Partnerships

Forests and Forestry for a Sustainable future

Forests and Forestry for a Sustainable future

This Partnership Focuses on sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation, and climate resilience, supporting the bioeconomy and rural development. It is currently under development.

The partnership aim is to promote healthy, biodiverse and resilient forests that are sustainably managed and able to provide a wide range of keyecosystem services, including climate change mitigation through carbon removals and a continuing supply of materials and services for the development of the bioeconomy.


Timeline & key documents

  • More information about the Partnership proposal (2023). The partnership proposal is also further elaborated on in this Commission presentation (November 2024): PowerPoint Presentation
  • In October 2025, the Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda for the European forest-based sector was published by EUFORE, the European Forest Research and Innovation Ecosystem. The SRIA provides a strategic compass for national and European research agendas. In particular, it will inform and be further developed by the forthcoming European Research and Innovation Partnership on Forests and Forestry for a Sustainable Future. It outlines priority areas where scientific excellence and innovation can support evidence-based policymaking, enhance cross-sectoral collaboration, and enable Europe’s forest-based sector to deliver longterm ecological, economic, and social value.

Contact

EUFORE (questions on SRIA): https://eufore.eu/contact-us/
SCAR Strategic Working Group on Forests and Forestry Research and Innovation: RTD-SCAR@ec.europa.eu


What are partnerships?

Partnerships group the EC and private and/or public partners, to coordinate and streamline the research & innovation initiatives and funding in some selected key domains.

How to use partnerships?

  • orientation
    Partnerships publish strategic documents, e.g. outlining the main research and innovation challenges or key focus points.
  • networking
    Partnerships often organise events, such as info days, brokerage events, etc. Meet potential partners and learn about the nuances that are not visible in the official documents.
  • ecosystem analysis
    Partnerships typically have an advisory board, and publish impact studies of previous actions. These are good sources of information to uncover the main R&D&I players in the domain.
  • steering the agenda
    Partnerships collaborate with the EC on outlining the strategy and the future funding opportunities in their domain, based on input from industry, academia, and other stakeholders.
Author Do you have an additional question? Or spotted a mistake? Don't hesitate to contact me!
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Pascal Verheye

pascal.verheye@vlaio.be

Testimonial

Miricle - Mine Risk Clearance for Europe

The Miricle project, ‘Mine Risk Clearance for Europe’, obtained funding under the European Defence Industrial Development programme call ‘Underwater control contributing to resilience at sea’. The main objective of the project was to achieve a European and sovereign capacity in future mine warfare and create a path for the next generation ‘made in Europe’ countermeasure solutions. In order to realise this objective, Miricle addressed various stages: studies, design, prototyping and testing. These stages inter alia included the successful testing of an XL Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, a protototyped mine disposal system and multiple innovative systems to detect buried mines. Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), was one of the five Belgian partners in the consortium. Within the project, VLIZ was able to forward its research on the acoustic imaging of the seabed to spatially map and visualize buried structures and objects - in this case buried mines - in the highest possible detail. VLIZ also led the work on ‘Port and Offshore Testing’, building on the expertise of the institute in the field of marine operations and technology.