The North Karelia region is a pioneer in forest bioeconomy and is profiled as a center of excellence, providing information and sustainable forest bioeconomy solutions at the national and international levels. Recent discussions in various media have highlighted the importance of forests in the bioeconomy that goes far beyond the mere production of biomass. This issue is also clearly identified in the region's recent Sustainable Forest Bioeconomy Growth Package, which emphasizes the need for sustainable forestry that takes into account forest diversity, forest growth capacity, health and biodiversity management, and sustainable logging and timber use.
Decisions related to forest management are most often made by forest owners on the basis of expert advice and recommendations. Developing the skills of forestry decision-makers is key to meeting future challenges in forestry.
The main goal of the project is to develop the skills of forest owners in North Karelia and to support the decision-making capabilities of forest owners by developing a learning and training framework to support decision-making related to forest use. The main objective can be divided into three sub-objectives:
1. Educational forests shall be established in North Karelia to train forest owners in forest management, taking into account the multifunctional use of forests, issues of sustainable cultivation, climate change and carbon sequestration, and to promote international exchange.
2. Improving and further developing the existing I+ mobile application to enable forest owners to assess the impact of forest management decisions on timber production, biodiversity and climate change mitigation.
3. Development of teaching materials and study contents that can be used in advising forest owners in North Karelia.