It was a pleasure hosting this joint conference of IUFRO Div. 8 and IUFRO Working Group 1.01.08 and welcoming you to the University of Alberta.

The conference focused on benefits, issues, and options associated with growing and managing spruce in mixed forests. The conference program included invited keynote speakers, volunteer presentations, a panel discussion, and a poster session.

There were 60 partipants representing 14 countries (Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, UK and USA) attending. Plenary and technical presentations during the 3 day conference were generally outstanding and were often followed by interesting discussions. The closing plenary served to highlight the challenges that managers face when dealing with complex problems that growing mixtures present, offered a number of valuable insights into the benefits of growing spruce in mixtures, and suggested ways to communicate the values associated with mixtures and ways to overcome uncertainty and inertia.
Twelve conference delegates participated in the post Conference tour August 14-20 where we focused on the sustainable management of boreal and montane forests in Alberta for multiple values.

Members of the conference planning committee are:
Phil Comeau (Conference Chair), University of Alberta, Canada
Bill Mason, Forestry Research, UK
Ulf Johannson, SLU, Sweden
Alex Mosseler, Canadian Forest Service, Atlantic Forestry Centre, Canada
Erin Fraser, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Canada
Ellen Macdonald, University of Alberta, Canada
We gratefully acknowledge financial support provided by the Government of Alberta, the University of Alberta Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, the Alberta Forest Products Association, the College of Alberta Professional Foresters, and the EUMIXFOR Cost Action. We are also grateful for assistance provided by staff in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences and at the Univ. of Alberta Conference Centre.

Selected papers from the conference will be published in a special issue of the Canadian Journal of Forest Research.  Submitted papers will need to meet the standards set by the Canadian Journal of Forestry Research in order to be accepted for publication.  Authors must follow the instructions for formatting and submitting manuscripts to the Canadian Journal of Forest Research (http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/cjfr/authors#new).  Manuscripts must be submitted through the ScholarOne online submission system (https://mc06.manuscriptcentral.com/cjfr-pubs).  Deadline for submission of manuscripts for inclusion in the IUFRO Spruce 2015 Special Issue is November 30, 2015.

We anticipate that this special issue will be available online in late 2016.