European Arboricultural Council

Name

European Arboricultural Council

Legal name

European Arboricultural Council e. V.

Website

https://eac-arboriculture.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Certification Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (1153)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Arborist Consulting, Tree Risk Assessments & Appraisals (HSAIADAJ)

Keywords

• Arboricultural certification
• Professional tree care
• Urban forestry standards
• Tree worker qualification
• Arborist professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Bad Honnef

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Professional Certification Fees: Revenue from administering ETW and ETT certification examinations at accredited centers across Europe. Candidates pay examination fees to national certification centers.
2. Membership Dues: Revenue from national arboricultural organizations that are members of EAC. Delegates from member countries participate in EAC governance and certification.
3. Publications and Handbooks: Sale of trilingual ETW Handbook and other professional publications. EAC Guides, curriculum documents, and certification materials available for purchase.
4. R&D Grant Administration: EAC administers grant programs with external funding from SAG and other partners. Grants are distributed to selected research projects in arboriculture.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The European Arboricultural Council develops and administers standardised professional certification programmes for arboricultural workers and technicians (ETW and ETT) as well as a Veteran Tree Specialist qualification. It runs the annual European City of the Trees (ECOT) award for municipalities, manages an R&D grant scheme for tree-related research, and coordinates a pan-European network of national arboricultural associations.

Product overview

The European Arboricultural Council (EAC) is a forum for delegates from European arboricultural organizations that develops and manages certification programs for tree care professionals and an annual award for cities. The core offerings include the European Tree Worker (ETW) certification for tree care operatives, the European Tree Technician (ETT) certification for supervisory/management roles, and the European City of the Trees (ECOT) award for cities. EAC also operates the Veteran Tree Specialist certification, the R&D Grant Scheme for arboricultural research, and maintains the Vetcert partnership program. These programs work together to elevate standards in European arboriculture through standardized certification, recognition of excellence, and research support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• European Tree Worker (ETW) Certification Standardised certification for professional tree workers, covering safe climbing, pruning, felling, and tree-care operations. Aimed at practising arborists and tree surgeons across Europe; awarded through accredited certification centres.
• European Tree Technician (ETT) Certification Higher-level qualification for tree-care technicians with supervisory or technical-advisory responsibility. Builds on the ETW certification and targets senior practitioners managing tree-care operations.
• European City of the Trees (ECOT) Award Annual award given to a European municipality in recognition of its urban tree management, public green-space programme, and citizen engagement around trees. Targets city governments and municipal green-space authorities.
• Veteran Tree Specialist Certification Specialist qualification for arborists working with ancient and veteran trees, addressing the niche expertise of heritage-tree management and conservation. Targeted at experienced practitioners expanding into veteran-tree work.
• EAC R&D Grant Scheme Grant-funding mechanism administered by the EAC for tree-related research and development projects. Funds academic and applied research into arboriculture, urban forestry, and tree science.

Quantifiable outcome

• Mutual recognition of ETW diploma across all EAC member countries enabling cross-border employment
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• KASK S.p.a.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 October 2024KASK provided 40 new safety helmets with hearing and eye protection for EAC Supervisors at ETW and ETT examinations across Europe. Partnership initiated by UK supervisor Craig Johnson.
• VETCERTcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVeterinary Certification partnership for arboriculture. VETCERT logo displayed on EAC website alongside other EAC certifications (ETW, ETT, ECOT).
• Bulduri Horticulture School (Latvia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead partner in Erasmus+ ETT project (2020-2023). Coordinated development of Extended ETT Curriculum, ETT Exam Competence Matrix, ETT Manual, and ETT Study Guide.
• VIVES University College (Belgium)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Erasmus+ ETT Strategic Partnership Project supporting adaptation and promotion of European Tree Technician qualifications.
• PC Bomen (Netherlands)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Erasmus+ ETT project focusing on training and certification of European Tree Technicians.
• SkovByKon (Denmark)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Erasmus+ ETT project contributing to development of European Tree Technician qualification standards.
• The Tree Institute (Poland)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Erasmus+ ETT project for promotion of European Tree Technician qualifications across Europe.
• Swedish Arborist Federation SAF (Sweden)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Erasmus+ ETT project representing Swedish arboricultural interests in European qualification harmonization.
• Luua Forest School (Estonia)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Erasmus+ ETT project contributing to training and certification center development.
• International Society of Arboriculture (ISA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEAC and ISA have agreement to acknowledge each other's certifications. ETW Climbing certificate holders may apply for ISA Certified Tree Worker Climber Specialist, and vice versa.
• Standing Conference of Garden Managers (GALK)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman competition organizer for ECOT 2025 award. Shortlisted and inspected candidate cities including Bonn, Hamburg, and Leipzig.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Society of Municipal Arborists (SMA): A US-based organization focused on municipal arborists and urban forestry professionals. SMA's emphasis on city-level tree management parallels EAC's ECOT Award program and municipal customer engagement.
• International Society of Arboriculture (ISA): ISA is the leading global arborist professional body (US-headquartered) that issues the Certified Arborist and Certified Tree Worker credentials. EAC's mutual-recognition agreement with ISA makes it the closest functional peer — both certify arborists to comparable standards and operate member-driven networks.
• Arboricultural Association (UK): The UK national professional body for arboriculture that issues its own Technician and Professional Arb certifications and operates as a member organization. EAC works alongside it via the network of national member organizations, making it a direct functional and structural peer.

Broad incumbents

• European Forest Institute (EFI): EFI is a pan-European intergovernmental research organization supporting forest policy and sustainability across 30+ member countries. While EAC focuses on professional arborist certification, EFI operates a related but broader mandate covering European forests and policy.

Emerging players

• Trees for Cities: A UK-registered charity that plants urban trees and runs corporate and municipal greening programs across European and global cities. It overlaps EAC's urban-arboriculture advocacy space (especially ECOT Award winners) but focuses on planting/advocacy rather than professional certification.
• Centre for Urban Forest Research (US Forest Service): A US public-sector research entity developing scientific models and tools for urban forestry planning. Comparability is partial — both generate evidence-based outputs feeding arboricultural practice, but CUFR is research-led while EAC is standards-led.

Others

• International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO): IUFRO is the global network for forest science collaboration, coordinating research working groups across countries. It is thematically comparable to EAC's R&D Grant Scheme but operates at the research rather than professional-certification layer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@EAC-trees
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/european-arboricultural-council

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about European Arboricultural Council