Category: Stakeholder

The EUFORE project supports the establishment of a European Partnership on Forests and Forestry by developing a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), co-created with stakeholders. We have kicked-off this process by holding six regional workshops across the autumn of 2023 – thank you very much to all those who have participated!

Each regional workshop had representatives from all four stakeholder branches (research, government, business and civil society). Participants discussed what they see as the most important future research and innovation topics.

The SRIA focuses on four main thematic areas: “Forest ecology”, “Forest management”, “Forest products” and “Social aspects and policy”. From our workshops we received over 2,200 comments and ideas for those four themes, which will now be analysed, and fed into the SRIA drafting process!

What happens next?

Later this autumn, we will distribute a stakeholder survey across Europe, to capture more opinions and priorities. Together with the outcomes of the regional workshops, these contributions will be used by our four Thematic Working Groups, which will start to draft their chapters of the SRIA. A European stakeholder workshop in December 2023 will help us co-create and iterate the research and innovation priorities further.

The aim is for draft chapters of the SRIA to be available in January 2024 – they will then be adapted and developed further with stakeholders so the final SRIA is planned to be presented in 2025.

_{Photo by Kvalifik on Unsplash}

Designing the future of European forest research

EUFORE European stakeholder workshop, 13 December 2023, Brussels

Aim

Co-creating the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for forest-related research

Target audience

European-level stakeholders from Industry & Business, Research, Civil Society and Governance & Regulators.

Description

This is the first of four European-level stakeholder workshops, organised by the EU project EUFORE. EUFORE supports the establishment of a European Partnership on Forests and Forestry, by developing a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), co-created with stakeholders.

This workshop contributes to the co-creation of the SRIA, which focuses on 4 main thematic areas: “Forest ecology”, “Forest management”, “Forest and wood products” and “Social aspects and policy”.

Six regional workshops are being held across the autumn, to discuss with regional stakeholders what they see as the most important future research and innovation topics within these themes. We will also distribute a stakeholder survey across Europe, to capture more opinions and priorities. These contributions will be used by our Thematic Working Groups, which will start to draft the SRIA.

The first initial results of this process will be available in December 2023. At this workshop in Brussels, we hope you can bring your European-level perspective to help us co-create and iterate the research and innovation priorities further. 

Our programme runs from 09:00 to 15:00. Lunch and coffee are included.

• Introductions and welcome
• What are the current status and trends in European forest-based research and innovation?
• (Findings from the EUFORE project, WP1)
• What are the societal perceptions and policy framework of the European forest-based sector?
• (Findings from the EUFORE project, WP2)
• What is the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), and how does it link to the European Partnership process?
• World café on elements of the partnership development
• Conclusions and the next steps

Practicalities

The workshop takes place at the Royal Palace Brussels. More information and how to get there: https://www.visit.brussels/en/professionals/meet/bip-meeting-center?bip-meeting-center=practicalinformation

 

How to register

This workshop is by invitation only.

However, if you are interested in being involved in the co-creation of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for the forestry sector and would like to participate in the workshop, please contact us at and let us know more about you. You can first read more about the ways to get involved in EUFORE on our website.

_{Image: Mikhail Piatrou / AdobeStock}

Our West Atlantic regional stakeholder workshop takes place on 8 September 2023 at 9-13 CET. The workshop will be arranged as a hybrid, with onsite participation in Paris, France and online via Teams. During this workshop the participants will learn about our project goals, and will get an overview of what a European Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) is. EUFORE supports the establishment of a European Partnership on Forestry by developing a SRIA together with our stakeholders.

The workshop contributes to the co-creation of the SRIA by starting the initial collection of R&I themes which should be covered within the SRIA. Our specific focus is to collect region-specific input from the stakeholders, and later on combine them with perspectives collected in the other regional workshops.

This workshop will have participants from France, Ireland, Portugal, and the UK, representing industry and businesses, research; civil society and governance and regulators.

This workshop is by invitation only.

_{Photo by François Rousselet / Unsplash}

Our Nordic regional stakeholder workshop takes place on 4 September 2023 at 12-16 CEST (online meeting via Teams). During this online workshop the participants will learn about our project goals, and will get an overview of what a European Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) is. EUFORE supports the establishment of a European Partnership on Forestry by developing a SRIA together with our stakeholders.

The workshop contributes to the co-creation of the SRIA by starting the initial collection of R&I themes which should be covered within the SRIA. Our specific focus is to collect region specific input from the stakeholders, and later on combine them with perspectives collected in the other regional workshops.

This workshop will have participants from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, representing industry and businesses, research; civil society and governance and regulators.

This workshop is by invitation only. However, if you are from the Nordic/Baltic area and are interested in being involved in the co-creation of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for the forestry sector, please let us know.

For more info, please contact Mika Kallio at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland (MMM), mika.kallio @ gov.fi

^{Photo: Matthew Smith / Unsplash}

The first regional stakeholder workshop held in June 2023 brought together some 30 experts from Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany.

Led by the FNR team, the workshop participants identified their research and innovation priorities in four thematic areas of “Forest ecology”, “Forest management”, “Forest and wood products” and “Social aspects and policy”.

The priorities varied from symbiosis of fungi and trees and the associated positive or negative development of trees to   implementing social campaigns for more forest- and climate-friendly consumer behaviour. Also climate change, bioeconomy, and ecosystem services provided by the forest were brought up repeatedly.

In addition to representatives from universities and forestry research institutions, representatives from ministries at regional and national level, associations of the forestry and timber industry, but also civil society institutions such as NGOs or associations of forest owners participated in the workshop.

What next?

The EUFORE team will next summarise and group the results. Over the coming months, five other workshops will be organised covering the other European regions. The results of the workshops will form the basis for the further process of developing a European strategic research and innovation agenda.

Read more about the workshop: FNR – International: Experts discuss future research and innovation priorities for the forest and wood sectors

If you are in the Mediterranean area (Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Israel, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco) and are interested in being involved in the co-creation of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for the forestry sector, this is an opportunity for you!

Our project partners at MASAF (Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests) are organising the first regional stakeholder workshop for the Mediterranean area on 12 July 2023 at 10-13 CET. This will be an online meeting via Teams, and you are welcome to register here by 5 July.

During the meeting you will get a short introduction to the EUFORE project, hear what European Partnerships mean, and get to discuss forestry strategies both at the European and national levels. Then the workshop proceeds to discuss what the participants see as the initial R&I topics are.

For more info, please contact Silvia Baralla s.baralla @ masaf.gov.it or Dalila Frasson dalila.frasson.ext @ masaf.gov.it

_{Image: Mikhail Piatrou / AdobeStock}