The Department of Forest and Natural Environment Sciences is located in Drama, Eastern Macedonia. It is part of the School of Geotechnical Sciences, International Hellenic University (IHU). Housed in a new, privately-owned building with a net area of 4,500 sq.m., it is one of the most competitive and innovative Departments of the University. Its state-of-the-art laboratory facilities include cutting–edge technology research equipment.
Training provided in our department is based on a reformed Curriculum, fully compliant with the Bologna Accord. Curriculum is among the most modern in Europe, providing skills and knowledge in a variety of subjects, valuable for addressing tomorrow's challenges and the needs of the modern forester. At the Department of Forest and Natural Environment Sciences, we designed a program of study that incorporates modern developments in science (breakthrough technologies), based on the following broad scientific areas:
- Ecology & Biodiversity Conservation
- Management, Protection of Natural Resources & Climate Change and
- Landscape Architecture & Restoration.
The Department focuses on scientific areas such as sustainable development, multiple use management of forest and mountainous areas, the study of fauna, flora, ecosystems and the general natural environment, the protection and promotion of nature and natural processes for providing ecosystem services to human societies, development of innovative wood-based materials and eco-composites, preserving, shaping, and highlighting the urban and suburban landscape based on identified social, economic and developmental standards, hydrological and meteorological disaster response, and protection against severe natural phenomena.
The Department of Forest and Natural Environment Sciences has also the great honor and pleasure of hosting the UNESCO Chair Con-E-ECT. The mission of the Chair is to join forces with national, regional and international stakeholders, in order to elaborate an International Common Strategy Framework for the Conservation and Ecotourism of Riparian and Deltaic Ecosystems, which is the first of its kind in the world.
“We are a genuinely caring and supportive Department and you couldn’t ask for a better location to study the forest and natural environment sciences than the city of Drama. The best natural laboratory you could wish for is on our doorstep! We are committed to delivering teaching of the highest standard and proud that our research is rated as some of the highest quality in Greece.”
Professor Antonios Papadopoulos Head of the Department