The multi-disciplinary project aims at improving the resource efficiency and climate neutrality of forestry and to facilitate the adaptation of the forest-based sector to the changes in the operating environment. The research problems include, how to optimise forestry operations in face of climate change and changing demands, how to increase the supply of wood material, how to develop the production of added value green chemicals, how to ensure the sustainability and acceptability of forestry, and how do the outlook for economic, policy and technology development affect the potential of the Finnish forest-based bioeconomy? The project highlights the societal impact and acceptance of forest-based bioeconomy. Accordingly, national and international communication and discussion channels are established to guarantee the dissemination and applicability of research findings for stakeholders, decision-makers and the society at large. As one of the six partners in the consortium, EFI leads a work package on the analysis of the international operating environment and the changing demands in the society relevant for the development of forest-based bioeconomy.
The consortium is led by Prof. Heli Peltola, the School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland. The other participating institutions include: the Department of Chemistry of the University of Eastern Finland, Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE) , European Forest Institute (EFI), and Finnish Environment Institute (Syke).
The first phase of the project ran from 01.10.2015 until 31.12.2017 and the second phase started on 1.2.2018 and runs until 30.4.2021.
More information on the project website: http://www.uef.fi/en/web/forbio/forbio-home (last visited 21.06.2018)
FORBIO project belongs to the Strategic Research Programme on Climate-Neutral and Resource-Scarce Finland (PIHI 2015-2020) funded by the Academy of Finland.