Partnerships
FOREST Partnership
Partnership website: https://forest-partnership.eu/
This partnership, which started on 1 June 2026, focuses on sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation, and climate resilience, supporting the bioeconomy and rural development.
About the partnership
FOREST is a ten-year Horizon Europe co-funded partnership which is coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland. It brings together nearly 100 organisations from 28 countries to align research and innovation investment across forests, forestry and the forest-based sector. Its objective is to accelerate the transition towards resilient, biodiverse and multifunctional forests, sustainable forest management, and a competitive circular forest-based bioeconomy.
The partnership connects ministries and research-funding organisations with research bodies, public authorities, industry and other stakeholders. By pooling expertise and resources across borders, FOREST aims to reduce fragmentation, strengthen climate adaptation and biodiversity, support ecosystem health, and develop innovative wood-based products, value chains, markets and governance approaches. More information is available on the FOREST Partnership website.
Strategic direction and activities
The Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) provides the common framework for joint calls, foresight, portfolio analysis and other coordinated activities. It translates shared European priorities into actions across the full forest system and will be updated through horizon scanning and stakeholder engagement.
FOREST plans seven co-funded calls. The first call, FORESTPathways – Building Knowledge and Solutions for Resilient Forests and Sustainable Forest-Based Futures, opened on 15 September 2026 with an indicative public budget of up to €40 million. It covers four topics: climate-resilient forest systems; adaptive and multifunctional forest management; timber and innovative wood-based products; and forest value chains, markets and governance.
Contacts
Partnership coordinator: Mika Kallio, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland mika.kallio@gov.fi
Joint Call 2026 Call Office: calloffice-jc2026@forest-partnership.eu
Contact for public research organisations based in Flanders: Toon Monbaliu europe@fwo.be
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!
Pascal Verheye
pascal.verheye@vlaio.be
