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Helsinki 23-24 May 2019

ForestValue Research Programme Kick-Off Seminar

The ForestValue Research Programme Kick-Off Seminar was held at the National Museum of Finland in Helsinki on 23rd and 24th of May 2019. The seminar brought together around 70 participants from all around Europe to learn about the 17 projects selected for funding under the 1st Joint Call of the ForestValue Research Programme and to exchange information and ideas among people with a common interest: innovating the forest-based bioeconomy.

This public kick-off seminar of the 1st trans-national ForestValue Joint Call (17 projects selected) brought together around 70 researchers and stakeholders from industry, academia and policy-making organisations in the forest-based sector. The call was launched in 2017 with support from the European Commission through the H2020 Framework Programme.

The main idea behind the seminar programme was in the first place to offer a networking possibility both for the 17 projects selected for funding under the 1st trans-national ForestValue Joint Call and for all other seminar participants, too. The projects were not only presented in a pitch talk format but also during the breaks in the poster exhibition, and this was expected to help the participants to get into deeper discussions.

We were honoured to introduce Rhonda Smith, a Founder Director and Team Leader at Minerva Communications UK Ltd, as one of our keynote speakers to give us a talk on stakeholder engagement, C&D strategy and impact creation. Regarding the stakeholder engagement, we were also honoured to introduce two more keynote speakers, Johan Elvnert, Managing Director at the Forest-based Sector Technology Platform, and Robert Mavsar, Deputy Director at the European Forest Institute. Mr Elvnert explained about the recent developments in the forest-based sector and Mr Mavsar discussed the role of the European Forest Institute in helping to build an ambitious European forest research and innovation area.

In the afternoon of Day 1 the participants visited Oodi, Helsinki’s new Central Library which was opened in December 2018. The building itself is a fascinating combination of glass, steel and wood, and during the visit the participants had a unique chance to learn some insights directly both from Antti Nousjoki, a representative from ALA Architects, responsible for the architectural planning, and from Olli Ylätalo and Ville Nevala, both from YIT, the building contractor. Moreover, Ulla Leinikka, Information Specialist from Oodi introduced the participants to Oodi’s different facilities and functions which are available to any visitor seven days a week, from early in the morning till late in the evening.

ForestValue seminar participants visiting Oodi. ©Mika Kallio

ERA-NET Cofund ForestValue, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, Ministry of the Environment, Academy of Finland and Business Finland as event organizers and hosts would like to thank you all who participated in the event and made it a success. Hope you all enjoyed your stay in Finland!

Seminar brochure

Includes coordinator’s welcoming words and brief introductions of the 17 trans-national projects selected for funding. pdf

Seminar programme and presentations

Seminar programme, v1.2 pdf

DAY 1 – Thursday, 23rd of May

Moderator: Mikko Peltonen, Research Director, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland (MMM)

Introduction session
Welcome
Mr Juha S. Niemelä, Director-General, Natural Resources Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland (MMM)
Introduction to Finnish host organisations MMM, YM, AKA and Business Finland pdf
Mikko Peltonen, Research Director, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland (MMM)
Welcome and short overview of the trans-national ForestValue Research Programme
Mika Kallio, ForestValue Project Coordinator, MMM
Keynote: Impact – from awareness & engagement to advocacy & action – How the appliance of science to C&D strategy & plans can deliver tangible impact pdf
Rhonda Smith, Director, Minerva Communications UK Ltd

Presentations of jointly funded ForestValue projects – Session 1
MultiForest – Management for multifunctionality in European forests in the era of bioeconomy pdf  (YouTube)
Mikko Mönkkönen, University of Jyväskylä (FI)
ValoFor – Small Forests – Big Players: Valorising small scale forestry for a bio-based economy pdf  (YouTube)
Silvio Schueler, Austrian Research Centre for Forests, BFW (AT)
GreenLane – Fast-tracking value and resilience for industrial wood supply pdf  (YouTube)
Dag Fjeld, NIBIO (NO)

Presentations of jointly funded ForestValue projects – Session 2
I-MAESTRO – Innovative forest MAnagEment STRategies for a resilient bioecOnomy under climate change and disturbances pdf  (YouTube)
Thomas Cordonnier, Irstea (FR)
NOBEL – Novel business models and mechanisms for the sustainable supply of and payment for forest ecosystem services pdf  (YouTube)
Harald Vacik, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (AT)
FunEnzFibres – From fundamentals to valorization: Enzymatic oxidation of cellulosic fibres and underlyig mechanisms pdf  (YouTube)
Kaisa Marjamaa, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd (FI)
Questions, open discussion pdf

Presentations of jointly funded ForestValue projects – Session 3
AVATAR – Advanced Virtual Aptitude and Training Application in Real Time pdf  (YouTube)
Dirk Jaeger, Georg-August Universität Göttingen (DE)
SMALLWOOD – Small diameter wood utilization with innovative stand management for multifunctional forests and a growing sustainable bio-economy pdf  (YouTube)
Tomas Nordfjell, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE)
MULTIFOREVER – Towards intensification of conifer production through multi-varietal forestry based on somatic embryogenesis pdf  (YouTube)
Jean-Francois Trontin, FCBA (FR) & Andrea Rupps, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)

Presentations of jointly funded ForestValue projects – Session 4
InFutUReWood – Innovative Design For the Future – Use and Reuse of Wood (Building) Components pdf  (YouTube)
Karin Sandberg, RISE Research Institute of Sweden (SE)
CLICK DESIGN – Delivering fingertip knowledge to enable service life performance specification of wood pdf  (YouTube)
Ed Suttie, BRE Group (UK)

DAY 2 – Friday, 24th of May

Moderator: Martin Greimel, co-coordinator of ForestValue, Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT)

Presentations of jointly funded ForestValue projects – Session 5
hardwood_joint – Innovative joints in hardwoods pdf  (YouTube)
Carmen Sandhaas, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE)
FIREINWOOD – Improved fire design of engineered wood systems in buildings pdf  (YouTube)
Karolina Storesund, RISE Fire Research, Norway (NO)
InnoCrossLam – Innovative Solutions for Cross Laminated Timber Structures pdf  (YouTube)
Boris Azinović, Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG) (SI)

Presentations of jointly funded ForestValue projects – Session 6
DynaTTB – Dynamic Response of Tall Timber Buildings under Service Load pdf  (YouTube)
Marie Johansson, RISE Research Institute of Sweden (SE)
READiStrength – Resource-Efficient And Data-driven integrated log and board Strength grading pdf  (YouTube)
Olle Hagman, Luleå University of Technology (SE)
StrongComposite – A novel material concept for high strength cellulose composites pdf  (YouTube)
Ingo Burgert, ETH Zurich (CH)

News about European/ other research activities
FTP recent developments pdf
Johan Elvnert, Managing Director, Forest-based Sector Technology Platform
Helping to build an ambitious European forest research and innovation area pdf
Robert Mavsar, Deputy Director, European Forest Institute

Summing up the seminar and closing
Mika Kallio, ForestValue Project Coordinator, MMM

Recordings of the pitch talks introducing the 17 RDI projects selected for funding will be published soon, too.

Further information: