ForestPaths’ annual meeting took place on 26 & 27 September in Helsinki, Finland, where partners showcased their achievements from the past year and planned their next steps. Beyond strengthening internal collaboration, special attention was paid to enhancing cooperation with sister projects ForestNavigator and PathFinder during a joint session, bringing together representatives from all three projects in a hybrid format.
The three sister projects are working towards improving the contribution of forest management to climate action, each pursuing its unique approach to the subject. While the session’s participants were already familiar with the projects, they were provided with a concise recap before diving into an overview of their key accomplishments over the past year.
ForestNavigator
ForestNavigator assesses the climate mitigation potential of forests and forest-based sectors by modelling robust policy pathways, aligned with medium (2030) and long-term (2050) climate goals, and supporting EU and national decision makers. Find out more from its flyer.
ForestNavigator also recently concluded its annual meeting, gathering partners in Vienna to discuss the milestones achieved so far. In April 2023, the project unveiled a stakeholder mapping report, identifying more than 120 potential stakeholders. Shortly thereafter, ForestNavigator conducted its first stakeholder board workshop, during which participants deliberated on policy objectives, the cultural and recreational values of forests, and various forest management options. Additionally, the project released its Concept of the ForestNavigator Portal, presenting the conceptualisation of the ForestNavigator Portal and its components. Stay updated with the project’s latest developments on their website.
PathFinder
PathFinder aims to develop a system which combines both monitoring of the status of European forests and a pathway assessment that allows informed policy decisions. Explore the project further through its recent video.
In terms of achievements, PathFinder has recently reached its first milestone, related to the development of new approaches for improved and transparent field data recording. The project has also actively been developing a high-resolution forest management map of Europe with 1x1 km resolution, which serves as input for the project’s intricate land systems model. In addition, PathFinder has been working on an analysis of forest policies to identify key goals objectives and targets across political levels, aiming to produce a target map that effectively captures the differences between European sectors and regions, to build a comprehensive policy target map. You can follow PathFinder’s development on its website.
ForestPaths
ForestPaths strives to help meet Europe’s climate and biodiversity targets by providing clear policy options that enable European forests and the forest-based sector to contribute to climate change mitigation, while conserving their biodiversity and sustaining the services they provide to people. Find out more about the project on its website.
In the past year, ForestPaths accomplished several landmarks important for its development. In addition to creating prototypes of forest structure and composition maps, it successfully developed its next-generation European forest disturbance maps – to be made publicly available soon. Furthermore, ForestPaths conducted an analysis of policy and stakeholder requirements at the EU level relevant to the forestry sector. This September, the project also held its first Policy lab in Helsinki, bringing together policymakers, forestry practitioners, forestry value-chain actors, researchers and civil society representatives to identify policy objectives and stakeholder needs. Lastly, ForestPaths launched its ForestPaths Features series which puts the spotlight on its insights in concise formats.
Given their shared overarching objective, ForestNavigator, PathFinder and ForestPaths often plan similar activities and have common interests, which can be more effectively realised together. Consequently, in addition to sharing each project's successes, partners also identified areas of cooperation and suitable leaders to drive them forward. With this collaborative spirit in mind, we look forward to our future endeavours together!
