In the frame of the International Year of Forests, Urban and Peri-urban Forestry has been recognized as one of the important, emerging issues in forestry sector, addressed both to the environmental and to the social aspects, that can tackle a wide range of weaknesses and threats of the expanding urban world. Urban and Peri- urban Forestry is well rooted in Central-North Europe and North America and it is emerging as a key-issue in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as in Asia. That will be the frame of the Workshop: MED-ways - Common challenges of Urban and Peri-urban Forestry in Mediterranean cities, ongoing today, 16th Decembere in Florence, Italy.