2019’s Women’s Arb Camp will take place in Finland in August.
The planning for Women’s Arb Camp 2019 is well underway and this year we are hoping to welcome over 40 participants, travelling from all over Europe to Finland for the event on 23–25 August.
The Women’s ArbCamp (WAC) is an initiative to bring together women from within the arb profession in a safe, friendly and fun environment – great for networking and socialising. The all-inclusive event caters for all levels of skill and interests within arboriculture, ranging from climbing and pruning work, to consultancy and business management. I organised the first WAC in 2016, just outside Birmingham. It attracted 18 women from 7 different countries and 2 different continents. From there the event has grown and become an annual fixture with regular participants travelling from most European countries and even North America!
Whether you’re the woman that just wants to ‘have a go’ to see if it’s for you or you’re a climber that has been working in the profession ‘since forever’ you’re guaranteed a warm welcome at WAC!
WAC 2019 is being organised in association with SPY, the Finnish Tree Care Association and our returning main sponsor STEIN. The event will be held outside Turku at Campsite Ruissalon Leirintäalue, where we have booked some cabins. The campsite is right by the coast so make sure you bring your swimwear, and as the event will be in Finland we will take advantage of local customs: a sauna is booked for the Saturday evening!
Overwhelming support
So far the event has been free for all to attend each year courtesy of support from our key sponsors STEIN and our other regular sponsors. The Swedish Tree Care Association, Gustharts, ISC Wales, Grönyte-Konsult and SIP are all supporting the event. We are really excited to find out what they will have in store for us this year, but no doubt it will be some awesome hardware and some cool WAC things. We have had so many companies come on board each year to donate additional items to go in goody bags, as well as prizes for a raffle which we aim to have again this year.
Open to all
The event will have an ‘open plan’ schedule with a few workshops, and participants will be able to pick and choose which workshops they want to attend, with different climbing workshops throughout. WAC encourages participants to share knowledge and thereby help each other in advancing their careers within arb and forestry. As all the participants have different skills we welcome anyone who wishes to hold a workshop or carry out a demonstration. There are lots of opportunities for personal skill development and possibilities of achieving CEUs (continuing education units).
The event also boasts non-climbing activities which may include talks about bats and trees, cranes or grapple trucks, chainsaw maintenance, knots and friction hitches, and tree planting and after care. We’re also hoping to be able to offer everyone the opportunity to visit the local botanical garden in Turku that’ss located nearby.
If you would like to get involved or have any questions, suggestions or ideas please get in touch via email to info@womensarbcamp.com.
You can also find us on Facebook ‘Womens ArbCamp’ or Instagram @womensarbcamp. Check out our new website, subscribe to our mailing list and fill in the participation form at www.womensarbcamp.com.