby forest.
Stefano Puliti of Nibio talks to another attendee outside of SmartForest 2026. Around them, others are also taking advantage of the nice weather to chat in pairs or small groups.
The crowd pays close attention during a presentation at SmartForest 2026
A speaker addresses the crowd during one of the German presentations at SmartForest 2026
Participants engage in discussions during one of SmartForest 2026's In-Depth sessions
Lado Basilidze of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano presents during an in-depth session at SmartForest 2026
Ina Wilken of palos GmbH addresses the SmartForest crowd during an outdoor-session
Ina Wilken of palos GmbH demonstrates smartphone-based forestry software during an outdoor session at SmartForest 2026.
A presentation on digital twins in forestry during SmartForest 2026
Handwritten notes in German, pinned to a blue board at SmartForest 2026. They centre around the question of what protecting a forest means.
Thorsten Reitz, CEO of wetransform, addresses the crowd at SmartForest 2026
The crowd listens attentively during Thorsten Reitz' presentation at SmartForest 2026
wetransform CEO Thorsten Reitz stands in front of a projected slide displaying a picture of the wetransform team, as well as the SmartForest logo
Ramona Resch and Ronald Kilian, both of wetransform and the SmartForest organisation team, at the reception during SmartForest 2026
Participants make their way through the crowded foyer during one of the breaks at SmartForest 2026
Conference participants chat in front of the entrance at SmartForest 2026
Leonard Sauter of Skyseed GmbH presents “Skalierbare Resilienz: Biotechnisch optimierte Direktsaat als Antwort auf den Waldumbau im Klimawandel” during SmartForest 2026
A classroom full of people pay attention as Leonard Sauter of Skyseed GmbH presents at SmartForest 2026
A presenter at SmartForest 2026
Conference participants walk, sit, and chat outside during SmartForest 2026
Richard Georgi of OGF presents his company's expertise during SmartForest 2026
A presentation on the challenges in forest management during one of the in-depth sessions at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Kaori Otsu of CREAF presents at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Kaori Otsu of CREAF presents „Integration of regional and national forest inventories in Spain for data exchange and geospatial visualisation“ at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Lars Waser of WSL presents “Praxis trifft Pixel: Gemeinsame Entwicklung der nächsten Generation von Wald-Fernerkundungsprodukten.” during SmartForest 2026
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Ligocki of Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences presents on the project KIBrain during SmartForest 2026
A presenter gestures as he addresses the crowd during an in-depth session at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Kaori Otsu, as seen from the audience during SmartForest 2026
A speaker shows a map to the audience at SmartForest 2026
Large projected Powerpoints being used by the speakers at SmartForest 2026
Tanja Kempen of HAWK presents “TrailScan: QGIS-Plugin zur Kartierung von Rückegassen in Laserscanning Daten” during a SmartForest 2026 In-Depth Session
Simone Massaro of Ghent University, Dr. Kaori Otsu of CREAF, and Prof. Dr. Thomas Purfürst of Dresden University of Technology answer questions from the crowd during SmartForest 2026
SmartForest 2026 organiser Franziska Hochenegger, of wetransform, smiles at the camera during the conference.
Franziska Hochenegger ties back her hair as she checks a laptop at the SmartForest 2026 reception desk. She is flanked by wetransform colleagues Ronald Kilian and Ramona Resch.
Many attendees of SmartForest 2026 stand outside the conference building, chatting in small groups.
A pair of SmartForest 2026 attendees chats beside the conference's welcome banner
SmartForest 2026 participants have chats, drinks, and snacks outdoors during a conference break.
Two SmartForest 2026 conference participants chat over coffee and tea during a break.
A large number of SmartForest 2026 conference partipants stand outside in small groups, chatting and smiling in the sun.
Dr. Sarah Brandt of Fraunhofer IESE presents "Ein Digitaler Zwilling des Waldes als Werkzeug zur Simulation von Baumstress und zur Überbrückung der Lücke zwischen Forstwissenschaft und Praxis" at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Mirela Beloiu Schwenke of ETH Zürich presents "Bridging remote sensing and modelling: Benchmark data for future forests" during SmartForest 2026
Dr. Mirela Beloiu Schwenke of ETH Zürich displays a map during her presentation at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Christoph Hartebrodt of the Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsanstalt presents „Vertikale Datenräume: Chancen und Herausforderungen für das forstliche Krisenmanagement am Beispiel des Waldbrand-Management-Informationssystems Baden-Württemberg“ during SmartForest 2026
Dr. Christoph Hartebrodt of the FVA Baden-Württemberg presents challenges and solutions during an in-depth session at SmartForest 2026
A crowd of people in a bright and sunny classroom during an in-depth session presentation at SmartForest 2026
A presentation in one of the two lecturing halls during SmartForest 2026
Josafat-Mattias Burmeister of the university of Potsdam presents “treeX: Unsupervised Tree Instance Segmentation in Dense Forest Point Clouds” at SmartForest 2026
A presentation on treeX during SmartForest 2026
A presentation on Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. during SmartForest 2026
Lukas Stopfer of the University of Freiburg presents “Digitale Identität: Vom Einzelstamm bis zum Sägewerk” at SmartForest 2026
A panel of experts answers questions from the crowd at SmartForest 2026
A participant enjoys the sunlight and a hot drink whilst awaiting an outdoor presentation at SmartForest 2026
A presentation by Niedersächsische Landesforsten during the in-depth sessions of SmartForest 2026
A presenter addresses the crowd in the auditorium during SmartForest 2026
A presentation in Lecture Hall 21 of the TU Munich's building in Freising. The crowd pays attention as the speaker points at a slide labelled "Instance detection F1-score"
A speaker shows a large amount of graphs to the crowd at SmartForest 2026
A presentation on forestry in Bavaria during SmartForest 2026
An in-depth session during SmartForest 2026
Sonja Maas of the University of Würzburg presents “Comparing Tree Metrics Across different LiDAR Platforms in a Mature Beech Stand“ at SmartForest 2026
A speaker exchanges ideas with the crowd at SmartForest 2026 as the session moderator looks on.
A presentation showing its project's goals during SmartForest 2026
A speaker at SmartForest 2026 shows contact information on a slide. "Do you want to become a part of the data pool initiative? Please get in touch"
A speaker gestures at the projected slide during SmartForest 2026
Anja Krauth, M.Eng. of Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences presents “ForestBots – Nachhaltige Schwarmintelligenz für die automatisierte Wiederaufforstung” at SmartForest 2026
A presentation on robotic reforestation by Anja Krauth of Ostfalia at SmartForest 2026
Martin Roth welcomes people to the WOOD.IN.VISION outdoor session during SmartForest 2026, for which a large television has been put on the lawn
Two participants shake hands as they walk away from an outdoor session at SmartForest 2026
A circle discussion during the SmartForest 2026 Data Ecosystem Laboratory
Dr. Werner Rammer of the TU Munich welcomes the crowd to SmartForest 2026. There is a large projection screen behind him, on which "ZENTRUM WALD FORST HOLZ" and the wetransform logo re visible, alongside an aerial picture of the conference area, with an arrow indicating the building.
A crowd of attendees fills the foyer at SmartForest 2026, chatting over coffee. To the right is a long table bearing coffee urns, cartons of milk, crates of croissants and other baked goods.
A crowd, dressed primarily in hues of green and grey, fills the seats of a lecture hall during SmartForest 2026.
Participants of a SmartForest 2026 outdoor session have a chat in the woods as tree scanning technology is being demonstrated.
People examine their programme booklets in an auditorium at the SmartForest 2026 conference
A SmartForest 2026 In-Depth Session. Part of a circle of people is visible, seated on wooden chairs in a classroom, engaged in discussion.
A full auditorium at SmartForest 2026.
A crowd of people listens attentively as they sit on wood-and-metal auditorium seating at SmartForest 2026
Shot from the back of the room at SmartForest 2026 as Dr. Werner Rammer introduces keynote speaker Stefano Puliti.
Thomas Breunig, Nina Meyer, and Stephan Philipp exchange ideas on communication in front of a crowd at SmartForest 2026. In the background, their respective presentations are listed on a projected slide.
Stefano Puliti of NIBIO smiles as he addresses the crowd at SmartForest 2026
wetransform CEO Thorsten Reitz sits with a laptop on his knees, engaged in discussion with a circle of other participants at SmartForest 2026.
A crowd dressed primarily in green, seen from the back, seated in a full lecturing hall during a presentation at SmartForest 2026. Several people have their laptops open in front of them and one person is taking a picture with a smartphone.
A few groups of people stand about chatting, eating, and drinking during the forestry conference SmartForest 2026, at the TU Munich's campus in Freising.
wetransform CEO Thorsten Reitz, a bearded man in a blue suit, addresses the crowd during his keynote at SmartForest 2026
People sit on picnic benches and steps outside the TU Munich's building in Freising, engaged in various discussions during SmartForest 2026.
The crowd listens as wetransform CEO Thorsten Reitz presents his keynote at SmartForest 2026
A varied crowd of people fills the auditorium's benches at SmartForest 2026.
A crowd of people listens diligently as Stefano Puliti of NIBIO presents his keynote
Prof. Dr. Thomas Purfürst presents “Operational Digital Twins for Smart Forestry: From LiDAR to Data Spaces” at SmartForest 2026
A SmartForest 2026 speaker reaches up towards the screen as he explains something.
Richard Georgi of OGF GmbH gestures as he presents to the crowd at SmartForest 2026
Simone Massaro of Q-ForestLab at Ghent University stands in front of a blackboard, gesturing as he addresses the seated crowd in the auditorium at SmartForest 2026
Tanja Kempen of HAWK smiles at the crowd gathered for her presentation “TrailScan: QGIS-Plugin zur Kartierung von Rückegassen in Laserscanning Daten”, the final slide of which is projected on the wall. To the right of the projection stands session moderator Nancy Lazecky.
A panel of forestry experts from various backgrounds addresses questions from the crowd at SmartForest 2026
Sweet treats, such as muffins, cake, and fruit platters, are ready to be served at SmartForest 2026.
The entrance to SmartForest 2026. A SmartForest-branded roll-up banner stands beside large double doors to welcome guests to the conference on a sunny day.
Various participants take advantage of the sun to have chats outside the building during SmartForest 2026
Conference participants engage in discussions outdoors during SmartForest 2026.
Dr. Werner Rammer of the TU Munich talks to other attendees in the pleasantly crowded foyer during SmartForest 2026. Many people have cups of tea or coffee in hand and people are picking out pastries from a long table off to the right.
SmartForest 2026 participants chat in the foyer during the conference.
A speaker at SmartForest 2026 stands behind the lectern, hand on hip, addressing the crowd
The door to the SmartForest 2026 In-Depth sessions is beside a large mounted cross-section of a tree.
Martin Roth, forest manager in the Lake Constance district, smiles at the camera as he stands outdoors between a WOOD.IN.VISION banner and large television screen.
A group of SmartForest 2026 attendees out in the forest. They are standing in a circle among the fallen leafs as they listen to Stephan Philipp of the Vorarlberg Provincial Government during an outdoor conference session.
Stephan Philipp of the Vorarlberg Provincial Government addresses the crowd during a SmartForest 2026 Outdoor Session
Kilian Hochholzer presents "The two approaches: assessing resilience of post-disturbance forests across Central Europe using computer-vision foundation models and visual language models" during SmartForest 2026
A green, horizontal SmartForest banner hangs outside during the conference. Behind it, various attendees are walking back towards the entrance after a sunny outdoor session in the nearby forest.
Stefano Puliti of Nibio talks to another attendee outside of SmartForest 2026. Around them, others are also taking advantage of the nice weather to chat in pairs or small groups.
The crowd pays close attention during a presentation at SmartForest 2026
A speaker addresses the crowd during one of the German presentations at SmartForest 2026
Participants engage in discussions during one of SmartForest 2026's In-Depth sessions
Lado Basilidze of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano presents during an in-depth session at SmartForest 2026
Ina Wilken of palos GmbH addresses the SmartForest crowd during an outdoor-session
Ina Wilken of palos GmbH demonstrates smartphone-based forestry software during an outdoor session at SmartForest 2026.
A presentation on digital twins in forestry during SmartForest 2026
Handwritten notes in German, pinned to a blue board at SmartForest 2026. They centre around the question of what protecting a forest means.
Thorsten Reitz, CEO of wetransform, addresses the crowd at SmartForest 2026
The crowd listens attentively during Thorsten Reitz' presentation at SmartForest 2026
wetransform CEO Thorsten Reitz stands in front of a projected slide displaying a picture of the wetransform team, as well as the SmartForest logo
Ramona Resch and Ronald Kilian, both of wetransform and the SmartForest organisation team, at the reception during SmartForest 2026
Participants make their way through the crowded foyer during one of the breaks at SmartForest 2026
Conference participants chat in front of the entrance at SmartForest 2026
Leonard Sauter of Skyseed GmbH presents “Skalierbare Resilienz: Biotechnisch optimierte Direktsaat als Antwort auf den Waldumbau im Klimawandel” during SmartForest 2026
A classroom full of people pay attention as Leonard Sauter of Skyseed GmbH presents at SmartForest 2026
A presenter at SmartForest 2026
Conference participants walk, sit, and chat outside during SmartForest 2026
Richard Georgi of OGF presents his company's expertise during SmartForest 2026
A presentation on the challenges in forest management during one of the in-depth sessions at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Kaori Otsu of CREAF presents at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Kaori Otsu of CREAF presents „Integration of regional and national forest inventories in Spain for data exchange and geospatial visualisation“ at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Lars Waser of WSL presents “Praxis trifft Pixel: Gemeinsame Entwicklung der nächsten Generation von Wald-Fernerkundungsprodukten.” during SmartForest 2026
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Ligocki of Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences presents on the project KIBrain during SmartForest 2026
A presenter gestures as he addresses the crowd during an in-depth session at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Kaori Otsu, as seen from the audience during SmartForest 2026
A speaker shows a map to the audience at SmartForest 2026
Large projected Powerpoints being used by the speakers at SmartForest 2026
Tanja Kempen of HAWK presents “TrailScan: QGIS-Plugin zur Kartierung von Rückegassen in Laserscanning Daten” during a SmartForest 2026 In-Depth Session
Simone Massaro of Ghent University, Dr. Kaori Otsu of CREAF, and Prof. Dr. Thomas Purfürst of Dresden University of Technology answer questions from the crowd during SmartForest 2026
SmartForest 2026 organiser Franziska Hochenegger, of wetransform, smiles at the camera during the conference.
Franziska Hochenegger ties back her hair as she checks a laptop at the SmartForest 2026 reception desk. She is flanked by wetransform colleagues Ronald Kilian and Ramona Resch.
Many attendees of SmartForest 2026 stand outside the conference building, chatting in small groups.
A pair of SmartForest 2026 attendees chats beside the conference's welcome banner
SmartForest 2026 participants have chats, drinks, and snacks outdoors during a conference break.
Two SmartForest 2026 conference participants chat over coffee and tea during a break.
A large number of SmartForest 2026 conference partipants stand outside in small groups, chatting and smiling in the sun.
Dr. Sarah Brandt of Fraunhofer IESE presents "Ein Digitaler Zwilling des Waldes als Werkzeug zur Simulation von Baumstress und zur Überbrückung der Lücke zwischen Forstwissenschaft und Praxis" at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Mirela Beloiu Schwenke of ETH Zürich presents "Bridging remote sensing and modelling: Benchmark data for future forests" during SmartForest 2026
Dr. Mirela Beloiu Schwenke of ETH Zürich displays a map during her presentation at SmartForest 2026
Dr. Christoph Hartebrodt of the Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsanstalt presents „Vertikale Datenräume: Chancen und Herausforderungen für das forstliche Krisenmanagement am Beispiel des Waldbrand-Management-Informationssystems Baden-Württemberg“ during SmartForest 2026
Dr. Christoph Hartebrodt of the FVA Baden-Württemberg presents challenges and solutions during an in-depth session at SmartForest 2026
A crowd of people in a bright and sunny classroom during an in-depth session presentation at SmartForest 2026
A presentation in one of the two lecturing halls during SmartForest 2026
Josafat-Mattias Burmeister of the university of Potsdam presents “treeX: Unsupervised Tree Instance Segmentation in Dense Forest Point Clouds” at SmartForest 2026
A presentation on treeX during SmartForest 2026
A presentation on Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. during SmartForest 2026
Lukas Stopfer of the University of Freiburg presents “Digitale Identität: Vom Einzelstamm bis zum Sägewerk” at SmartForest 2026
A panel of experts answers questions from the crowd at SmartForest 2026
A participant enjoys the sunlight and a hot drink whilst awaiting an outdoor presentation at SmartForest 2026
A presentation by Niedersächsische Landesforsten during the in-depth sessions of SmartForest 2026
A presenter addresses the crowd in the auditorium during SmartForest 2026
A presentation in Lecture Hall 21 of the TU Munich's building in Freising. The crowd pays attention as the speaker points at a slide labelled "Instance detection F1-score"
A speaker shows a large amount of graphs to the crowd at SmartForest 2026
A presentation on forestry in Bavaria during SmartForest 2026
An in-depth session during SmartForest 2026
Sonja Maas of the University of Würzburg presents “Comparing Tree Metrics Across different LiDAR Platforms in a Mature Beech Stand“ at SmartForest 2026
A speaker exchanges ideas with the crowd at SmartForest 2026 as the session moderator looks on.
A presentation showing its project's goals during SmartForest 2026
A speaker at SmartForest 2026 shows contact information on a slide. "Do you want to become a part of the data pool initiative? Please get in touch"
A speaker gestures at the projected slide during SmartForest 2026
Anja Krauth, M.Eng. of Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences presents “ForestBots – Nachhaltige Schwarmintelligenz für die automatisierte Wiederaufforstung” at SmartForest 2026
A presentation on robotic reforestation by Anja Krauth of Ostfalia at SmartForest 2026
Martin Roth welcomes people to the WOOD.IN.VISION outdoor session during SmartForest 2026, for which a large television has been put on the lawn
Two participants shake hands as they walk away from an outdoor session at SmartForest 2026
A circle discussion during the SmartForest 2026 Data Ecosystem Laboratory

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