All doctoral students face the challenge of putting their own research in relation to the contemporary research community. How does the research add to the existing knowledge? We wanted to use the opportunity when many excellent lecturers and doctoral students were gathered at the same time. That’s why we decided to arrange a course as a pre-conference event. The course will give an overview of contemporary research in urban forestry with a focus on understanding of ecosystem function and provision of ecosystem services by urban forests. The purpose of the course is to enhance the participant’s ability to contextualize their research. After completing the course the participants should be able to better relate their own research to contemporary urban forestry research in terms of methods, research issues and benefits for society.