From October 7th to 14th, we organised the 1st International Training School in Wood Identification at the University of Suceava in Romania. Nine participants from Europe (Romania, Ireland, Poland, Italy) and one from South Africa joined the event. We provided a microscope, wood samples and a set of slides for each pair of participants.

When planning the training school, we had in mind participants with no previous knowledge of wood identification but with an interest in learning it. We kicked off the week discussing how plants work and how wood supports their functioning. Then, we introduced the wood cell types and described fundamental wood structure-to-function relationships. Understanding the role of wood cells in living plants was an excellent way for the participants to understand and better remember wood identification features. On the second day, we introduced macroscopic and microscopic features useful in wood identification. Most participants were surprised when they could see with a 12x magnification lens many of the features presented in the IAWA hardwood and softwood lists for microscopic identification. We visited and discussed sampling strategies on the third day at the Bucovina Village Museum in Suceava. Wooden houses from the region, including their furniture, are preserved in this open-air museum, offering a variety of wood-made objects to be analysed for identification. However, it wasn't until day four that we introduced the resources and methods for wood identification. It was a "Wow!" day. Participants knew the wood characters well then, so they quickly used the identification keys, software and Insidewood. Many brought their samples for wood identification and successfully identified them by themselves. We introduced axial and radial stem anatomical variations and specific anomalies on the last day. Three afternoons were fully dedicated to practising wood identification.

Alongside the training school, we organised an exhibition of 40 wood photomicrographs at the University exhibition space. Before lectures, we started discussing anatomical features at the show, attracting the curiosity of local forestry students and lecturers.



Fig. 1. (A) The cousy atmosphere in the classroom devoted to forest botany studies, equipped with transmitted and reflected light microscopes. (B) The 10 participants and three organisers of the 1st International Training School in Wood Identification during the excursion at the Bucovina Village Museum in Suceava. (C) Students visiting the exhibition of forty pictures from double-stained wood anatomical sections obtained from various local species at different magnifications.

The positive feedback provided by the participants calls for a following edition. We anticipate organising the 2nd International Training School in Wood Identification in October 2024.