In support of the implementation of the Strategy "Innovating for Sustainable Growth: a Bioeconomy for Europe", a Bioeconomy Stakeholders' Conference will provide opportunities for public awareness raising and for an informed dialogue on the progress of the bioeconomy, involving researchers, stakeholders, policy makers and the civil society at large across the whole bioeconomy value chain. The conference titled "The European Bioeconomy Scene 2019" will address in particular the importance of aligning all stakeholders around the creation of new markets and boosting investments in the bioeconomy, to deliver jobs and inclusive, sustainable economic growth. The organisation of such a conference will build on efforts undertaken in this direction by the European Commission and the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU. The conference will take place in July 2019 in Helsinki, Finland. This conference will help implement important EU policies and initiatives especially the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, but also the Circular Economy Package. The conference serves as an important input to the future orientation of the European Bioeconomy Strategy. The conference is designed and accomplished in close cooperation with the European Commission and the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of the Environment as well as the Prime Minister’s Office).

European research resources in the forest-based sector remain fragmented due to multiple uncoordinated activities. ForestValue2 is to contribute i) to provision of a shared and robust knowledge base to make Europe’s transition to being the first climate neutral continent by 2050 a reality, and ii) overcoming the fragmentation of public research efforts in the EU and to reinforce work on research priorities that call for a stronger coordination and collaboration. Encouraging wide engagement, in particular early-stage researchers and EU widening countries, the CSA will strengthen the ERA. ForestValue2 brings together 14 owners and managers of national and regional RDI programmes in 11 Member States of the European Union - FI, IE, DE, ES, SI, LV, PL, SK, IT, EE, RO - and in one Associated Country (NO) with an aim to coordinate national and regional R&I programmes by pooling national resources and contributing to the alignment of national research and innovation policies. The project has four main objectives: 1) Identification of common research and innovation priorities agreed among the participating national and regional R&I programmes in the area of forest-based bioeconomy, taking into account international developments where relevant; 2) Implementation of a joint call(s), resulting in the funding of transnational collaborative R&I projects; 3) Implementation of other joint activities supporting the market, regulatory or societal uptake based on forest science results; 4) A multi-actor approach in addressing Global Challenges, including relevant contribution to the SDGs. Six of the partners come from the widening countries, whilst at the same time representing the BIOEAST Initiative. ForestValue2 will address “improving access to excellence” through a portfolio of actions that aim at building up R&I capacities especially in EU13 and Ukraine and Republic of Moldova, to enable them to advance to the competitive edge at European and international level.

The EUFORE project supports the preparation for a possible European research and innovation partnership on forests under the Horizon Europe Programme. It aims to develop a sustainable, transnational, co-creative environment to define, implement and evaluate research and innovation (R&I) agendas and roadmaps for the entire forest-based value chains in Europe. The project will assess and outline research needs, and provide a platform for increased R&I cooperation, coordination and joint funding for forestry and the forest-based sector, thus supporting the implementation of the new EU forest strategy. EUFORE outputs include a strategic R&I agenda for forestry and the forest-based sector (SRIA), along with accompanying implementation measures and stakeholder commitments. These will be co-designed with key relevant actors, in a multi-actor approach. The project team will facilitate and strive to implement broad stakeholder engagement via diverse participation mechanisms, all designed to instil a sense of co-ownership of the SRIA preparation process and thus secure support for its implementation. To enable its stakeholders to reach informed decisions, EUFORE will provide them with all the relevant information that is needed, in formats suitable for a wide range of audiences. This will entail: a review of European R&I activity in the sector, funding and governance; information on societal expectations towards the sector; analysis of the policy environment and its R&I implications; and foresight on how the sector might develop, and what the future supply of and demand for its ecosystem services and products may be.