As of 1 September 2022, the ForestPaths project has officially started. To commemorate the project's beginning and to solidify the next steps, project members gathered for a kick-off meeting in Rotterdam. The meeting took place on 12 and 13 September 2022 in the Van Nelle Fabriek, a remarkable concrete, steel and glass structure.
Hans Verkerk opening the kick-off meeting
The meeting was opened by project coordinator Hans Verkerk (EFI), who warmly welcomed partners in Rotterdam, a city close to his heart. He also reminded everyone what ForestPaths aims to achieve in the following years. To shed more light on where ForestPaths lands in the EU policy framework, the project's advisor from CINEA presented EU's Policy context and introduced partners to the possibilities for future cooperation with CINEA. Partners' knowledge of the policy framework was further enriched by Lucia Perugini (CMCC) who specifically went over the forest-based mitigation efforts in European policy. And from policy to technology, Tom Pugh (ULUND) and Giuseppe Cardellini (VITO) presented the latest advances in forest modelling. With the stage set, partners then went into the details of their work in ForestPaths through a series of partner and work package (WP) introductions.
Lucia Perugini discussing the synergies between WP6 and other WPs
Day 2 started with several brainstorming sessions on how work packages can work together to maximise ForestPaths' development. Afterwards, partners had the chance to learn more about ForestPaths' sister projects: ForestNavigator coordinated by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and PathFinder coordinated by the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research. The meeting ended with one final insightful science presentation on state of the art in forest disturbance and structure by Cornelius Senf (TUM) and Ruben van de Kerchove (VITO).
It’s a wrap for the #ForestPaths2022 Kick-off Meeting - two days packed with presentations, exchange of ideas and many plans for the next 4 and a half years of this exciting @HorizonEU #researchproject❗️ pic.twitter.com/UiiLhR43Dt
— ForestPaths Project (@forestpaths_eu) September 13, 2022
