ForestValue - Innovating forest-based bioeconomy

Project Information

ForestValue

Grant agreement ID: 773324

DOI

10.3030/773324

Project closed

EC signature date 3 October 2017

Start date 1 October 2017

End date 31 March 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 15 257 575,00

EU contribution

€ 5 034 999,75

Coordinated by

MAA- JA METSATALOUSMINISTERIO (MMM)
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ForestValue (ForestValue - Innovating forest-based bioeconomy)

Reporting period: 2019-04-01 to 2023-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Today, forests cover 35% of the European Union's (EU) landmass and are instrumental in a number of key policy areas. The forest-based sector represents some 8% of the EU's total manufacturing added value, provides income for 16 million forest owners, supports 3-4 million industrial jobs, provides for a wide range of other social, economic and ecological services, and significantly contributes to achieving the European Commission’s ambitious target of an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050.

European research resources in the forest-based sector remain fragmented as a result of multiple uncoordinated activities. Therefore, better coordination between different existing industries, funding organisations and the research community is needed in order to implement the strategic research agendas with limited resources. As research priorities are set independently by the actors involved there is no systematic approach to achieve synergies through collaboration. Sustained collaboration between key research funding and managing organisations is needed to enable broader strategic analyses as a basis for management decisions on research priorities. This should also result in more efficient implementation of research results. The ERA-NET Cofund Action “ForestValue - Innovating the forest-based bioeconomy” was to continue to improve implementation of joint activities with the ambitious goal of funding transnational research and offering access to resources of other countries.

The overall objective was to promote increased innovation and competitiveness of the forest-based sector in Europe and support its transformation from a resource-intensive to a knowledge-intensive, productive, resource-efficient and resilient sector. During the project period of 66 months, ForestValue was able to launch two trans-national calls but also implemented a wide set of other supporting activities. For example, ForestValue organised an outreach seminar “Innovative Forest-Based Bioeconomy for the Future” in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 8-9 October 2019. This seminar provided a platform for all initiatives engaged in forest-based Bioeconomy in Europe and South/Central America. Around 70 participants from academia, industry and governmental organisations learned about current research and funding activities in several Latin American countries and discussed opportunities for transatlantic cooperation in the field of forest-based bioeconomy.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

On 17 October 2017 ForestValue launched the “ForestValue call for proposals 2017” (JC2017) for research, development and innovation in the forest-based sector (see https://forestvalue.org/joint-calls/joint-call-2017-jc-2017/). The overarching aim of the co-funded call – funded by the ForestValue funding bodies, with co-funding from the European Commission - was to support projects that will address the development and/or proof of concepts on novel strategies, methods, processes or products designed to support the forestry and forest-based industries including their respective partners, resellers, consumers and end-users in remaining competitive and efficient providers of sustainable bio-products and services.

The Call was closed on 23 January 2018 and in total 114 pre-proposals were submitted. The great majority, about 70%, of the pre-proposals were assigned by the applicants in the thematic research area B "Innovative industrial production and processing technologies, products, concepts and services". Beyond the ForestValue consortium of 18 countries there were 17 partners from 8 other countries involved (Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, Macedonia, The Netherlands, Portugal and Russia). Based on the recommendations of the international experts the Call Steering Committee decided to invite 50 applicants to submit full proposals. Finally, the International Expert Panel evaluated the proposals and determined on one final ranking list of proposals. Based on the ranking list, the ForestValue Call Steering Committee (CSC) confirmed on 8 November 2018 in its meeting to fund 17 projects, with a total public funding request of around MEUR 21,55.

The selected 17 RDI projects started their work early 2019. Due to the Covid-19 situation and its implications to the research projects, in 2021 ForestValue negotiated an amendment with the EC for an extension of up to 6 months (until end of March 2023). This allowed both the projects to complete their planned tasks as originally agreed, and the funding agencies (beneficiaries) to complete all their financial commitments.

In order to maximise the impact of R&I public investment and further amplify the added value of the ForestValue ERA-Net Cofund, the project group of the 17 co-funded project of JC2017 utilized the Horizon Results Booster (HRB) services fully supported and offered by the European Commission (http://bitly.ws/L4kD). HRB supported the group by analysing and identifying commonalities between their work in their research fields. Aiming to transfer and communicate research and innovation project results to policy makers, industry and society, HRB supported the group in its positioning, stakeholder analysis, stakeholder and dissemination networks mapping and issued recommendations for further group collaboration.

The following valuable resources were developed with HRB:

i) Catalogue of Results, https://forestvalue.org/catalogue/
This online catalogue presents 49 main results of the 17 projects from the JC2017 organised into six different categories. Aany player in the forestry sector is able to browse through this catalogue of results and see how one can benefit.

ii) ForestValue Policy Booklet, http://bitly.ws/L4J7
One of the main challenges identified is that of intensifying collaboration between different stakeholders at both EU and national level in order to achieve the ambitious goals of the Green Deal and decarbonize the European economy. The policy brief provides dedicated recommendations across multiple policy levels (regional funders to pan-EU regulations).

iii) Forest-Based Value Chain Technologies & Management Solutions Video, https://youtu.be/sc4VQUysl28

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

ForestValue was expected to bring together owners and managers of national and regional RDI programmes in the Member States, associated and third countries with significant experience in research funding and coordination in all relevant areas of forestry and the wood sector in the context of bio-based economy, in order to strengthen the cooperation and coordination of their activities in the area.

The initiative was intended to facilitate collaboration between industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), stakeholder associations, research organisations, leading-edge scientists from a wider range of disciplines covering forest management, wood material, construction, natural, biological, social, economic and other relevant sciences who will bring their broad expertise to support the transformation of the European forest-based sector and to secure its competitiveness.

Expected impacts in brief:

- Reduced fragmentation by improved cooperation and basis for long-lasting cooperation.
- Capitalising the experience of joint calls and coordinated activities.
- Addressing issues of common interest with socio-economic relevance recognised at global level.
- Impact of activities on national and regional research programmes.
- Contribution to policies.
- Contribution to standards.

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