Extensive EU forest partnership project progresses – Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland has key role in coordination

The new European forest partnership project prepared under the lead of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry progresses. The final Grant Agreement related to the partnership is to be signed by the end of May 2026. The first call for applications for research funding should open in autumn 2026.

The aim of the EU forest partnership project is to bring together the key actors in the European forest sector, strengthen research and innovation, and increase the exchange of information in the EU as a whole. The partnership is part of the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.

The aim of the work that has now been started is to create a common research framework for the partnership, support coordination among the Member States and prepare the future calls for applications together with the European funding and research organisations.

Project Coordinator Mika Kallio from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry stresses the importance of the preparatory stage for the success of the whole programme.

– Our aim is to make sure that the research framework for the partnership will be built on the basis of strong expertise and shared views of the Member States. This stage will largely determine the themes to be emphasised in the calls for applications and how the cooperation will be organised. The opportunities of Finland to influence the whole package are now exceptionally good”, Kallio says.

Joint European effort of hundred organisations and hundreds of millions of euros

The EU forest partnership project is an extensive ten-year research programme, with 100 participating organisations from 28 countries in the initial stage. The aim of the partnership is to enhance coherence within the international research landscape that is now quite fragmented and to create permanent structures for international cooperation in support of the EU’s forest, climate and biodiversity strategies.