EU NETWORK OF REGIONS ON SUSTAINABLE WOOD MOBILISATION READY FOR DIGITALISATION

Project Information

ROSEWOOD4.0

Grant agreement ID: 862681

DOI

10.3030/862681

Project closed

EC signature date 13 September 2019

Start date 1 January 2020

End date 30 June 2022

Funded under

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

Total cost

€ 2 047 901,25

EU contribution

€ 2 047 901,25

Coordinated by

STEINBEIS INNOVATION GGMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ROSEWOOD4.0 (EU NETWORK OF REGIONS ON SUSTAINABLE WOOD MOBILISATION READY FOR DIGITALISATION)

Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2022-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

ROSEWOOD4.0’s general objective was to close the existing knowledge gap to support sustainable wood mobilisation in EU-Regions. There is a real need in Europe to intensively exploit existing best practices and innovations (BP&I), synergies and, at the same time, transfer innovative knowledge among different regions, responding to specific regional needs and challenges.
ROSEWOOD4.0 connected actors to address and find answers to the main challenges in the field by putting a focus on digital solutions, tools, and corresponding knowledge transfer actions. By creating adapted materials and sharing knowledge on technological and non-technological best practices, ROSEWOOD4.0 helped to close the knowledge gaps and create new opportunities for economic partnerships. ROSEWOOD4.0 focused on the tailored transfer of practical knowledge that supports stakeholders in exploiting BP&I and facilitates the capture of innovative ideas. The project also provided practitioners with developed skills (educational and entrepreneurial), leveraging the uptake of new ideas in daily business. To allow wider dissemination and use, ROSEWOOD4.0 addressed ‘digitalisation’ as a transversal theme by developing digital dissemination and training tools supporting the implementation of BP&I (online knowledge platform, MOOCs, B2B training materials, factsheets, videos, etc.) but also aiming at connecting stakeholders in an open-innovation environment. The consortium identified, shared and disseminated BP&I with a focus on facilitating uptake through the development of new collaborations. The project’s actions were implemented via 5 Wood Mobilisation Regional Hubs ((South-West, South-East, North, Central-East and Central-West Europe) providing greater opportunities for European forestry and wood-using industries by aligning their activities with local and regional development plans.

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

Main work performed and results achieved by ROSEWOOD4.0:
1) At the beginning of the project, the 5 established regional Hubs identified 457 BP&I, especially dealing with digitalisation. Based on 16 validation workshops with more than 240 regional experts and relevant stakeholders, a selection of 279 BP&I was further described as factsheets. These factsheets are available on the developed ROSEWOOD4.0 knowledge platform, an online multi-lingual platform (15 European languages) that contains the BP&I database and all produced dissemination and training materials. After the official end of the project, the platform will be maintained by EFI's Bioregions Facility and fed by the ROSEWOOD4.0 Network.
2) 5 Regional roadmaps (one for each Hub) were elaborated to facilitate BP&I transfer among regions. This was done through the SWOTs of the different regions, matching collected BP&I with the most urgent identified needs within the Hubs. Additionally, 1 cross-regional roadmap to support international collaboration was also prepared.
3) Based on the roadmaps' findings, the transfer of selected BP&I across the 5 different regions was carried out through the implementation of 16 study visits and 10 business idea creation workshops. These workshops generated 8 selected initiatives which were further supported by the established implementation groups and the project.
4) ROSEWOOD4.0 developed blended learning programmes, combining a basis set by e-learning (3 MOOCs, including several webinars and podcasts) with practical hands-on trainings. The 3 blended learning courses were implemented in Germany and Austria. Replications of the online part (MOOCs) were organised by the different Hubs. The 3 MOOCs are available in 13 different languages in ILIAS.
5) All findings, results and produced training materials were disseminated in different formats (factsheets, videos, practice abstracts, reports, webinars, postcards, presentations, etc.) using open-access channels (project website, knowledge platform, EIP-AGRI project database, ILIAS, Zenodo, etc.) and social media (YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn).
6) A voluntary ROSEWOOD4.0 Network was established before the end of the project to ensure the exploitation of its results (e.g. knowledge platform)

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)

ROSEWOOD4.0 allowed stakeholders of the wood mobilisation value-chain to share BP&I on a European level. The aim was to transfer efficiently the collected knowledge across regions to practitioners and any interested stakeholder by means of modern tools such as digital platforms, digital training solutions, etc. This strengthened the sustainability of forest exploitation and improved European regions’ competitiveness and development of rural areas.
ROSEWOOD4.0 forged a vast cross-regional network with effective communication channels, speeding the flow and uptake of knowledge emerging from science to practice, realising the large innovative potential of digitalisation and multi-actor interactive innovation. Embedded in the 5 regional Hubs, the participative exchange between stakeholders and the exploitation actions nourished tangible best practice cases and solutions, which were then broadly disseminated through EU-wide channels linking important national and EU stakeholders. To make these materials accessible in the long term, a multi-lingual platform was developed and other open access channels were also used (EIP-AGRI project database, ILIAS, Zenodo, YouTube, etc.).
The main specific outputs of the project were:
- Multi-lingual knowledge platform containing 279 factsheets based on selected BP&I (15 European languages)
-3 complete MOOCs (trailers, video lectures, webinars and podcasts) around digitalisation in forestry available in 13 European languages
-5 Regional roadmaps for knowledge transfer between regions and 1 cross-regional roadmap for international collaboration
-More than 25 workshops for knowledge transfer and collaborative work (validation & business idea creation workshops) and 16 study visits
-8 implementation groups for practical knowledge transfer of selected BP&I
-Dissemination materials around best practices (more than 32 videos, 100 EIP-AGRI practice abstracts, 3 dissemination notes, etc.)

ROSEWOOD4.0 offered the opportunity to network and find new strategic partners along the wood value chain. Training, workshops and other events offered SMEs a broad field of chances to contribute to a sustainable forestry-based industry, driven by digital solutions.
SMEs benefited from the strength of ROSEWOOD4.0 to bring together actors along the wood value chain, which provided them with new opportunities for developing their business. When feeding their BP&I into the ROSEWOOD4.0 network, they were offered support in further developing these ideas and adapting best practices from other regions to local context.
After the official end of the project, a voluntary ROSEWOOD4.0 network was established, including all project's partners and additional organisations dealing with forestry and wood mobilisation. The ROSEWOOD4.0 network will ensure the exploitation of the project's results.

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