FORWARDS - The ForestWard Observatory to Secure Resilience of European Forests

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FORWARDS will prototype The ForestWard Observatory to provide (a) timely and detailed information on European forests’ vulnerability to climate change impacts, (b) science-based knowledge to guide management using the principles of climate-smart forestry (CSF), ecosystem restoration, and biodiversity preservation, and (c) stakeholder engagement and public participation in decision-making processes. The ambition is for The ForestWard Observatory to become a long-lasting legacy of FORWARDS, which supports decision-making across scales to boost the uptake of good CSF & Restoration management practice throughout Europe (local scale for management practice), while efficiently informing about climate change and disturbance impacts and resilience of European forests.

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Prospex Institute's Role

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Within FORWARDS, Prospex Institute provides advisory support on tasks related to stakeholder engagement, such as the establishment of a stakeholder forum for knowledge exchange, co-creation and discovery, and the organization of citizen engagement activities (e.g., participatory workshops and demonstration activities) to involve citizens in land management decision-making. As Prospex Institute works across several forestry-related Horizon projects (SUPERB, RESONATE, and ForestPaths), it is uniquely placed to ensure that synergies across projects can be built upon and to avoid the duplication of efforts in stakeholder engagement activities.