Learn with Us
Our strategic aim is to to meet the needs for practical forestry and woodland education, and we do this through running a wide range of educational activities. These can be categorised into four types of activity. All our activities provide an element of continuing professional development (CPD).
Our upcoming events
You can find a full listing of all our upcoming events on our events page.
We ask that event participants come to events prepared and ready, by reading our risk assessment guidance in advance.
1. Skills Workshops
This is a programme of workshops run by forestry professionals who bring expertise on a range of hot topics.
The workshops are held in-person, in small groups, with plenty of opportunity for questions and discussions. They are practical in nature, and provide a great way to build learning, make connections with others who work in the sector, and develop a deeper understanding of the topic.
There is a charge to attend these workshops, with a discount for RSFS members.
2. Regional Field Days
These are a series of day-visits to diverse forests and woodlands across Scotland. They are open to the general public as well as RSFS members, and are organised by the volunteers of our five regional committees.
Regional field days are mostly free of charge, with a suggested optional donation of £3 or £10 for members, and £15 for non-members.
Regional field days cover a mix of commercial forest, public forest and estate woodlands. They are inclusive and all are welcome. They provide a great opportunity to see new parts of Scotland, discuss forestry management decisions, and network with old and new friends.
You can read more about previous regional field days in 2024 and 2025.
3. Online events
Our in person events run mostly in the Spring and Summer but in the Autumn and Winter months we have a series of online talks featuring a mixture of practitioners, authors, experts and researchers. The series is called Forest Lights and runs in the evenings. Sample topics from this year’s series included dendrochronology, comparing two amazonian forests, co-existing with wildfires, and a creating a woodland for a community.
Online events are free of charge, and where permitted recordings are made available afterwards to members.
4. Annual Study Tour
The society has been holding annual study tours since its inception, and the event remains the pinnacle of our RSFS calendar. Hosted by a different regional committee each year, the study tour is a three-day event that allows for a deeper exploration of forestry in a region. Participants can come to the entire tour, or opt to sign up for a specific day or days. The annual study tour is open to everyone with an interest in Scotland’s forests and non-members are welcome. An inclusive and welcoming event, the study tour includes a networking session particularly aimed at those who are new to the sector or who haven’t attended a tour before, a formal dinner, and our society AGM. As well as that we have approximately five visits to commercial, public and private woodlands, with plenty of opportunity for discussion and debate.
The annual study tour is a paid event, with discounts for members and bursaries available for students and early career foresters. Participants are asked to make their own accommodation arrangements.
This year’s Annual Study Tour
This year's Annual Study tour is in Kelso from 1-4 June. For full information, and booking form, please visit the Annual Study Tour description on the events page.
You can view the tour brochure below:
RSFS Annual Study Tour 2026Our online community space
Members can also share learning, ideas, questions, advice and memories in our facebook community (members only).
Our cancellation policy
We appreciate that sometimes participants have to cancel their place on one of our events, and that oftentimes this is unavoidable. However, cancellations can lead to disruption for event presenters, organisers and fellow attendees. To minimise this we implement the following cancellation policy.
Skills workshops and Annual Study Tour (paid events)
- Cancel 14+ days before: Full refund
- Cancel 7–13 days before: 50% refund
- Cancel less than 7 days before: No refund
Regional Field Days (occasionally paid events)
- Cancel 7+ days before: Full refund
- Cancel less than 7 days before: No refund
- Online events (free)
Please let us know if you can’t make it so we can monitor event numbers. There might be a minimum number of participants for the event to run.
Can’t make it? You can send someone in your place at no extra cost—just let us know at least 48 hours before. A member sending a non-member in their place will be liable to a surcharge.
If we need to cancel an event, you’ll get a full refund.
For questions or cancellations, email us at membership@rsfs.org.uk
Corporate volunteering days
If your organisation is interested in organising a corporate volunteering day with RSFS, to spend time in a forest, learn about sustainable forestry and help with some planting please get in touch at director@rsfs.org.uk