The FREE3 COST Innovators Grant (Action IG20132) successfully hosted its final meeting at the University of Málaga, Spain, bringing together leading researchers and municipal practitioners from 13 European countries, including Greece, Serbia, Sweden, Türkiye, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Romania, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.

The focused two-day meeting provided an invaluable platform to review key outputs, demonstrate digital innovations, and map out strategic pathways for future collaboration in urban forestry and biosecurity across diverse European contexts.

The comprehensive programme combined technical review, interactive demonstrations, and forward-looking strategic discussions, successfully advancing the following core areas:

• Work package leads presented synthesized progress reports, detailing core achievements, operational challenges, and overall project outcomes across all key deliverables.

• Attendees participated in live demonstrations of the newly developed QGIS plugin and RShiny app, providing direct practitioner feedback to fine-tune usability and analytical precision.

• Working groups engaged in collaborative roundtable sessions to identify priority areas for ongoing research, expanding platform capabilities, and driving joint scientific publications.

• Delegates explored strategic avenues for sustained impact, laying the groundwork for upcoming Horizon Europe proposals and new COST Action initiatives.

The successful conclusion of the final meeting highlights FREE3’s ongoing dedication to bridging digital innovation and practical urban forestry, empowering European research networks and city administrations with collaborative tools to safeguard urban green infrastructure.