by Mattia Rossi, Martina Mugnaini, Chiara Pratesi
When it comes to managing the risk of falling trees, cities often have clear policies on paper. But what really happens when theory meets reality? This is one of the key questions explored by the TREESURE project in its initial research phase, focusing on three pilot cities across Europe: Cecina in Italy, Soria in Spain and Brasov in Romania.
Urban tree management is typically regulated through local plans, safety protocols and technical guidelines. These documents define responsibilities, outline procedures and aim to ensure that risks are monitored and mitigated effectively. However, understanding how these policies translate into real-world action requires going beyond documentation and looking at how systems actually operate in practice.
Through Task 2.1, TREESURE analysed a wide range of local materials, including policy documents, technical reports and operational guidelines. This review made it possible to identify how tree-related risks are formally addressed, how responsibilities are distributed and which strategies are currently in place to prevent or respond to incidents.
What emerged is a picture that is both structured and fragmented. On one hand, all three cities show the presence of established frameworks for managing urban trees, often aligned with broader environmental and safety regulations. On the other hand, these frameworks do not always translate into clear and coordinated action, especially when multiple actors are involved.
In many cases, responsibilities are distributed across different departments or institutions, which can make coordination more complex. While roles may be defined in official documents, their practical implementation can vary depending on the situation, available resources or communication flows between actors. This creates a gap between what is planned and what is actually feasible in real conditions.
Another key aspect concerns adaptability. Policies are often designed to provide general guidelines, but extreme weather events and unexpected situations require flexible responses. This can challenge existing protocols, especially when rapid decision-making is needed and information is incomplete or evolving.
These findings highlight an important point: effective tree risk management is not only about having the right policies in place, but also about ensuring that they can be applied in dynamic and sometimes unpredictable contexts. Clarity of roles, coordination mechanisms and the ability to adapt to changing conditions are just as important as the policies themselves.
For TREESURE, these insights are essential. They provide the foundation for developing tools that do not simply replicate existing frameworks, but help bridge the gap between planning and action. By understanding how policies function in practice, the project can better support local authorities, practitioners and communities in making more informed and coordinated decisions.
This is only the starting point. In the next article, we will move from institutions to people, exploring how citizens perceive tree-related risks—and how these perceptions can influence decision-making just as much as technical data.