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. For more info, visit the project's website and LinkedIn page.

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Funding call open for establishing Climate-Smart Forestry pilots

 

FORWARDS has launched a funding call to set up Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) and forest restoration pilots across Europe. These pilots will serve as a basis for developing an evidence-based understanding of effective CSF and restoration management practices in supporting climate change mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity. Supported projects and activities should establish new field trials in forests for CSF and restoration management practices or test new practices in existing field trials.

 

The call, which is open from 31st July until 31st October, will fund five projects. Each awarded project will be granted up to EUR 140,000 and is expected to commence around the beginning of 2024, with a duration of maximum 18 months. Subsequently during this year and until the project end, FORWARDS will launch many more calls to fund projects across different themes. The grants are managed by European Forest Institute, which is one of the partners in FORWARDS.

 

Read full grant call and apply: https://efi.int/grants-training/grants/G-04-2023