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Contenido archivado el 2022-12-23

Economic integration of urban consumers' demand and rural forestry production

Objetivo

A. BACKGROUND

Rural development. Rural areas across Europe are facing rapid economic changes. Due to diminishing prospects for financially feasible agriculture and lack of supplementing sources of income, many rural areas are often characterised by high unemployment, narrow occupational base, poor job creation as well as rapid emigration. Yet there is often a large and under-utilised wood and non-wood forest resource - including their use for small- and medium-scale processing, recreation and tourism as well as for amenity purposes - that could be utilised more in job and income creation in rural areas. This valuable forest resource and its variety of local uses are referred to in this Action as rural forestry production.

Urbanisation. Because of urbanisation and more rapid economic growth in urban than rural areas, the highest purchasing power for forest products and services are increasingly found far from the place of products' or services' origin. To increase the use of wood and non-wood forest resources it is therefore essential to meet the demands of the urbanised part of the population. In this Action this aspect is described as urban demand, and it addresses the importance of understanding the characteristics of demand of urbanised people. If this demand can be transformed to new entrepreneurship close to the origin of forest resources it would clearly benefit employment and income in rural areas.

SME in local wood and non-wood processing. The role of enterprises and entrepreneurship in economic development is likely to increase in the future because of the limited possibilities to expand public sector activities in most European countries. Especially in the forest sector, small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) play a central role in the employment of people in local

processing, recreation and forest-based tourism activities. SMEs have an advantage in being able to use local knowledge and locally available material and resources in their production. Furthermore, business opportunities in local forestry-wood-processing-chains, if innovative and competitive also in exogenous markets, can bring the highest added value to rural areas and closer to the origin where trees are growing. Essential for the success of local forest-based enterprises e.g. wood and non-wood processing industries is to find suitable markets niches, build new innovations and have good business management competency.

Small-scale forestry. Forests provide a fundamental basis for ecologically, socially and economically sustainable development in all European countries. At the centre of the actions supporting sustainable forest management are the decisions of approximately 15 million small-scale forestry holdings, covering more than 30 million hectares of land in current EU-member countries, and 7 million hectares in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC). These forests provide the substantial share of the resources used for employing more than 6 million people in forestry and wood processing industries in above-mentioned countries. Among the many problems in small-scale forestry is that often the wood growth is unavailable, for example, for local wood processing industries. This may be, for example, due to low economic importance of forestry to the owners or due to the problems of access to the markets.

European dimension. Small-scale forestry holdings are elementary suppliers of raw material for local SME wood processing industries and a basis for many existing forest based services. Currently, the practises and problems of local forestry-wood-processing-chains, as well as for the means for bringing urban demand on non-wood forest products and services, and their rural supply closer together, vary between forest rich areas, and areas with a higher protective role of forests, for example, against land degradation. A particular problem is different property rights systems that we find in Europe related to the use of services and non-wood products of the forests; different regulations and different level of "privatisation" of the forest resources have direct influences on the possibilities to develop market niches. Because of the strong emphasis on privatisation it is likely that small-scale forestry will gradually increase in importance in many of the EU Candidate countries, as well as in other CEE countries. Private forest holdings in these countries will perhaps face bigger problems than their counterparts in western European countries because of higher step to integrate their production into globalised markets.

Action rationale. To economically integrate especially urban consumers' demands and the supply of various forestry products and services is a promising means to improve business opportunities, employment and income in rural areas. The COST Action will focus on the problems and possible solutions on forest based rural entrepreneurship leading to improved employment and income at the European level. The Action will provide important information for the forest sector in relation to future structural funding schemes where forestry is closely connected to rural development objective.

Why a COST Action? COST provides an excellent framework for bringing added value to national research on forestry, forest sector enterprises in wood and non-wood processing and rural development. The method of work in the Action is networking and the scope of the work to increase the know-how and knowledge base on forest based entrepreneurship with analyses that are based on national research experiences. Thus, the COST Action provides a good opportunity to co-ordinate national research and complement the work conducted under European Union RTD Framework Programme e.g. EU/FAIR Multifunctional Forest for Rural Development (Multifor RD) -project, EU/FAIR Niche Markets for Recreational and Environmental Services (RES) -project and EU/FP5 Evaluating Financing of Forestry in Europe (EFFE) -project and EUREKA -programme (e.g. EUROFOREST -project). It can be expected that with this COST Action new research issues will be elaborated e.g. for European Union RTD Framework Programmes.
I.
II. B. OBJECTIVES AND BENEFITS

The main objective of the Action is to gain better understanding on the problems and possible solutions in forest based entrepreneurship leading to improved employment and income in rural areas at the European level. These include: (a) problems and solutions for economically integrated forestry-wood-processing-chains, which connect small-scale forestry production into local wood processing and further to urban consumer markets; and (b) problems and solutions for integrating the demand of urban consumers on non-wood forest products and services together with their respective rural supply.

The objectives of the Action will be achieved by analysing the conditions under which:

o small-scale forestry and local wood supply can meet the demands of local wood processing (Scientific area 1: Small-scale forestry production to support the development of local wood and non-wood processing industries);

o new and profitable business opportunities could be developed for SMEs in wood processing industries using locally produced resources with focus on market niches, innovations and human development (Scientific area 2: Human development, niche productions and innovations related to SMEs in wood processing industries using local forest resources); and
o demand, especially from urban people for non-wood forest products and services could be transformed into new rural entrepreneurship (Scientific area 3: Consumer demand and new entrepreneurship in non-wood forest products and services).

In these scientific areas, the results of the Action include:

o analysis of the state-of-the-art (Phase I);
o problem area definition (Phase II);
o recommendations and suggestions for practical solutions on how the problem areas can be solved (Phase III); and
o final report (Phase IV).

The Action will deliver a comprehensive overview and suggest potential solutions on how to better integrate small-scale forestry into local wood processing chain. Similar suggestions are made on how the especial demand of urban population on forest-based services can be transformed into increased rural entrepreneurship and work opportunities.

The Action will increase the knowledge base for forest based and market integrated rural development. The Action will improve the understanding of the private sector development potentials of forestry-wood-processing-chains and bring added value closer to the sites where trees are growing. A key issue of the Action will be the development of models to improve the integration of rural producers into regional and global consumer markets.

The information collected and analysed will include the problem area analysis as well as the determination of recommendations and practical solutions. This is clearly a benefit from both the scientific and practical viewpoints, and will contribute especially to the planning and implementation of rural development activities, such as structural funding in many sparsely populated regions of Europe.

The Action will provide a better understanding of the similarities and differences on the economic integration of small-scale forestry to local wood processing and urban demand for forest-based services in European Union member states, EU Candidate countries and other Central and Eastern European countries. This will especially provide relevant information for the discussions on forest privatisation in the CEE countries.

A clear benefit of the Action is the level and extent of the co-operation envisaged. The Action will collect the best available expertise on small-scale forestry, local wood and non-wood processing and the use of forest resources to satisfy consumer demands. To disseminate the information, the results and key findings of the Action will be presented - aside from the Annual Reports and the Final Report - in three Workshops/Conferences and published in three Proceedings. In addition to these publications, the COST participants and WG representatives are encouraged to publish jointly the relevant research findings in scientific research journals. The study findings of Short Term Scientific Mission are encouraged to be presented in Workshops/Conference and to be published in related proceedings.

C. SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME

Action Scientific areas:

The aim of the WG 1 ("Small-scale forestry production to support the development of local wood and non-wood processing industries") is to analyse the conditions under which small-scale forestry and wood supply can meet the demands of local-based wood and non-wood processing industries. The focus of the First Scientific Area of the Action will be: the analyses of owner's attitudes on forestry and forest utilisation (when and why small-scale woodlots are not used for production purposes?), small-scale forestry production possibilities (what should be produced, and how?) and the integration of small-scale forestry into local small- and medium-scale wood and non-wood processing industries (what is demanded?). The tasks of the First Scientific Area can be divided into:

- analyses of the woodlot owner's attitudes on forestry and forest utilisation, current small-scale forestry practises, their historical background, and related costs and benefits;
- analyses of the practical restrictions and problems in small-scale forestry to support local wood and non-wood processing;
- evaluation of the potential solutions and formulation of practical recommendations on how small-scale forestry can be developed and better integrated into local wood and non-wood processing; and
- reporting.

The aim of the WG 2 ("Human development, niche production and innovation related to SMEs in wood processing industries using local forest resources") is to analyse the conditions under which the performance of SMEs in wood processing industries using locally produced resources can be improved to meet the demands of urban consumer markets. The focus of the Second Scientific Area of the Action will be on the analysis of increased business opportunities in SMEs in wood processing industries that could create jobs, raise employment and help the development of rural areas. The tasks of this Scientific Area can be divided into:

- analyses of the current practises in SMEs in wood processing industries, their historical background, and production profitability;
- analyses of the production restrictions, human capital development, production innovations and niche markets in wood processing utilising locally produced timber;
- evaluation of potential solutions and formulation of practical recommendations on how the SMEs in wood processing industries could develop profitable business opportunities in rural areas; and
- reporting.

The aim of the WG 3: ("Consumer demand and new entrepreneurship in non-wood forest products and services") is to analyse the conditions under which the demand of especially urban population on non-wood forest products and services can be better integrated into rural supply. The focus of the Third Scientific Area of the Action will be in the analysis of increased opportunities for demand-driven entrepreneurship in non-wood forest products and services. The tasks of this Scientific Area can be divided into:

- analyses of the current availability of non-wood forest products and services, and their respective uses;
- analyses of the demand for main non-wood forest products and services, and the problems in meeting these demands;
- evaluation of potential solutions and practical recommendations on how the demand derived entrepreneurship in non-wood forest products and services could be developed; and
- reporting.

Action Phases:

- In Phase I, the research work will cover definitions, national applications, and historical background of various small-scale forestry practises (WG 1), the options and added value of utilising local wood resources for local manufacturing (WG 2), and the uses of non-wood forest products and services provided by forests in different countries (WG 3).

- In Phase II the research to be conducted will cover the problem area analysis of small-scale forestry, in particular assessing the reasons why forest resources may be unobtainable, e.g. for local wood and non-wood processing industries (WG 1), the problem area analysis of local wood processing, e.g. wood supply restrictions, networking, human capital development and management competencies (WG 2), and the problem area analysis for integrating rural forestry supply and demand of urban consumers on non-wood uses of forests, e.g. the analysis of characteristics of non-wood forest products and services demanded by urban consumers (WG 3).
- In Phase III, the research work, on the basis of problem area analyses, will include the evaluation of solutions and practical recommendations on how the small-scale forestry could be better linked with local wood and non-wood processing (WG1), and how local SMEs including all added-value secondary wood processing industries could develop profitable businesses (WG2). The practical solutions on how non-wood forest products and services could be better marketed to consumers living in urban areas are also derived in Phase III (WG 3).
- In Phase IV, the work will cover the reporting of the scientific findings and summarising the practical recommendations of the Action.

In all Phases, special emphasis will be given to the prevailing problems in the development of private forestry and integration of wood and non-wood forest processing into markets in CEE countries.

D. ORGANISATION AND TIMETABLE

The Action will be led by a Management Committee (MC) that is chaired by an elected Chairperson or an elected Vice-Chairperson. In addition to Chairpersons, the MC will include Working Group (WG) Co-ordinators and Country Representatives.

The MC will manage the Action in accordance with rules and procedures for implementing COST Actions and establish its course of action in the first formal meeting. The MC will organise two annual meetings to monitor the progress of the COST Action. One of the annual meetings will be organised together with the Scientific Workshop/Conference of the Action.

Three Working Groups are proposed. Each will elect a Leader and Deputy Leader, and they will assist the MC Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson in ensuring that the groups' work as stated in the MoU are of a high standard. The WG will hold separate meetings, once or twice per year if possible. Wherever possible the MC, WG and other meetings associated with COST will be held at the same time and venue.

Short-Term Scientific Missions

To broaden the European research community in that specific area the MC will also encourage new networking by especially young scientists under Short Term Scientific Mission scheme.

Scientific seminars

One scientific Workshop/Conference is organised after each of the three main Phases of the Action. The organised three events are intended to open a dialogue between appointed country representatives, international bodies dealing with rural development and small-scale forestry, and disseminating information on forest based development opportunities. The organised seminars form a core part of the dialogue and interaction between the representatives in the Action.

Timetable

The Action is planned to complete within 48 months after its initiation.

E. ECONOMIC DIMENSION

The following COST countries have participated in the preparation of the Action or expressed an interest in the Action:

- Austria
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovak Republic
- Sweden
- United Kingdom

On the basis of country specific estimates of the costs to participate into the COST Action, the overall costs to implement the Action have been estimated at Euro 7 million.

This estimate is valid under the assumption that all the countries mentioned above, but no other countries, will participate in the Action. Any departure from this will change the total cost accordingly.

F. DISSEMINATION PLAN

The MC of the Action will organise two Workshops and one Conference where experts from national and international organisations will be invited to contribute to the activities of the Action. After each Workshop/Conference Proceedings will be prepared to summarise the main findings by the Workshop/Conference hosting organisation. The Proceedings will present the research results, discussion and seminar conclusions of the three main Phases of the Action, and together with the Annual Reports and Final Report, will present a core part of research knowledge available.

In addition to the Workshops/Conference and related meetings, the MC will organise one annual meeting and the Working Groups will hold 1-2 meetings per year.

The Working Groups of the Action, and researchers involved will be encouraged to submit results to scientific journals and reviews.

The Action will elaborate a web-page for the internet to disseminate the most up-to-date information of the Action. The MC will seek additional dissemination mechanisms at the start of the Action.

The aim of the wide and well-developed dissemination is to provide information for various interest groups of the Action e.g. the small- and medium-scale enterprises.

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