The participants were from many professional backgrounds, including people from different EU Member States, from the European Parliament and the Commission, people representing research and environmental NGOs, forest professionals and representatives of bioeconomy stakeholders. The participants came from Brussels, Finland and Sweden.
The two-day event included visits to forests and production facilities. Additionally, the participants took part in several discussions and networking. The aim was to show Swedish sustainable forest management and also learn about new innovations in wood-based circular economy. One of the many topics discussed was the definition of “closer-to-nature-forestry” which currently is under development in EU. Also the EU restoration Law, EU Biodiversity Strategy and the new Forest Strategy were discussed.
The Forest Academy offers an opportunity to make contacts with key decision-makers in the EU institutions and to increase the understanding of the forests´ opportunities offered to society. It is financed by the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation and the Finnish Forest Foundation.
