Transdisciplinary co-production in forest policy research (ForPol)
Coordinator: Dalia D’Amato, University of Helsinki,
Funding: 1 050 000 SEK
Duration: 2022–2024
Project aim
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The ForPol project will support transdisciplinary outreach and stakeholder engagement in relation to the GreenPole project. In particular, the ForPol project aims at improving the inclusion of societal stakeholder perspectives into the scientific process and supporting the communication of scientific results.
ForPol project is intended to be a science-policy interface of a larger interdisciplinary research project, called “Green Forests policies: a comparative assessment of outcomes and trade-offs across Fenno-Scandinavia (GreenPole 2021-2025)”. Both ForPol and GreenPole project are developed by a consortium composed of three Nordic Universities, including Lund University, the University of Copenhagen and the University of Helsinki. GreenPole project was funded in 2021 by NordForsk with €1.5 million.
Greenpole project will evaluate forest policy outcomes (climate, biodiversity, and wider societal impacts) in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during the past two decades. The project will use a mixed method approach, including model-informed methods supported by qualitative assessments, which is optimal for assessing changes in complex socio-ecological systems.
Project background
Evidence-based policy assessment needs to integrate societal perspectives and to capture direct and indirect policy impacts (including unintended or even undesired ones such as leakage and rebound) in complex socio-ecological systems. The management and governance of Nordic forest systems represent a particularly illustrative case of the challenges and needs of evidence-based decision and policy-making.
Characterized by a unique legislative framework in Europe (i.e. everyman’s rights) and a large and fragmented private ownership base, forests in the Nordic countries have long been the backbone of the national economies and have been inextricably linked to the Nordic societies and cultures. Today, Sweden, Finland and Norway account for about 30% of total roundwood produced in the EU28. In addition to intra-regional trade, the Nordic region is a significant net importer of roundwood, especially from Russia and the Baltic countries. Paper and lumber exports, for instance, account for 18% and 15%, respectively, of international trade. Renewed emphasis has been placed on forests as key systems in the development of circular bioeconomy strategies, and in the achievement of some of the goals outlined in the European Green Deal. Climate, biodiversity, and cultural services (including values and livelihoods of indigenous people) remain pivotal issues in the management of Nordic forests. Moreover, during the past two decades, Nordic forest corporations have invested in plantations and mills in several countries, including for instance emerging economy countries in Asia and Latin America, which expands and complicates the system boundary of the Nordic forest sector.
Project activities
- Training for all staff members towards societal stakeholder engagement (2022)
- Stakeholders input as primary data for the project (2023-2024)
- Result dissemination through scientific and popular articles, and a workshop (2023-2024)
GreenPole and ForPol projects are currently composed of the following team:
Lund University
Nils Droste, Assistant Professor
Wilhelm May, Senior Researcher
University of Copenhagen
Bogomil E. Iliev, PhD candidate
University of Helsinki, Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science
Dalia D’Amato, Adjunct Professor