Newsletter #7, December 2025
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FOREST Partnership update
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On 16th of September, 2025, the final proposal for the HORIZON-CL6-2025-01 call was submitted via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. On 15th of October, 2025, the partnership was officially presented in Brussels during the SRIA launch. On 10th December, 2025, invitations were sent to participate in a survey supporting the preparation of the first joint call on forest-related research and innovation. At present, we are awaiting notification from the European Commission. The decision timeline has been delayed and is now expected by mid-January, 2026, instead of mid-December, 2025 as initially planned.
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Help Shape the First FOREST Partnership Call
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We are pleased to invite you to take part in the FOREST Partnership – Funders’ Strategic Survey: Input on the First Joint Call. The purpose of this survey is to help identify which areas of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for the European forest-based sector should be prioritised in the first European Forest Partnership RDI Joint Call. It builds on the earlier EUFORE prioritisation exercise while broadening the consultation to a wider range of stakeholders across Europe.
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Survey link – open until 16th of January, 2026:
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Research funders, policy and public administration bodies, research-performing organisations, forest owners and managers, industry and civil society/NGO stakeholders engaged with forest-related R&I.
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Your input will play an important role in shaping the focus of the first FOREST Partnership call and in ensuring it reflects the needs and perspectives of the wider forest community across Europe.
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The first European FOREST Partnership joint call is expected to be launched in late Q4/2026.
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Scientific cafe`s series and Breakfast club events
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Across Europe, ForestValue2 has been bringing people together through Science Cafés and informal dialogue formats - creating spaces where science meets policy and practice.
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From discussions on forest resilience, biodiversity, and ecosystem services in Poland, to reflections on the role of urban forests in everyday well-being in Slovenia, and hands-on exchanges in the Carpaneda Forest in Italy, each event highlighted how local forest challenges connect to wider European priorities. Complementing these place-based conversations, the Breakfast Club tackled a shared issue across countries: how better communication can help align forest management practices with legislative frameworks.
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While the settings differed, a common message emerged: open dialogue matters. These conversations help bridge knowledge gaps, build trust between actors, and support more resilient, multifunctional, and well-governed forest landscapes. Through these exchanges, ForestValue2 continues to strengthen the science-policy-practice interface shaping the future of Europe’s forests.
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FOREST FUSION: Collaboration for the Future of Forest Innovation
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As part of the EUFORE event “Shaping the Future of Forest Research & Innovation for a Competitive Europe” on 15th of October 2025, FOREST FUSION brought together 70 participants in a dynamic networking session designed to foster collaboration in the forest-based sector.
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Using a speed-dating format, around 150 short, topic-focused meetings were organised around the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), encouraging focused dialogue and joint project ideas. Participants highlighted the value of open exchange and the new networking opportunities created through EUFORE and ForestValue2, underlining FOREST FUSION’s role as a catalyst for future collaboration.
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Science in progress: ForestValue final seminar and ForestValue2 mid-term seminar
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On 14th of October 2025, the ForestValue2 community came together for the “Science in Progress” event, marking an important milestone in the programme’s journey. The event showcased results from eight final ForestValue projects and progress from five ongoing ForestValue2 projects, highlighting innovation in wood technologies and forestry research.
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Bringing together researchers, policymakers, and industry representatives, the programme demonstrated how ForestValue2 supports sustainable innovation across Europe’s forest-based sector. Opening remarks from Mika Kallio of the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Laura Liepiņa from the European Commission (DG AGRI) underlined the alignment of the projects with EU priorities on sustainable forestry and the bioeconomy. The event was moderated by Professor Dr. Baiba Rivža.
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Across two thematic sessions, participants explored advances in wood technologies—from circular use of timber to health-related applications—and forestry research, addressing forest resilience, multifunctionality, climate adaptation, and innovative planning tools. The event concluded by emphasizing the value of knowledge exchange and cross-border collaboration.
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Overall, Science in Progress demonstrated the strength of coordinated transnational funding in advancing sustainable solutions for forests, wood, and society.
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From Tree Rings to Climate-Smart Forestry: New Insights on Forest Resilience
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An international seminar under the ForestValue2 project took place in Bucharest on 22nd of October, 2025. It was held in a hybrid format, with over 60 participants joining on site and online.
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The webinar “Tree rings – Indicators of past, present and future forest resilience to climate change” featured two keynote speakers: Michal Bosela (Technical University in Zvolen / National Forest Centre, Slovakia), who presented approaches to quantifying forest resilience, and Ionel Popa (“Marin Drăcea” National Institute for R&D in Forestry, Romania), who explored non-linear climate signals in tree-ring data.
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Discussions highlighted the growing impacts of climate stress on forests and the need to move beyond traditional linear models. Speakers emphasised the value of tree-ring data combined with advanced statistical, machine-learning, and process-based models to better understand, predict, and manage forest resilience. The seminar underlined the importance of integrated modelling approaches to support climate-smart forestry and adaptive forest management across Europe.
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